January 11, 2024
Language Sciences bid farewell to Dr. Christine Schreyer as our co-director of the last 18 months. We spoke to Christine about her thoughts on the role and her upcoming plans.
When and how did you join Language Sciences and become its co-director?
I have been a member of the Language Sciences steering committee since our inception, but took on the role of interim co-director when Bryan was on study leave. This began on July 1st, 2022 and then I continued past the original 12 months as Janet was on leave and the search of our new director, Guofang, took longer than anticipated. So my entire term as interim co-director was July 1st, 2022 to December 31st, 2023 – 18 months.
What are the key milestones for the Institute during your time here? What are your roles in them?
One of the biggest milestones was working with Janet and our team to form the International Advisory Board, which includes a wide-range of outstanding international scholars who work in fields that support Language Science. I have also been working to have a UBC Okanagan version of the Living Language: Science and Society course and we aim to have this complete by the end of the academic year.
What's your next career move and does it still relate to Language Sciences?
For the last 6 months, I have been the interim co-director of Language Sciences, while at the same time being the interim director of the Institute for Community-Engaged Research (ICER) at UBC Okanagan. It became clear that these two institutes are quite complimentary to each other. ICER will be looking for a new permanent director as of July 1st, 2024 and it is my goal to apply for this position and continue to work on projects that support Language Sciences in this role. I will also retain my position on the Language Sciences steering committee for the duration of my term.
Lastly, tell us about your feelings towards LangSci.
During my time as Language Science co-director, I had the rare opportunity to work closely with both of the founding directors of Language Sciences, first Janet and then Bryan, as well as Ella as the founding Coordinator, I’ve come to realize what an amazing opportunity this was, at this time of transition, to see the inner workings of our GREx, learn from them all, and spending time talking about what is always a focus of mine – research on language, in all its forms. Both Janet and Bryan see the immense potential we have when our institute can cross both UBC campuses and I appreciate their support of me as I worked to bring more of Language Sciences to UBC Okanagan. It has truly been an honour to act as co-director of Language Sciences these past 18 months and I look forward to seeing the new directions we take under the continuing leadership of Bryan, as well as Guofang.
Thank you so much for your dedicated services, Christine. Language Sciences is glad to continue working with you as our steering committee member. We also wish you all the best in your other endeavours!