Two-Day Event to Focus on Saving Endangered Native Languages

“Saving Endangered Native Languages” is the theme of the spring 2015 University of Maine Humanities Symposium April 24–25.

Language activists and tribal representatives from native communities in the northeastern United States and Canada along with university partners will discuss the challenges and opportunities for language revitalization during the two-day event on campus.

Jessie Little Doe Baird, a MacArthur Fellow and linguist known for her efforts to revive a native language through the Wopanaak Language Reclamation Project, will deliver the keynote address at 7 p.m. Friday in 107 D.P. Corbett Business Building.

On Saturday, the event will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Bodwell Lounge of the Collins Center for the Arts. The day will include panel discussions on topics including curriculum development and intellectual property; celebrations of native languages; and recognition of those who have kept languages alive.

The event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by a grant from the University of Maine Humanities Center. Refreshments will be provided.

For more information or to request a disability accommodation, contact  Bethany Haverlock at 581.1417 or bethany.haverlock@umit.maine.edu.