CoLang 2014 Updates

[Colleen Fitzgerald]

We are now less than three weeks away from the kickoff of CoLang 2014, the
2014 Institute on Collaborative Language Research, which takes place in
June and July 2014, hosted by The University of Texas at Arlington, with
Dr. Colleen Fitzgerald as Director.  CoLang, which only occurs once every
two years, offers an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students,
practicing linguists,  language professionals and indigenous community
members to develop and refine skills and approaches to language
documentation and revitalization. The Institute is designed to provide an
opportunity for a diverse range of participants to become trained in a wide
range of skills in language documentation and revitalization.

The institute consists of two parts: the Workshops - two weeks of intensive
workshops on practices, principals and models of language documentation and
revitalization, followed by a four-week field methods course, working with
speakers of select indigenous languages applying hands-on techniques in
language documentation. Participants may choose to enroll only in the
two-week Workshops.

Workshops: June 16-27 2014

Field Methods/Practicum: June 30 – July 25, 2014.

We have four field methods classes, each of which still has room for
additional people to enroll.  The four languages for this year are Alabama
(a Muskogean language spoken in Texas), Enya (a Bantu language spoken in
the Democratic Reuplic of Congo), Innu (or Cree, an Algonquian language
spoken in Canada), and Apoala Mixtec (an Otomanguean language of Mexico).
The Mixtec section will be a Spanish-medium course, so people must have
sufficient proficiency in Spanish to do all elicitation and other class
work with the speakers.

In order to make CoLang 2014 prices affordable to as many people as we can,
we have decided to keep early bird registration prices in effect up until
the first day of CoLang 2014, June 16.  Onsite registration will be
possible with a cashier’s check or credit card, or a wire transfer made by
June 10.  (Contact us for details on a wire transfer.)  Registration is
$750 for the two weeks session, and $2250 for the six weeks session.  We
still have room in the field methods sections.  We’re also in the process
of opening additional second sections in various topics, including
Orthography, Grantwriting, Transcription, and Life in Communities, among
others.  For housing and/or meal purchases to be guaranteed, they must be
purchased and paid in full by Wednesday, June 4.  With participants and
instructors numbering around 200 people, representing over 20 different
North American tribes and 15 different countries worldwide, we expect a
lively and engaging environment for all who attend.  In addition to the
many workshops scheduled for registered participants, we will also have a
number of public talks on language documentation and revitalization
projects, including from First Nations projects in British Columbia, the
Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program, Wuqu’ Kawoq in Guatemala, Yunnan
Province in China, and northeast India.  CoLang 2014 will feature the
Texas-premiere of two movies, Navajo Star Wars (the sci-fi classic dubbed
into the Navajo language, with English subtitles), and “Language Healers,”
with award-winning director Brian McDermott on hand for a q&a.  Full
information on CoLang activities can be found online at
http://tinyurl.com/colang2014 and our registration site is at
http://tinyurl.com/Register4CoLang , with links to paper registration if
needed.

 For more questions, email us at uta2014institute at gmail.com or phone us at
817-272-7608.