Staff Profile
Dr Josep Cru
Senior Lecturer in Spanish and Sociolinguistics
- Telephone: +44 (0)191 208 7441
- Personal Website:
- Address: School of Modern Languages
Old Library Building 5.37
NE1 7RU
缅北禁地 upon Tyne
UK
Background
I studied a BA in Anglo-German Philology (1993) and a BA in Linguistics at the University of Barcelona (1996). I also hold an MA in Language, Literacy and Culture from the University of California, Berkeley (1999). With the support of the Institute Ramon Llull, I taught Catalan at 缅北禁地 and Durham University from 2007 to 2013 and in 2014 I became a Teaching Fellow in Spanish at 缅北禁地. In September 2013 I submitted a PhD thesis on language revitalisation and language ideologies in Yucatan, Mexico.
I am also a member of Linguapax, an international NGO based in Barcelona that promotes language diversity worldwide. Apart from coordinating the Linguapax network and organising congresses, I designed and developed pedagogical material to raise awareness about linguistic diversity and to revitalise minoritised languages, particularly of Mexico (see ). I have also been part of the Linguapax scientific committee to advise on language policy and planning with missions to Mexico (drafting of the Law of Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2003), Paraguay (drafting of the Law of Languages, 2005) and Chile (Implementation of Intercultural Bilingual Education, 2007). More information at: .
In the academic year 2000-2001 I taught Spanish language and culture at Nanjing University (China) with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID) and was awarded a Merit Prize for Excellence in Teaching by the Department of Foreign Languages of that university.
Languages
Spanish and Catalan (native speaker), English. Also working knowledge of French, Portuguese and Italian.
Memberships
- Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS).
- Society for Latin American Studies,UK since 2008.
- Acervo Digital Lenguas Indígenas de México, since 2003.
- Secretary of Linguapax International Network, since 2023.
Undergraduate Teaching
Language Endangerment and Revitalisation in Latin America. LAS4005
Language Diversity in the Hispanic world. SPA2026
Module leader of Catalan Beginners SPA2021 and Catalan Intermediate SPA4002
Research Interests
My research interests cover:
Sociolinguistics of the Hispanic World, language policy and planning, particularly in Mexico and Spain, and language revitalisation, discourse analysis and language ideologies, Indigenous languages of Latin America and education.
Recent presentation of papers:
Experiencias y desafíos de la revitalización lingüística en los medios digitales. Congreso 'Desafíos en la Diversidad'. Quito. 12-15 September 2023.
Paradoxes of language revitalisation in the Yucatán. Seminar organised by the Intercultural University of Quintana Roo, Mexico 27 Nov 2020
Convenor of round table and speaker: Indigenous language revitalisation from the grassroots in Latin America. Exercising agency through the arts. International Congress of Indigenous and Minoritised Languages. University of Barcelona, Spain. 17-20 April 2017
Supervision of theses
- The linguistic debate in Chile: ideologies and representations of languages and multilingual practices in the national online news. (Hanna Sliashynskaya, PhD, completed, 2019)
- Representation and self-representation of Maya cultural tourism in Guatemala and the Yucatán Peninsula. (Carolyn Taylor, MLitt, completed, 2019)
- How does Environmental Change, through Land Invasion and Climate Change, affect Indigenous Peoples, Cultures, Knowledge Systems and Languages? A Case Study in The Alto Rio Negro Region of The Northwest Brazilian Amazon. (Georgina Hulston, MLitt., completed, 2023)
- Learning Quechua online during Covid-19: transformational encounters with ‘cosmovision’, community and wellbeing (Miriam Liggins, PhD, completed 2024)
- From 'bilingual education' to 'national education' in Xinjiang, China: A creeping linguicide. (Hanna Burdorf. PhD, completed 2025)
- Social Justice through Minoritised Languages: Representations of Gender, Race, and Sexual Orientation in Catalan Classrooms across the UK and Ireland (Laura Arbonès, PhD in progress)
- Integrating Indigenous ontologies, epistemologies and pedagogies in the Western classroom: Transformative learning through the online visibility of Quechua land-centric practices. (Joe Dean, PhD in progress)
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Articles
- Cru J. . Living Languages 2024, 3(1), 112-129.
- Flores J, Cru J. . Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 2021, 42(10), 941-954.
- Cru J. . Current Issues in Language Planning 2018, 19(4), 434-452.
- Cru J. . International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 2017, 20(5), 481-496.
- Cru J. . Critical Multilingualism Studies 2016, 4(2), 111-132.
- Cru J. . Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 2014.
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Book Chapters
- Cru J. . In: Melanie A., and Jennifer R. Guzmán, ed. Ethnographic Insights on Latin America and the Caribbean. University of Toronto Press, 2023, pp.189-199.
- Cru J. . In: Léonard, J-L; Aviles Gonzalez, KJ, ed. Documentation et revitalisation des "langues en danger" : épistémologie et praxis. Paris: Michel Houdiard Editeur, 2015, pp.370-391.
- Cru J. . In: T.L. McCarthy and S. Coronel-Molina, ed. Indigenous Language Revitalization in the Americas. New York/London: Routledge, 2013. In Press.
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Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
- Cru J. . In: Language and Sociopolitical Struggle in the Hispanic World. 2010, 缅北禁地 upon Tyne: Americas Research Group and School of Modern Languages, 缅北禁地.
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Edited Books
- Cru J, ed. . Barcelona: Linguapax, 2014.
- Cru Josep, Khubchandani Lachman, ed. . Barcelona, Spain: Centre Unesco de Catalunya-Linguapax, 2011.
- Cru J, Khubchandani L, ed. . Barcelona: Centre UNESCO de Catalunya, 2011.
- Andriamiseza N, Essomba MÀ, Cru J, ed. . Barcelona: Centre Unesco de Catalunya - Unescocat, 2010.
- Lluis A, Cru J, ed. Lenguas de América: IV Foro de las Lenguas Amerindias. Barcelona: Casa Amèrica Catalunya-Linguapax-ACCD-Linguamon, 2007.
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Report
- Seroo O, Cru J. . Brussels, Belgium: European Commission, 2004.