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The Regional Linguistics course has existed at our university for over 10 years, and has evolved over time: Today, in addition to a geo-linguistic description of phonetic, morpho-syntactic and lexical phenomena that characterize the native and historical languages of France, based in particular on field survey data from different periods, the course addresses questions about the value of these regional languages, as well as reflections on language policies in Europe that safeguard or, as the case may be, limit or prevent the use of these non-national languages to a greater or lesser extent. In our syllabus, regional linguistics is part of the Fundamental Offer, offered to L2 students.

This is a difficult question: our idea is exactly that of making our students and even our own colleagues more aware of these "regional" languages and cultures, which have been endangered for a very long time, especially in France.
Of course, "regional" does not refer to the administrative region, but rather in the sense of "portion of territory below/not corresponding to the national space". So, paradoxically enough, regional linguistics is also concerned with languages that are both "regional" and "international", such as Occitan (France, Spain, Italy) or Francoprovençal (France, Italy, Switzerland), to stay within the Rhône-Alpes region. The question of "borders" (linguistic, geographical and political) is therefore central to the study of regional linguistics.

France is perhaps the least tolerant country, or one of the least tolerant countries, in Western Europe, historically, with regard to languages other than French, the official state language: for example, France has signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, but for several reasons has not ratified it. On the other hand, a very recent law on this subject, known as the "Loi Molac", relating to the protection of the heritage of regional languages and their promotion, was promulgated on May 21, 2021. It introduces measures to protect and promote regional languages in the fields of heritage, education and public services. Its impact is, of course, yet to be assessed. Attention to these languages, which are therefore languages in their own right, and to safeguarding them, helps to raise awareness of cultural otherness in a broader sense. As teacher-researchers in dialectology, we have always done our utmost to emphasize the importance of this teaching within our Language Science department, which, especially over the past two terms of leadership (the one before the current one and the current one), has done its utmost to preserve a place for this discipline.
Many of the students on our linguistics courses become aware that an indigenous language is (or used to be) spoken in their family or commune of origin. In a way, these languages represent the local identity of these non-native speakers. As a result, their interest in local linguistic practices sometimes translates into voluntary involvement in micro-actions in the field: conducting interviews with family members who speak the local language, or recovering documents written in a dialect variety that would be difficult to access outside this spontaneous network. For linguists working on so-called "regional" languages, the interest shown by these students is an important source of human and professional satisfaction. It's also a not inconsiderable source of dynamism, which we can draw on to set up initiatives that combine research and teaching, which are sometimes excessively separate when it comes to observing languages with an oral tradition.

Foreign students arriving as part of international exchange programs (Erasmus, etc.) are very welcome, and when they are present their contribution is very important, as they bring their experience of the presence of regional or minority languages in their countries. It should be pointed out that the Language Sciences/FLE department has also been able to open a specific course for international students entitled "Regional languages and cultural heritage", enabling foreign students to learn about the culture and regional languages of our region, in a way that suits their skills. This course has been well received since the first year (2018) when it was launched with the full support of the department management.

The lecturers involved are Elisabetta Carpitelli and Giovanni Depau as dialectologists; temporary lecturers, either trained dialectologists or specialists in a regional language, help us with the course for international students. For the Regional Linguistics course, this year we had the contribution of a colleague from the Université Catholique de Lyon, who was able to delve deeper into Francoprovençal, a language of which he is a native speaker.

On a local level, we are working with associations of patois speakers in the Franco-Provençal area of our region (Savoie, La Mure area) to promote their cultural and linguistic heritage: audio documents have been recorded and transcribed, thanks also to the collaboration of our students, particularly Master's students but also L2 or L3 students. Students regularly ask us for internships to work with us (2 or 3 students each year, including Licence students) on documents (oral or written) in the regional languages of France, but also of other countries (currently a Licence student of Kosovar origin is helping us to understand linguistic testimonies in the regional varieties of Albania).
In the UGA Box Opener you can see some of the documents we use with students (linguistic atlases): https://culture.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/menu-principal/patrimoines/patrimoine-scientifique/collections-et-instruments/linguistique-681021.kjsp
We also responded to a survey on rare disciplines carried out by the French Ministry of Research. Following this survey, we were contacted, along with other colleagues responsible for teaching linguistics or regional languages at university in France, by Caroline Censier Calmus, the Ministry's representative for this type of survey. Regional linguistics and regional languages were thus chosen from the SHS to kick-start this project to support rare disciplines. As our courses deal in particular with the situation of Franco-Provençal, which has recently become (like other long-established regional languages) the subject of school teaching, we are in the process of coordinating with our colleagues at Lyon 2 and the Catholic University of Lyon, who offer similar courses, to form the "Franco-Provençal" pole of this Ministry initiative. We already took part in the first national meeting with Mme Censier Calmus ten days ago, and were contacted again last week following the compilation of a joint document with the Lyon universities. In the Ministry's project, which is part of the French President's current plan to support the employment and development of regional languages, several actions are envisaged which should lead to the preservation of this type of teaching as an important discipline for the country's culture and heritage.