PAUL L. ALLEN

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=local&story_id=092705a5_indigenouswbox

Several University of Arizona departments are collaborating in a yearlong speakers series focusing on the challenges of indigenous people and languages.

Spearheaded by the College of Education, the project will highlight how the voices of indigenous peoples have been silenced over the years, how they have been portrayed - often erroneously - in scholarly research and how their languages are being lost.

"We're collaborating with specialists on campus and from around the United States and the world to embrace the richness of indigenous cultures and the special contributions they make to society and education," said Ronald W. Marx, dean of the College of Education.

As part of the UA effort, Perry Gilmore, associate professor of language, reading and culture, and UA linguistics professor Ofelia Zepeda will conduct a research seminar in December at the Smithsonian Institution's new National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

THE LECTURES

Admission to the UA lectures is free and open to the public. All run from 6 to 7 p.m. Fridays in the College of Education's Kiva Auditorium, 1430 E. Second St.

Oct. 7: Edna MacLean, Iñupiaq-Eskimo and president of Ilisagvik College in Barrow, Alaska; efforts to preserve the language and culture at the community college.

Oct. 21: Greg Cajete, Tewa author from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque; indigenous world views in science education.

Oct. 28: Bryan Brayboy, Lumbee assistant professor with the American Indian/Ethnic Studies program at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City; identities and positions of indigenous students in higher education.

Nov. 4: Michael Krauss, University of Alaska-Fairbanks and former president of the Society for the Study of Indigenous Languages; the ethics of linguistics in language revitalization and documentation efforts.

For more information: 626-3473 or anat@u.arizona.edu.