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Visions of Development in Minority
and Indigenous Societies:
Where Have All the Yaks Gone?
Friday & Saturday, May 20 - 21
The grasslands are changing. Across the Tibetan Plateau, desertification, biodiversity loss and ecological relocations are dramatically altering the landscape, and reshaping Tibetan society. What’s happening on the grasslands today poses unprecedented challenges to Tibetan communities, and will have a profound impact on them far into the future.
Report of 1st lecture
Trace Foundation Launched First Lecture Series, November 22, 2008
On November 22, Trace Foundation successfully launched a new lecture series program in New York City, with the first series entitled, Minority Language in Today’s Global Society. The lecture series program creates a forum for exchange and discussion between Tibetan specialists and other regional, disciplinary, and professional experts on a variety of issues, with the aim of promoting greater insights, cooperation, and new activities in the work of all those involved. The opening lecture event was an introduction to the series exploring various challenges, supports, and developments for minority languages throughout the world in general, with a focus on Tibetan language in China. Lectures were given by five distinguished speakers from various backgrounds. The full-day event filled Latse Library’s Reading Room with a diverse audience of people from backgrounds such as linguistics, education, journalism, linguistic and cultural maintenance, and more.
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Report of 2nd lecture
Perspectives in Mother Tongue Education, February 21-22, 2009
On February 21, Trace Foundation marked the tenth annual International Mother Language Day with a two-day lecture event at Latse Library in New York City. This followed up on November’s opening session of the Minority Language in Today’s Global Society lecture series.
In this second session, entitled “Perspectives in Mother Tongue Education,” the focus was on the possibilities and challenges involved in implementing mother tongue education across the world, and particularly in Tibetan communities in China. Trace Foundation was honored to host François Grin, Professor of Economics at the School of Translation and Interpretation (ETI) of the University of Geneva in Switzerland; Shawo Dondrup, Project Manager of Trace Foundation’s Pilot Project Hainan Prefecture Junior Middle School of Qinghai Province in China; Minglang Zhou, Associate Professor and Chair of the East Asian Studies Department at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania; Tenzin Norbu Nangsal, Instructor of Modern Tibetan Language at Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute; and Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Professor Emerita of both the University of Roskilde’s Department of Languages and Cultures in Denmark and Åbo Akademi University’s Department of Education in Finland.
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October 23-24, 2009 - Vitality and Viability of Minority Languages
March 26-27, 2010 - Minority Language in Today's Global Society: Perspectives on Language Standardization
Interdependent Diversities:
The Relationship between Language, Culture, and Ecology
September 24 - 25, 2010
Each language is a unique key to a community’s world view and culture and plays a central role in transmitting historically-developed knowledge about specific, biologically-diverse environments. There is an increasing awareness and recognition of linguistic, cultural, and biodiversity as inter-related and mutually supporting aspects of the diversity of life. As such, the crises affecting these aspects—from biological extinction to disappearing languages—appear to converge and even drive each other on. Understanding the integrated nature of these crises is essential to working towards solutions.
As part of the UN-declared International Year of Biodiversity, on Friday and Saturday, September 24th and 25th, 2010, Trace Foundation will convene the fifth lecture in our lecture series Minority Languages in Today’s Global Society. In this event, we will examine the relationship between linguistic, cultural, and biological diversity from the perspectives of traditional land use, livelihoods, and medical knowledge. Read more
Minority Language in Today's Global Society: Alive and Digital
Saturday, Nov. 20th, 10:00 am- 5:00 pm
Sunday, Nov. 21st, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
In this age of digitalization, technology is playing an increasingly important role in both the preservation and development of minority languages. From blogs and video sharing to text messaging and social media, powerful technologies are shaping the future of minority languages. This movement is stretching the boundaries of minority language communities beyond “geographical place” into a “digital place,” bringing together communities from all regions of the world.
What technological breakthroughs lie ahead and how technology today is impacting linguistic minorities worldwide? Alive & Digital, the sixth and final event in Trace Foundation’s first lecture series, Minority Language in Today’s Global Society, will bring together scholars and experts who have worked extensively on minority language preservation and new technologies. Read more