2021 Symposium

Languages on the Move: Linguistic Diaspora, Indigeneity, and Politics in the Americas

April 22, 2021

  • 3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
    | PANEL ONE: Translational Research with and for Indigenous Language Communities

Panelists: 

  • Lynn Stephen (Anthropology) and Jennifer Martinez (Portland State University), Valentín Sánchez (Oregon Law Center), “COVID-19 Impact on Indigenous Farmworkers: Vulnerabilities and Sources of Resilience” 
  • Michael Reyes (Oregon Department of Education), “Uplifting community identity: Oregon Department of Education’s Mesoamerican Language of Origin Pilot Project” 
  • Haley Shea (Miami University), “The Impact of Myaamia Nipwaayoni on Living Well for Myaamiaki” 

Chair: Gabriela Pérez Báez

Description: This panel showcases research projects driven by their translational value which is centered on the importance of a shared understanding about Indigenous languages, their diversity and their histories, as such an understanding impacts community well-being.

  • 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
    | KEYNOTE ADDRESS: “Saberes Ancestrales, Arte y Mujeres Indígenas/Ancestral Knowledge, Art and Indigenous Women” 
    Irma Pineda (Poet in Spanish and Zapotec, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs of Indigenous People).

Description: Opening remarks by Bruce Blonigen (Dean, College of Arts and Science). Keynote Address will be in Spanish; translation will be available.

April 23, 2021

  • 10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
    | PANEL TWO: Jewish Americas: The Many Diasporas and their Languages

Panelists: 

  • Bryan Kirschen (Binghamton University), “Ladino in the United States”  
  • Alan Astro (Trinity University), “Yiddish Literature in Latin America”  
  • Evelyn Dean-Olmsted (Independent Scholar), “Jewish Spanish in Ciudad de Mexico and Buenos Aires”
  • Monique R. Balbuena (Clark Honors College), “Ladino song and poetry in Latin America Today”   

Chair: Monique R. Balbuena

Description: This panel discusses a few of the Jewish languages that made their way to the Americas and acquired specific elements in the continent, also affecting the majority languages they encountered. Linguistic features and literary expressions in Yiddish and Ladino are included.

  • 1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
    | PANEL THREE: Graduate Research Showcase on Linguistic Diasporas

Panelists: 

  • Lara Boyero (Romance Languages), “Soy mujer, latina e inmigrante: An Intersectional Study of Linguistic Capital among Latina Women Immigrants in Oregon”
  • Regan Anderson (Critical & Sociocultural Studies in Education), “Yakmumamí Myalasmamíyay: Growing Yakama babies and language together”
  • Twálatin Sutterlict (Critical & Sociocultural Studies in Education), “Miimáwit Tiináwit: Our ways, our language, our children, our land”
  • Kevin Donley (Critical & Sociocultural Studies in Education), “Translanguaging pedagogy as creative resistance to English hegemony in the classroom”
  • Jill Potratz (Linguistics),”Listener’s Perception of Spanish- and Mam-Accented English in Children”

Chair: Audrey Lucero

Description: Five doctoral students from three departments (Linguistics, Romance Languages, and Education Studies) will present their research related to language in the Americas. Some of the presentations will focus on Spanish in schools and others will focus on the revitalization of indigenous languages.

Description: Music and discussion by Miguel Villegas Ventura AKA Una Isu, and Josh Norek. Una Isu is a trilingual Ñuu Savi (Mixtec) rap artist, Indigenous migrant rights activist, organizer, Tu’un Savi (Mixtec) language instructor, and dancer. Josh Norek is the frontman/MC for Hip Hop Hoodíos, a Latino-Jewish urban music collective.

All panels, presentations, and performances will be remote. To join the CLLAS email list and receive Zoom login information, please email us at cllas@uoregon.edu or subscribe here.

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