Introduction

The idea of putting together a collection of studies about Linguacultural Spaces: Inclusion, Extension and Identification in Discourse and Society developed originally from the collaboration between academics at the Centre for Linguistic-Cultural Studies of the University of Bologna (CeSLiC) and at the School of Critical Studies at the University of Glasgow, particularly in connection with the conference Diversity and Inclusion: Overcoming Fragmentation, organised in Bologna by the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures (LILEC) of the University of Bologna on 21-23 February 2019, within its multiyear DIVE-IN Research Project. On the back of the collaboration between CeSLiC and Glasgow’s School of Critical Studies, a Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions was signed in September 2019, in order to further collaborative research. Within this agreement, a yearly postgraduate symposium is organized to enhance the collaborative ethos of the agreement and to create broader inter-institutional ties through the inclusion of the School of Humanities and Digital Sciences at the University of Tilburg and the School of Modern Languages and Cultures in Glasgow. Each of these institutions has an active research culture in the sociolinguistics of diversity and inclusion and this volume reflects this spirit cooperation as well as the impact it has on PhD students’ research. The book includes eight chapters by PhD students from Glasgow and Bologna who presented their studies in the May 2022 edition of the annual symposium Linguacultural Spaces: Inclusion, Extension and Identification in Discourse and Society. It explores various aspects of linguistic and cultural diversity, inclusion and identification, from a variety of theoretical and methodological angles, i.e. ecolinguistics, gender studies, multimodality, critical discourse analysis, travel literature, foreign language teaching, language contact in post-colonial settings, and media literacy. The red thread running through this book is discourse, seen from a variety of points of view showing how it can both promote and prevent social cohesion, and how fundamental its role is to articulate identity and belonging in inclusive and diverse manners.