2024 LAVIS Conference: The Changing South

"The Changing South" is in part a story of demographic and economic boom, but many other compelling narratives exist as well, including the cultural and demographic transformations brought by immigrants from all over the world. In recent census reports, states like Georgia had the fastest growing percentage Hispanic populations in the US. While Hispanic migrants are clearly the most visible group of recent newcomers to the South, other groups have transformed the region over the past thirty years, including large Asian populations (Chinese, Vietnamese, Hmong, Indian, Pakistani, etc.), Middle Easterners (Lebanese, Iraqi, Egyptian, Saudi, Yemeni, etc.) and Southern and Eastern Europeans (Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, etc.). African Americans, too, have been moving back to the South from other areas of the country.

Thus, "The Changing South" is comprised of increasing demographic and linguistic diversity, but as important are the changes to the traditional populations and ways of life. LAVIS V and SECOL 91 together will be the most comprehensive conference documenting language in this dynamic landscape, following the once-per-decade pattern of the LAVIS meetings.