UM to host 2022 Institute on Collaborative Language Research

MISSOULA – The University of Montana, in collaboration with Chief Dull Knife College, will host this year’s Institute on Collaborative Language Research (CoLang 2022) June 13 to July 8.

This biennial international institute offers workshops in language documentation and revitalization for language activists, teachers, linguists and students from Indigenous language communities and academic fields. This year’s theme is Reciprocity and Accountability in collaborative language work.

The 39 workshops offered will cover topics in archiving, Indigenous language learning and teaching, language and health, linguistics, technology and many other subjects. With over 250 facilitators, presenters and registered participants, CoLang 2022 will host a record number of people, representing 70 Indigenous communities from around the world, including several Indigenous communities of Montana.

CoLang 2022 encourages and facilitates greater representation of Indigenous people and Indigenous languages in language work by fostering collaboration at every level of the institute. Susan Penfield, CoLang 2022 co-director, who has led workshops at several previous CoLang institutes, said “Indigenous representation at CoLang has continued to grow since the founding of the institute in 2008.”

A number of events are free and open to the public, including lectures, a poetry night and a movie night. No registration is required for these events. For further details, including times and locations of the public events, visit the Public Events page of the CoLang 2022 website. Note that all events will take place in person with no Zoom options available.

CoLang 2022 is organized by the UM Linguistics Program and Department of Anthropology, with grateful support from the All Nations Health Center, American Indian Language Development Institute, Endangered Language Fund, Humanities Montana, Linguistic Society of America, National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, UM Department of Native American Studies, UM Department of Physics and Astronomy and UM Office of Research and Creative Scholarship.

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Contact: Mizuki Miyashita, Colang co-director, colang2022@gmail.com.