<div dir="ltr">
<p class="MsoNormal"><font><span style="line-height:107%">I’m seeking
participants for a roundtable called “Teaching Language and Culture: Approaches
from World Anthropologies” at the 2015 AAA Meetings in Denver.<span> </span>Below is a draft of the abstract:<span> <br></span></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font><span style="line-height:107%"><span><br></span></span></font></p><font>
</font><p class="MsoNormal"><font><span style="line-height:107%">Instructors
of language and culture teaching outside of the mainland United States <span> </span>- or teaching students of immigrant
backgrounds - face challenges such as finding readings in local languages and incorporating
ethnographic and theoretical material produced by scholars from the same
country or region. While mitigating the U.S. American biases in anthropology
textbooks and other pedagogical materials is a challenge for the discipline as
a whole, contemporary linguistic anthropology is particularly heavy in U.S.-based
theories and theorists, whose constructs don't always <span class="">travel</span>
<span class="">well.<span> </span></span>Empowering
students to analyze their own linguistic-cultural milieu is a central goal of teaching
linguistic anthropology, especially at the undergraduate level.<span> </span><span class="">However, some common ways of
framing course topics – for e</span>xample, “Language and Race/Ethnicity” – are
inherently tied to the U.S. experience, and therefore of little relevance to
students attempting to grasp local entanglements of language, power and social
categories.<span> <br></span></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font><span style="line-height:107%"><span><br></span></span></font></p><font>
</font><p class="MsoNormal"><font><span style="line-height:107%">This
roundtable seeks to bring together scholars who have grappled with such
challenges, including <b><u>but not limited to</u> </b>those who have taught language
and culture-related courses outside of the mainland United States.<span> </span>Participants would speak briefly (10-15
minutes) on any or all of the following:</span></font></p><font>
</font><p class="" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><font><span><span>-<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-stretch:normal;font-variant:normal"> </span></span></span><span>- The
state of <span> </span>linguistic anthropology (or the
anthropological/ethnographic study of language, however it is construed) in the
region where the participant has taught (including a brief history and how it
is positioned with regards to other disciplines – sociocultural anthropology,
linguistics, communication, etc.)</span></font></p><font>
</font><p class="" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><font><span><span>-<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-stretch:normal;font-variant:normal"> -
</span></span></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span>Concrete
examples of challenges faced in teaching and strategies toward overcoming them.</span></font></p><font>
</font><p class="" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><font><span><span>-<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-stretch:normal;font-variant:normal">
-</span></span></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span>Discussion
of “fit” between dominant theoretical perspectives in linguistic anthropology and
participant’s local context.<span> </span></span></font></p><font>
</font><p class="" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><font><span><span>-<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-stretch:normal;font-variant:normal"> -
</span></span></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span>Suggestions
for “internationalizing” linguistic anthropology curricula, including possible
reformulations of popular topics and incorporating the work of non-US-based
scholars </span></font></p><font>
</font><p class="" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><font><span><span>-<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-stretch:normal;font-variant:normal"> -
</span></span></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span>Other
suggestions for creating more opportunities for constructive, horizontal exchanges
between language and culture scholars working in different national
contexts.<span> </span><span> </span></span></font></p><font>
</font><p class=""><font><span style="line-height:107%"><br></span></font></p><font>
</font><p class="MsoNormal"><font><span style="line-height:107%">If you are
interested in participating in this roundtable, please email me at <a href="mailto:evelyn.dean@upr.edu">evelyn.dean@upr.edu</a>.<span> </span>I plan to solicit co-sponsorship of the
Society for Linguistic Anthropology and the Committee on World Anthropologies.<span> </span>Dr. Kerim Friedman of National DongHwa
University in Taiwan has graciously agreed to serve as chair.<span> </span></span></font><br><font><span style="line-height:107%">Roundtable
participants do not need to submit individual abstracts; the organizer simply
lists their names in the submission.<span> </span></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br><font><span style="line-height:107%"><span></span></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font><span style="line-height:107%"><span></span>Note: AAA meeting attendees can EITHER
present on a panel OR participate in a roundtable; they may not do both.<span> </span>(They can, however, serve as chairs in unlimited
sessions – for more info on presentation policies, see <a href="http://www.aaanet.org/meetings/For-Paper-and-Poster-Presenters.cfm">http://www.aaanet.org/meetings/For-Paper-and-Poster-Presenters.cfm</a>)</span></font></p><font>
</font><p class="MsoNormal"><font><span style="line-height:107%"><span><br></span></span></font></p><font>
</font><p class="MsoNormal"><font><span style="line-height:107%">Many thanks,</span></font></p><font>
</font><p class="MsoNormal"><font><span style="line-height:107%">Evelyn</span></font></p><font>
</font><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div>Dra. Evelyn Dean-Olmsted<br></div>Catedrática Auxiliar, Departamento de Sociología y Antropología<br></div>Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto Río Piedras<br></div><a href="mailto:evelyn.dean@upr.edu" target="_blank">evelyn.dean@upr.edu</a><br><br></div></div>
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