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Staff Profile

Dr Josep Cru

Senior Lecturer in Spanish and Sociolinguistics

Background

Background


I have a degree in Philology (1993) and in Linguistics (1996) from the University of Barcelona. I also hold an MA in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of California, Berkeley (1999). With the support of the Institute Ramon Llull, I taught Catalan at Newcastle University and Durham University from 2007 to 2013, and in 2014, I became a Lecturer in Spanish at Newcastle. In September 2013, I submitted a PhD thesis on language revitalisation and language ideologies in Yucatan, Mexico.

I am also a member of Linguapax, an international NGO based in Barcelona that promotes language diversity worldwide. Apart from coordinating the Linguapax network and organising congresses, I designed and developed pedagogical material to raise awareness on linguistic diversity and to revitalise minoritised languages, particularly in Mexico (see https://tlacuatzin.org/). I have also been part of the Linguapax scientific committee to advise on language policy and planning with missions to Mexico (drafting of the Law of Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2003), Paraguay (drafting of the Law of Languages, 2005), and Chile (Implementation of Intercultural Bilingual Education, 2007). More information at: www.linguapax.org. 

In the academic year 2000-2001, I taught Spanish language and culture at Nanjing University (China) with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID) and was awarded a Merit Prize for Excellence in Teaching by the Department of Foreign Languages of that university. 


Languages


Spanish and Catalan (native speaker), English. Also working knowledge of French, Portuguese, and Italian.


Memberships


  • Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS).
  • Society for Latin American Studies,UK, since 2008.
  • Acervo Digital Lenguas Indígenas de México, desde 2003.
  • Secretary of Linguapax International Network, since 2023.





  

 

 

Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

Language Endangerment and Revitalisation in Latin America. LAS4005

Language Diversity in the Hispanic world. SPA2026

Module leader of Catalan Beginners SPA2021 and Catalan Intermediate SPA4002

 

 

Research

Research Interests


My main research focuses on Indigenous language revitalisation efforts from the grassroots in Latin America, particularly in Mexico. In recent years, I have published on the use of music, especially the appropriation of rap among indigenous youth, and on digital technologies as tools of resistance, socio-political mobilisation, and key strategies for linguistic and cultural revitalisation. Key topics: Language revitalisation in Latin America and Spain; Sociolinguistics of the Hispanic World; Language policy and planning; discourse analysis and language ideologies.


Recent presentation of papers:


Authority, authorship, and engagement in the co-creation of Indigenous language materials. ISB-Donostia 9-13 June 2025Authoritnostia 9-13 June 2025

Experiencias y desafíos de la revitalización lingüística en los medios digitales. Congreso 'Desafíos en la Diversidad'. Quito. 12-15 September 2023.




Supervision of Master's theses


  • Representation and self-representation of Maya cultural tourism in Guatemala and the Yucatán Peninsula. (Carolyn Taylor, MLitt., 2019)
  • How does Environmental Change, through Land Invasion and Climate Change, affect Indigenous Peoples, Cultures, Knowledge Systems and Languages? A Case Study in The Alto Rio Negro Region of The Northwest Brazilian Amazon. (Georgina Hulston, MLitt., 2023)


Supervision of PhD theses


  • The linguistic debate in Chile: ideologies and representations of languages and multilingual practices in the national online news. (Hanna Sliashynskaya, PhD, 2019)
  • Learning Quechua online during Covid-19: transformational encounters with ‘cosmovision’, community and wellbeing (Miriam Liggins, PhD, 2024)
  • From 'bilingual education' to 'national education' in Xinjiang, China: A creeping linguicide. (Hanna Burdorf. PhD, 2025)
  • Social Justice through Minoritised Languages: Representations of Gender, Race, and Sexual Orientation in Catalan Classrooms across the UK and Ireland (Laura Arbonès, PhD in progress)
  • Integrating Indigenous ontologies, epistemologies, and pedagogies in the Western classroom: Transformative learning through the online visibility of Quechua land-centric practices. (Joe Dean, PhD in progress)
  • The Linguistic Profile of Multilingual Yucatec Mayan/Spanish Students in Higher Public Education in Yucatan and their Attitudes about their Multilingual Identity. (Cuauhtemoc Jesus Dominguez Gomez, PhD in progress)






Publications