Lecture ponders dying culture (fwd)

[Phil CashCash]

Lecture ponders dying culture
   By  Erin Raterman
http://www.dailylobo.com/news/510939.html

   Women in Guatemala have seen civil war destroy not only their lives
and society, but also their culture and language, a UNM associate
professor says.

 But Melissa Axelrod is researching ways to preserve Guatemalan language
and culture and help the women who have suffered through 36 years of
war.

 Axelrod, an associate linguistics professor, spoke to a crowd of more
than 50 at the SUB on Wednesday about more than two months of research
on "La Violencia" - the toll the conflict is exacting on the country's
society.

 Axelrod said she is baffled by the way the Guatemalan women have not
only survived, but succeeded in a battered economy and an uncertain
future.

 "Even though many of these women have lost their families and children,
they were able to survive," she said. "These women found a way to build
a life with nearly nothing."

 Axelrod said the Guatemalan women are an example of the human spirit's
triumph.

 She and three other American women have traveled to Guatemala four
times in the last two years to study the region's indigenous women and
their dying language.

 She said she hopes her research will help the Guatemalan women maintain
their traditional knowledge, which is in danger from the civil war.
Axelrod plans on donating any money produced by her research to help
preserve their culture and rebuild the country's economy.

 Axelrod's lecture was the first of a three-part Brown Bag lecture
series planned for this semester.

 UNM's Women Study Program and the Feminist Research Institute are
sponsoring the series.

 The lectures are free and provide UNM students the opportunity to learn
about various research University faculty members are conducting, said
Gail Houston, associate UNM English professor.

 Houston said Axelrod was an ideal speaker to kick off the lecture
series because of her acclaimed expertise in women's studies.

 Axelrod said she plans to apply for a grant from the National Science
Foundation in January to create a dictionary of the Guatemalan women's
native language.

 She is going to return to Guatemala in late December and again in the
summer to continue her research, she said.

 Axelrod recently received the 2003 Susan Geiger award for her research
in Guatemala.

 The award, established last year, is meant to recognize women who have
made considerable advancements in cross-cultural research projects for
women studies.

 For the last 20 years, Axelrod has focused her work on the study and
documentation of indigenous languages throughout the world.