The 2013 FEL Conference (The Seventeenth Conference of the Foundation for Endangered Languages) will be held October 1 – 4, 2013 at Carleton University, in Ottawa, the capital of Canada and headquarters of the country’s national Aboriginal organizations.
“This conference is all about connections and building collaborations , locally and internationally,” explains conference co-organizer and professor in Sociology and Anthropology, Donna Patrick. “We see it as a way to bring together all kinds of people who have concerns about Indigenous languages, as well as endangered languages in general. The conference provides a forum to share work being done, discuss current challenges and think about new projects and collaborations. Our theme embraces everything from academic research to building solidarity and connections within and among communities.”
The conference itself is a collaborative effort between the non-profit UK-based international organization, Foundation for Endangered Languages (FEL) and a group of Carleton professors in the School of Linguistics and Language Studies (Marie-Odile Junker, Kumiko Murasugi and Ida Toivonen), the Department of Sociology and Anthropology (Donna Patrick) and the Department of French (Erik Anonby). Nicholas Ostler, Chairman of FEL, invited Mary Jane Norris, a FEL member and a Carleton sociology alumnus, to serve as local chair for their 17th annual conference in 2013, to be held for the first time in Canada. As a former graduate, Mary Jane approached her home university of Carleton to collaborate in hosting the conference here in Ottawa.
The conference itself reflects connections, collaboration, and cross-disciplinary research with respect to Ottawa’s Algonquin heritage, community and the University. Mary Jane, a specialist in the demography of Aboriginal languages in Canada, is also a member of the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation. Simon Brascoupé, an Adjunct Research Professor in Carleton University’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology and internationally known Aboriginal artist from the Algonquin community of Kitigan Zibi Anishnabek, contributed his art work to the front cover of this year’s Conference Proceedings. There is also a pre-conference trip organized to visit Kitigan Zibi School which runs an Algonquin immersion program and is about a two-hour drive north of Ottawa.
These kind of collaborations are fruitful, not only with respect to what they achieve together, in the form of the conference and publication of the proceedings, but also in the benefits found in the learning process and in the relationships that are made along the way.
Visit the FEL Conference website for more information: http://forms.carleton.ca/fel/