Tag Archives: k. david Harrison

Endangered Language Activism

“The Linguists” and Dr. K. David Harrison at Loudoun Campus

The Loudoun Campus will host, “Talk of the Town: A Film Screening of ‘The Linguists’ and Keynote Speaker Dr. K. David Harrison.” The Linguists is an Emmy-nominated documentary produced in 2008 by Ironbound Films.

Event details
Monday, April 14th, 2014.   7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Loudoun Campus, Northern Virginia Community College (1000 Harry Flood Byrd Hwy, Sterling, VA 20164)
Waddell Theatre

This event is free and open to the public (more details here). There will be a question and answer session, book signing, and an Honors Program potluck to follow on the third floor in the LR lobby.

Screened at the Sundance Film Festival, “The Linguists” is a fascinating and compelling look at language extinction and documentation. It follows two linguists, Greg Anderson of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, and Dr. K David Harrison of Swarthmore College as they travel from the Andes Mountains in South America to villages in Siberia, and from English-Hindi boarding schools in Orissa, India, to an American Indian reservation in Arizona.

The film addresses such issues as the spread of major global languages and how they contribute to language extinction, political and social reasons that some languages have been repressed, and reasons that language revitalization and language documentation are important.

In addition to being an anthropologist, Harrison is a National Geographic Fellow and a co-director of the Society’s Enduring Voices Project which documents endangered languages and cultures around the world. He has done extensive fieldwork with indigenous communities from Siberia and Mongolia to Peru, Colombia, India, Nepal and Australia. His work has been featured in numerous publications including The New York Times, USA Today and Science and on “The Colbert Report”. He received his doctorate from Yale University and is currently an associate professor at Swarthmore College near Philadelphia.

ImageAnthony Degio (left) listens to playback of a Koro language story, with K. David Harrison, Takpa Yame and Greg Anderson. Photo by Jeremy Fahringer

Endangered Language Activism, K. David Harrison, Launches and Public Events, Media and Publicity, Support Endangered Languages

Lecture Series w/ K. David Harrison at The Explorers Club (NYC)

ImageDr. K. David Harrison will be speaking at The Explorers Club in NYC on February 24th, 2014. In this presentation, Dr. Harrison describes the scientific and social consequences of language loss. Contrary to predictions of improved global commerce and communication, Dr. Harrison argues that language extinction leads to intellectual impoverishment in all fields of science and culture. Entire bodies of unwritten knowledge that have sustained us on this planet are eroding.

explorers club Member Ticket price:  Free

Guest Ticket Price: $20

Student Ticket Price: Free to EC Student Members, $5 w/ valid student ID

Reservations are secured on a first come, first served basis.

To make a reservation, please call 212.628.8383  or email reservations@explorers.org

For more details, visit the event listing on The Explorers Club website.

Thanks for reading! Share the link to people in the NYC region who may be interested in attending this event.

Endangered Language Activism

Day 1: Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Image

Photo by @TheNationalMall

Today, the National Mall in Washington D.C. went from open field to bustling international village as the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival opened to the public.

One of the three major themes this year is “One World, Many Voices,” put on in partnership with the Enduring Voices Project, our collaborative project with National Geographic. Representatives of some of the world’s most endangered languages are gathering in the U.S. capitol for ten days of cultural celebration and dialogue.

K. David Harrison, our Director of Research and one of the curators of the festival, just did a great interview with Nat Geo NewsWatch about the festival! Check it out right here.

Image

Digital Resources, Endangered Language Activism, K. David Harrison, Media and Publicity, Support Endangered Languages

Learn and Preserve Tuvan

Half of the world’s languages are facing extinction. In an effort to preserve Tuvan, Mango Languages developed an introductory course in partnership with our Director of Research, Dr. K. David Harrison, a leading specialist in the study of endangered languages.

Image

Become an advocate for language preservation. Create a profile on Mango Languages to gain access to the Tuvan course and share it with your campus or community!