Guest Speaking

Awakening Sleeping Native Languages through Stories

Language and culture are fundamentally intertwined. Indeed, from a linguist's perspective, language is culture. There is perhaps no better example of this than through the stories we tell. In this talk, Dr. Jordan Douglas-Tavani tells a tale about how stories have been critical to reawakening Native American languages long after they had gone dormant following the dawn of the colonial era.

Subjects: Indigenous Languages; DEI; Life and Culture

How Time is Conceived through Language

Time is a fundamental part of the human experience. We all live linear lives, progressing from when we are born, through our youth and adulthood, until eventually we reach our golden years. But time is, in reality, a social construct. Different cultures have different conceptualizations of time. These disparate perceptions of reality are hard-coded into the languages that we speak. In this talk, Dr. Jordan Douglas-Tavani tells-all about time and language. 

Subjects: Indigenous Languages; DEI; Life and Culture

No Past, Present, or Future: Languages without Time

We live in the present. The past is behind us. The future is ahead of us. This is how we see the world in English and in many European languages and cultures. You cannot talk about anything without understanding when it took place. But this is not the only way to conceptualize our relationship with time. In many languages, there is no past, present, or future. In this talk, Dr. Jordan Douglas-Tavani takes you on a journey to languages where relative time is relatively unimportant, examining how instead the world and our relationship to it is understood without relative time. 

Subjects: Indigenous Languages; DEI; Life and Culture

What Happens When a Language Goes Dormant?: The Reality Facing Many Indigenous Languages

Languages are the ways in which we communicate as societies. Communities come together to create systems of communication which are unique to and reflect their shared experiences. A tragic reality for many indigenous peoples is that our languages are either highly endangered or they have already gone dormant, meaning that there are not any people who grew up speaking them from childhood. In this talk, Dr. Jordan Douglas-Tavani explains what happens when a language goes dormant and what can be done to wake it back up. 

Subjects: Indigenous Languages; Community; DEI; Life and Culture

Honoring the Past while Making Way for the Future: The Challenge of Indigenous Language Revitalization

One of the most important goals for many indigenous peoples is language revitalization. This is the act of breathing new life and energy into a language in order to either promote its continued use or to bring it back to a point where it is being spoken, if the language has gone dormant. A critical challenge that indigenous language communities face in this process is how to honor the past of their language and culture while making way for the future in our post-colonial world. In this talk, Dr. Jordan Douglas-Tavani breaks down this challenge and how different communities have taken it on. 

Subjects: Indigenous Languages; Community; DEI; Life and Culture;  Social Issues

Community-Led Linguistics: Indigenous Language Revitalization 

Indigenous language revitalization is the process of breathing new life into indigenous languages. Made necessary due to centuries of colonialism, many indigenous communities are actively working to revitalize their languages. An issue that often arises in this process is the lack of technical training and experience in linguistics. Given the historical interweaving of linguistics with colonialism, this is no small problem. In this talk, Dr. Jordan Douglas-Tavani discusses this thorny issue for language revitalization and how the field has begun shifting to a model of community-led linguistics, presenting anecdotes from his own work. 

Subjects: Indigenous Languages; Community; DEI; Life and Culture; Social Issues

Linguistic Appropriation, Ownership, and Native American Languages

One of the defining features of the Indigenous American experience is the connection to our traditional lands. Our cultures, and through them, our languages are shaped by the flow of the rivers, the ebb of the tides, and the sharp upwelling of rock and stone. A great tragedy of the Native American experience is the disconnection from our lands, and through them, our cultures and languages. In this talk, Dr. Jordan Douglas-Tavani, a member of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indians of Alaska, discusses how our contemporary society is fraught with the linguistic appropriation of Native American languages. 

Subjects: Indigenous Languages; DEI; Life and Culture; Social Issues 

The Rich Linguistic Landscape of the Pacific Northwest: A Linguistic Melting Pot

When one thinks about the Pacific Northwest, many images are evoked. Images of the verdant temperate rainforests, the imposing mountains, and the lush valleys. Thoughts may turn to Starbucks and Seattle or Nike and Portland. But far too often not thought of as what the Pacific Northwest was like before colonization. Home to many different peoples, the Pacific Northwest was and remains one of the greatest areas of linguistic and cultural diversity on the continent. In this talk, Dr. Jordan Douglas-Tavani takes listeners on a tour of the rich linguistic landscape of the Pacific Northwest -- a true linguistic melting pot.  

Subjects: Indigenous Languages; Community; DEI; Life and Culture 

How Language is Used to Create Identity

Language is one of the main ways in which we interact with each other. We use it to communicate and understand. We use it to build and negotiate our understandings of reality. Of what is true and what is false. Many use it to build entire worlds that exist only in our words and our hearts. While not everyone will create fictional worlds with language, everyone uses it to create identities. Be it our own identity or the identities of others -- we are always negotiating who we are and the identities that we hold. In this talk, Dr. Jordan Douglas-Tavani explains how this delicate linguistic dance plays out in our daily lives.  

Subjects: Indigenous Languages; Community; DEI; Life and Culture; Social Issues 

An Ethnolinguistic Guide to Inclusive Fiction Writing 

Creative writing, and in particular, fantasy and science fiction writing, is fraught with controversy. Not just the disagreements of whether or not a character is well written or if a plot is full of holes -- but controversies that strike at the heart of our real-world social and political issues. Fetishization, exoticization, and infantilization of indigenous peoples is rampant in fiction writing. It is far too common that indigenous-coded peoples are turned into the monsters of these stories. Either literally, in the case of goblins and orcs, or figuratively, through the use of one-dimensional portrayals and descriptive language which betrays an underlying antagonism or racism against indigenous peoples. A solution to this problem is the application of ethnolinguistic principles to designing and writing the peoples and cultures of fictional worlds. In this talk, Dr. Jordan Douglas-Tavani provides listeners with an ethnolinguistic guide to fiction writing.  

Subjects: Creative Writing; Community; DEI; Social Issues 

Crafting Languages in Fictional Worlds: How Conlanging Works

Language and culture are intrinsically linked. This fact was capitalized on by JRR Tolkien in his masterpiece "The Lord of the Rings", who created an entire family of Elvish languages to help make his world and the people within feel so vividly real. In the last decade, Hollywood has dedicated an increasing amount of resources to develop fictional languages and cultures. Dothraki and High Valyrian from 'Game of Thrones", Na'vi from James Cameron's "Avatar", and the mysterious circular writing in "Arrival" all highlight how successful these endeavors can be. In this talk, Dr. Jordan Douglas-Tavani presents the history and how-to for building fictional languages.

Subjects: Creative Writing; Life and Culture

Speaking Long Lost Tongues: The Fictional History and Languages of Lord of the Rings & Tolkien 

"Lord of the Rings" is one of the best-selling works of fiction ever written. One of the keys to the success of Tolkien's work is his use of language. A professional philologist (a sister study to linguistics) and scholar of English classics such as Beowulf, Tolkien was keenly aware of the power of language. In addition to creating a family of Elvish languages, Tolkien painstakingly toiled over the names, history, and cultures of his Middle Earth. In this talk, Dr. Jordan Douglas-Tavani presents on the history, inspirations,  and brilliance of Tolkien's languages and how they would go on to inspire generations of fiction writers. 

Subjects: Creative Writing