<div dir="ltr"><div>Hello all,<br><br></div>I'd like to reach out to those of you with experience or interest in teaching linguistic anthropology and related topics outside of the mainland United States, and invite you to participate in our AAA roundtable:<br><br>"Teaching Linguistic Anthropology: Approaches from World Anthropologies" <br><div><div><br>Thursday, November 19, 2015: 10:15 AM-12:00 PM<br><div>Room Centennial B <br>Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center<br>Session 3-0540<br></div><br></div><div>Our participants are (other than myself) P. Kerim Friedman (National Dong Hwa University), Tzu-kai Liu (National Taiwan University/ National Chi-Nan
University), Chad D Nilep (Nagoya University), Susana Lea Skura (Universidad de Buenos Aires) and Christopher Jenks (University of South Dakota). <br><br></div><div>Please see below for the abstract. Help us bring together other instructors of language and culture for a fruitful conversation about the challenges of teaching a very U.S.-based field in non-U.S. contexts. We'd also love to talk with editors and publishers for ideas about how to promote pedagogical texts that are more easily transferable to non-US audiences, as well as published translations of scholarship in other languages to English (and vice versa). <br><br></div><div>Many thanks,<br></div><div>Evelyn<br><br></div><div>Roundtable Abstract: <br><br>Instructors of language and culture teaching outside of the mainland
United States - 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 travel well. Empowering students to analyze
their own linguistic-cultural milieu is a central goal of teaching
linguistic anthropology, especially at the undergraduate level.
However, some common ways of framing course topics – for example,
“Language and Race” – are inherently tied to the U.S. experience, and
therefore may be of little relevance to students attempting to grasp
local entanglements of language, power and social categories. <br><br>This <span class="">roundtable</span>
brings together scholars who have grappled with such challenges,
including those who have taught and conducted research in East Asia
(Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong) and Latin America (Puerto Rico, Argentina).
Topics of discussion include:<br><br>- The state of linguistic
anthropology (or the anthropological/ethnographic study of language,
however it is construed) in the different countries and regions
represented by the participants.<br><br>- Concrete examples of challenges faced in teaching and strategies toward overcoming them.<br><br>- Discussion of “fit” between dominant theoretical perspectives in linguistic anthropology and participants’ local contexts.<br><br>- Issues of literal and conceptual translation from English (primarily) to local languages and contexts.<br><br>-
Suggestions for “internationalizing” linguistic anthropology
curricula, including possible reformulations of popular topics and
incorporating the work of non-US-based scholars.<br><br>- Other
suggestions for creating more opportunities for constructive, horizontal
exchanges between language and culture scholars working in different
national contexts.<br></div><div><br></div><div>-- <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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