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 09/05/2025, there are 163 members. Those who wish to be named are:
Muhadj Adnan, Zoe Anna Niahm Alter, Constanze Andel, Annalisa Arcidiacono, Esther Asare, Emine Asci, Muhammad Asif, Marina Benekou, Jakob Böhm, Daria Bogatova, Hannah-Charlotte Bröder, Alexander Clemen, Andrea S. Curran, Dennis Dahlhausen, David Dankwa-Apawu, Marie del Mar Galindo Merino, Jeconiah Dreisbach, Tabea De Wille, Laura Duve, Martina Eberle, Katharina Leonie Eder, Alice J. Ellwood, Ghattas Eid, Marie Engemann, Janina Esser, Ayesha Farooq, Elisa Fest, Paulina Odeth Flores Bañuelos, Rene-Christian Foidl, Bastian Fuchs, Deia Ganayim, Christopher Geissler, Alona Golubchik, Lisa-Pearl Gyasi, Ann-Sophie Haan, Aaricia Herygers, Melce Hüsünbeyi, Rachid Iseksioui, Berit Johannsen, Ellen M. Jones, Akhilesh Kakolu Ramarao, Navjot Kaur, Abdul Farooq Khan, Zaal Kikvidze, Kleopatra Karapanagiotou, Aline Kellenberger, Martin Konvička, Max Kronen, Alexandra Krüger, Gordana Lalic-Krstin, Lisa Marie Lang, Diana Lepka, Laura Levstock, Stephanie Lieboldt, Anne Lützeler, Emma Machado de Souza, Samrina Abdul Majeed, Sarah-Therese Mann, Japhet Manzano, Karoline Marko, Deepak J. Mashru, Nele Mastracchio, Rayyan Merchant, Vanessa Michaelis, Lukas Mielczarek, Jon Morris, Katrin C. Mueller, Erdin Mujezinović, Amna Naseeb, Mohammad Mansoor Naseri, Kristina Nazarenus, Anh Kim Nguyen, Leah Nieber, Jessica Nieder, Qummar un Nisa, Maria Nisar, Samira Ochs, Nicole Palliwoda, Gwanghun Park, Maike Park, Alisa Pasanen, Naomi Peck, Milanka Peric, Ai Vinh Pham-Le, Isabel Picornell, Riley Porter, Annika Miriam Rabenau, Zachi Einna Reyes Orquijo, Jasmin Pfeifer, Lea Ramke, Niklas Reinken, Val Ring, Dana Roemling, Justyna Beata Rokosz, Jonas Konstantin Romstadt, Basiru Umar Said, Lea Sarnow, Lea Schäfer, Silvia Maria Schmid, Dominic Schmitz, Viktoria Schneider, Tobias Schröer, Christopher Schulz, Christin Schütze, Christina Ines Schwarz, Azianura Hani Shaari, Nurtimhar A. Shahaji, Deepak Singh, Anna Sophia Stein, Simon David Stein, Linda D. Steppan, Andrea Streckenbach, Nathalie Stummer, Kevin Tang, Annika Tjuka, Sol Tovar, Haris Trgo, Ruben van de Vijver, Emmanuel Uwambayinema, Teodora Iulia Vasile, Lena Völkening, Lars Vorberger, Sarah Warchhold, Sara Wessel-Ellermann, Niklas Wiskandt, Maxi Nora Wittmaack, Sascha Wolfer, Sidney Wong, Habtamu Anbessie Woyila, 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 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