Click here for the history of Chinese Linguistics at The Ohio State University
A Brief History of the Graduate Association of Chinese Linguistics (GACL):
During Spring Quarter 2004, graduate students Okjoo Lee, Jing Yan, Junko Davis, Joshua Gililand and Hana Kang first started setting up sporadic meetings to discuss their own research and future project ideas. As the quarters rapidly changed and the five students continued to be busy with their own work, a more permanent and official study group was proposed. It wasn’t until the spring of 2007 that Yang Chunsheng (George) and Hana Kang decided to hold another study group with other students interested in Chinese linguistics. This was the first official meeting of the Graduate Association of Chinese Linguistics. On March 15, 2007 the first official activity was held: a workshop entitled “No More Missing References: Organizing references using EndNote” presented by Eunhye Son (Dr. Son became assistant professor at Boise State University). GACL continued to grow and host other grad student workshops including how to prepare IRB applications, how to prepare for candidacy exams as well as practice talks for individual students’ research.
In 2008 Hana Kang became the first GACL president thus establishing an officially registered group at OSU. That spring GACL helped organize The North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL) for its 20th anniversary. NACCL-20 (proceedings available here) was held on 25-27 April 2008 at The Ohio State University, the birthplace of NACCL!
In Autumn 2009 George Yang became the second GACL president as the student organization continued to grow and change. George established GACL’s presence online by creating the first webpage.
In Autumn 2010 Seth Wiener became the third GACL president and inherited the role of GACL webmaster. On September 27, 2010 GACL welcomed back to OSU Professor James H.Y. Tai, the founding member of the Graduate Institute of Linguistics at National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan, to give a speech on the “Grammaticalization of Chinese grammar.” In 2010 the first GACL mailing list and a new webpage was introduced as the small group continued to grow and look ahead to the future. On May 20, 2011 GACL and the Institute for Chinese Studies (ICS) held a graduate forum entitled “New Horizons in Chinese Linguistics Research.” This forum brought together nine graduate students from five different departments across OSU.
In Autumn 2011 Zheng Rongbin became the fourth GACL president. Additionally, GACL welcomed DEALL’s second Chinese Linguistics faculty member, Xie Zhiguo to both the OSU community as well the Chinese linguistics family. On August 12, 2011 GACL welcomed former Buckeye He Baozheng back to Columbus to give a talk. On March 16-17, 2012 GACL co-sponsored a Workshop on Innovation in Cantonese Linguistics. After a busy academic year, GACL was awarded the Student Leadership Award. GACL concluded the 2012 Spring quarter with a research forum. Six graduate students and two faculty members presented original research on Mandarin, English, Yue and Min. See the full program here.
In Autumn 2012 Tan Yutian became the fifth GACL President. GACL had a busy fall semester with two events. On October 4, 2012 Professor William Baxter from the University of Michigan gave a talk on Chinese historical phonology. On October 13 & 15, 2012 GACL along with the Institute for Chinese Studies and the Institute for Japanese Studies helped organize the East Asian Psycholinguistics Colloquium. This was the first of its kind in the midwest and brought together scholars from around the world for seven talks and a graduate poster session. See the full program here.
In Autumn 2013 Chen Litong became the sixth GACL President. During the 2013-2014 academic year, GACL hosted Professor Duanmu San from the University of Michigan, Professor Zhong-Lin Lu from The Ohio State University, and Professor Feng-hsi Liu from the University of Arizona. Additionally, GACL helped organize various professional development activities in conjunction with the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures.
In Autumn 2014 Tsz-Him Tsui became the seventh GACL President. In October, 2014 GACL helped to host the first Buckeye East Asian Linguistics Forum (BEAL).
GACL Presidents from 2008 – present:
- 2008-2009: Hana Kang
- 2009-2010: Chunsheng (George) Yang
- 2010-2011: Seth Wiener
- 2011-2012: Rongbin Zheng
- 2012-2013: Yutian Tan
- 2013-2014: Litong Chen
- 2014-2015: Tsz-Him Tsui
- 2015-2016: Yutian Tan
- 2016-2017: Yuhan Lin
- 2017-2018: Qian Wang
- 2018-2019: Seojin Yang
- 2019-2020: Yuhong Zhu
- 2020-2021: Junyu Ruan
- 2021-2022: Wei William Zhou
- 2022-2023: Jinwei Ye
- 2023-2024: Wei William Zhou
GACL has been very active since its establishment. Events organized or co-sponsored by GACL over the years are posted on the following web page on Past GACL Events.
GACL has participated in organizing various conferences at OSU, including:
- Buckeye East Asian Linguistics (BEAL) – Forums & Publications
- Workshop on Innovations in Cantonese Linguistics (WICL)
- North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL)
– NACCL-20 (archived) & NACCL-30
GACL has also supported various other events on campus, such as lectures and other activities (e.g., ICS Graduate Forum, initiated by GACL advisor, Marjorie Chan) hosted by the Institute for Chinese Studies (ICS) at the East Asian Studies Center, as well as guest speakers in its home base in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures (DEALL).