Language Documentation: Theory, Practice, and Values
Date: July 9-11, 2005
Time:
Saturday, 8am-5:30pm
Sunday, 8am-1pm
Monday, 8am-12pm
Location:
Harvard, Emerson 104 on Saturday, July 9th and Sunday, July 10th
Harvard, Boylston 303 on Monday, July 11th

Workshop Program

Impelled by concerns of the accelerating loss of languages, language  archiving has emerged as a prominent issue for linguists and for heritage language speakers alike.  The quality of documentation available for an endangered language can determine the success of its revitalization. The present conference has been organized by participants in the LSA Conversation on Endangered Languages Archiving to bring archiving issues, especially electronic archiving issues, before the linguistic community. Six themes will be treated at the conference in conventional paper presentation sessions, in poster sessions, and in panel presentations with open discussion.  These themes are:(1) the requirements of field linguistic training, (2) the concerns and involvement of the heritage language communities,  (3) the question of what is adequate documentation,  (4) the uses of documentation in speaker communities, (5) training and careers in field linguistics, and (6) ethics and archiving best practices.

Presenters of papers and posters in the public sessions on July 9 and 10 will be asked to join the LSA Conversation group on the morning of July 11 in a closed session; that meeting will be the second LSA Conversation to advise the Society on efforts it should undertake in endangered language archiving.

Organizers:
N. Louanna Furbee, LSA Archivist, and members of LSA Conversation on Endangered Languages Archiving

Contact:
N. Louanna Furbee, louanna100@yahoo.com
Lenore Grenoble, Lenore.A.Grenoble@dartmouth.edu
Arienne Dwyer, anthlinguist@mail.ku.edu
Suzanne Flynn, sflynn@mit.edu (local arrangements)

Invited speakers:
Peter Austin (SOAS, London, England)
Laura Buszard-Welcher (Rosetta Project and UC Berkeley)
Phil Cash Cash (University of Arizona & Nez Perce Tribe)
Arienne Dwyer (Kansas University)
K. David Harrison (Swarthmore, & Chair, LSA CELP)
Martha Macri (UC Davis, & Terralingua)
Paul Newman (Indiana University)
Nicholas Ostler (Foundation for Endangered Languages)
Susan Penfield (University of Arizona)
Keren Rice (Toronto University)