ANTH 684 - Language Endangerment and Revitalization

(3 units)

This class explores anthropological approaches to understanding language endangerment and revitalization. Topics will include language shift, language obsolescence, endangerment, revitalization and reclamation, and comparisons of these processes across geographic and ethnographic contexts. Students will understand the ways that language change, loss, and revitalization are ultimately social processes, shaped by histories of colonialism, inequality, and political dynamics.

Maximum units a student may earn: 3

Grading Basis: Graded
Units of Lecture: 3
Offered: Every Fall - Even Years

Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. define language shift, language endangerment, and revitalization from an ethnographic and anthropological view of language and society.
2. connect language endangerment and revitalization with other social practices, policies, and politics involving cultural/historic preservation, fights for sovereignty and legitimacy, and histories of colonialism and globalization.
3. critically analyze how language endangerment and revitalization is discussed ethnographically and across different forms of media and activist movements.
4. compare and contrast the social and political dynamics that shape language endangerment and language revitalization movements across diverse ethnographic contexts.
5. identify and discuss the language ideologies and practices connected with language endangerment and revitalization.
6. apply course concepts into larger research programs and projects.

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