Let’s start an association! That was the thought that came to the founding members of the Diversity in Linguistics Association in autumn 2021. But how did it all begin?
It started with the student council for linguistics and phonetics at the University of Cologne. Around the turn of the year 2017/2018, Natascha – who later became a founding member – had the idea of organising an international summer school on forensic linguistics. An ambitious project for a small student council, but Natascha and Dominic – now co-president of the association – took it on. The first summer school took place in 2018, followed by a second edition in 2019. In the meantime, Janina – now co-president – joined the team. By 2021, the summer school was held for the third time. Shortly thereafter, Dominic, Janina, and Natascha decided it was time to found an association.
An association just for a summer school? Would that be worth the effort? Fortunately, we never had to answer that question. By the time it was founded, the association had already grown beyond the summer school. It also included a workshop on statistics in linguistics. This, too, had its roots in the student council, beginning as a tutorial on applied statistics for linguistics. Several sessions and a summer school workshop later, the format evolved into two online workshops for national and international audiences. Dominic and Janina have been leading the workshop from the start.
And that’s not all. Alongside the summer school and the statistics workshops, the newly founded association also launched a talk series: Diversity in Linguistics. Through this series, we pursue one of our central goals – creating space for diversity in the field of linguistics.
With this exciting programme, the association looks to the future – hopefully with you as a member!
Structure of the Association
Like most associations (“Vereine”) in Germany, the Association for Diversity in Linguistics is governed by a set of statutes. According to these, the association comprises two board positions, three seats on the advisory board, and a group of general members. Members who do not hold an official position but wish to be named publicly are listed here alongside those in elected roles.
Association's Board
Co-President
Dominic Schmitz
Co-President
Janina Esser
Advisory Board
Advisory Board Member
Dana Roemling
Advisory Board Member
Simon David Stein
Advisory Board Member
Viktoria Schneider
Members
As of 19/09/2026, there are 195 members. Those who wish to be named are:
Samrina Abdul Majeed, Adegboye Adeyanju, Tania Ahmad, Ameer Ali, Zoe Anna Niamh Alter, Constanze Andel, Annalisa Arcidiacono, Abdulkadir Abdulrahim Arjali, Esther Asare, Emine Asci, Muhammad Asif, Aamir Aziz, Marina Benekou, Paula Blaschke, Güneş Bodur, Daria Bogatova, Jakob Böhm, Hannah-Charlotte Bröder, Taylor J. Brooks, Oksana Bude, María José Carrión Prieto, Selin Ceylan, Andrea S Curran, Chiara Dabbene, David Dankwa-Apawu, Tabea De Wille Tabea De Wille, Tahnee Dewhurst, Jeconiah Dreisbach, Laura Duve, Martina Eberle, Katharina Leonie Eder, Ghattas Eid, Khalid Tag Eldin, Alice J Ellwood, AYESHA FAROOQ, Elisa Fest, Paulina Odeth Flores Bañuelos, Maria del Mar Galindo Merino, Christopher Alden Geissler, Maryam Ghorbani, Alona Golubchik, Jeannette Gremmel, Sandra Melanie Grübler, Lisa-Pearl Gyasi, Ann-Sophie Haan, Ledio Hala, Matthias Hermes, Regina T. Holze, Shahnawaz Hossain, Melce Hüsünbeyi, Rachid ISEKSIOUI, Berit Johannsen, Ellen M Jones, Anna Kai Jørgensen, Akhilesh Kakolu Ramarao, Navjot Kaur, Aline Kellenberger, Abdul Farooq Khan, Claudius Patrick Kihara, Zaal Kikvidze, Martin Konvička, Max Kronen, Edward Ahenkorah Kwakye, Gordana Lalic-Krstin, Lisa Marie Lang, Sanne Lauriks, Elen Le Foll, Diana Lepka, Laura Levstock, Stephanie Lieboldt, Anne Lützeler, Cheng Lyu, Emma Machado de Souza, Sarah-Therese Mann, Karoline Marko, Deepak J, Mashru, Nele Mastracchio, Rayyan Merchant, Paul Wilhelm Meuleneers, Vanessa Michaelis, Lukas Mielczarek, Jon Morris, Katrin C. Mueller, Erdin Mujezinović, Amna Naseeb, Mohammad Mansoor Naseri, Kristina Nazarenus, Anh Kim Nguyen, Leah Nieber, Qummar un Nisa, Maria Nisar, Naftal Nyakundi, Samira Ochs, Norazha Paiman, Nicole Palliwoda, Gwanghun Park, Maike Park, Alisa Pasanen, Naomi Peck, Milanka Peric, Ai Vinh Pham-Le, Isabel Picornell, Bobia Beugré Pierre, Riley Porter, Kilu von Prince, Annika Miriam Rabenau, Aicha Rahal, Lea Ramke, Verena Rasp, Niklas Reinken, Rhea Valerie Ring, Dana Roemling, Janin Roessel, Jonas Konstantin Romstadt, Basiru Umar Said, Lea Schäfer, Annika Schiefner, Silvia Maria Schmid, Dominic Schmitz, Daniela Schneevogt, Tobias Schröer, Raoul Schubert, Christopher Schulz, Dr., Christina Ines Schwarz, Kristina Seuling, Azianura Hani Shaari, Nurtimhar A Shahaji, Nasiruddin Gulammohiyuddin Shaikh, Deepak Singh, IBTISSEM “Ibti Smile” Smari, Sabine Sommer-Lolei, Anna Sophia Stein, Linda D. Steppan, Andrea Streckenbach, Nathalie Stummer, Mona Taghavifar, Kevin Tang, Test Mc Testface, Isabelle Isabelle Thormann, Annika Tjuka, Sol Tovar, Haris Trgo, Naomi Truan, Elena Tsukanpva, Emmanuel Uwambayinema, Teodora Iulia Vasile, Lena Völkening, Sarah Warchhold, Sara Wessel-Ellermann, Zoe Willecke, Niklas Wiskandt, Maxi Nora Wittmaack, Sidney Wong, Habtamu Anbessie Woyila, Anastasia Anastasia Yablokova, Anne Yosseu, Vroni Zieglmeier, Victor Zimmermann
Partners
since 2021
since 2023
FörderLinK e.V., Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Association of Emerging Linguists (EL)
Previous Boards
Term 2024 - 2025
Association’s Board: Dominic Schmitz, Janina Esser
Advisory Board: Dana Roemling, Viktoria Schneider, Simon David Stein
Term 2023 - 2024
Association’s Board: Dominic Schmitz, Janina Esser
Advisory Board: Viktoria Schneider, Simon David Stein, Katharina Sternke
Term 2022 - 2023
Association’s Board: Dominic Schmitz, Janina Esser
Advisory Board: Lisa Brandt, Viktoria Schneider, Katharina Sternke
Term 2021 - 2022
Association’s Board: Dominic Schmitz, Janina Esser
Advisory Board: Lisa Brandt, Natascha Rohde, Katharina Sternke