Reminder: Registration for Annual Meeting

Registration for the SSILA 2017 meeting is now open! Registration should be completed through the LSA website by going to the LSA meeting page and clicking the Register for Meeting button at the top of the page.For attendees who are not LSA members but would like to register at member rates, the following coupon codes can be used during checkout:[emember_protected]

  • 2017AMSSREG (regular members)
  • 2017AMSSSTUDENT (student members)

[/emember_protected]These codes will allow you to register as a nonmember, while receiving member rates.If you are already an LSA member, you should login to the LSA website and register as an LSA member - do not use the above coupon codes if you are already an LSA member.The LSA's annual meeting page also has links to hotel reservations, which are available through December 14.Part of the Annual Meeting schedule - the posters and 20-minute papers - is viewable by clicking the Schedule tab on the Annual Meeting page. The rest - the organized sessions, plenaries, one-off events, etc. - will be available by early October.

Change in SSILA fee structure

(This post may also be viewed as a PDF by clicking here.)Esteemed SSILA members,The SSILA Executive Committee has agreed to change the structure of our membership fees as follows:Beginning Jan. 1, 2017 an annual SSILA membership will be:

  • $60 Regular
  • $40 Under-employed, independent, under-represented, or retired scholars, as well as members of indigenous language communities of the Americas
  • $30 Student

This decision was made in light of the fact that SSILA dues have not changed since 2009, when they were raised from $16 to the current $20 annually for regular members. However, all of our costs have risen in that time, and the society is currently operating at a deficit.Despite this increase in dues, we hope that you will maintain your membership with SSILA and continue contributing to the important task of better understanding the Indigenous languages of the Americas. It is only thanks to your continued support and membership that SSILA and its regular meetings are possible. Remember that your SSILA membership comes with many benefits as well:Benefits of a SSILA Membership

  • reduced-cost subscription to the International Journal of American Linguistics (IJAL)
  • the privilege of presentation at SSILA meetings
  • ability to publish your conference presentation materials on the SSILA website for wide distribution
  • access to SSILA conference presentation materials from prior years on the SSILA website
  • timely notice of issues pertinent to the Society through:
  • the ability to run for SSILA office and shape the direction of the Society and of Linguistics as a whole
  • tax-deductible dues and donations (for U.S. members)
  • access to the membership contact list, with information about areas of specialty
  • the opportunity to review conference presentation proposals and contribute to ensuring the quality of SSILA scholarly events
  • the opportunity to contribute towards the advancement of linguistics students by serving as a reviewer of student awards (non-student members only)
  • the opportunity, as a group, to assist linguists working with the Indigenous languages of our entire hemisphere through:
    • recognition awards (Hale, Haas, Golla, Best Student Presentation)
    • travel support (5 students to Austin in 2017)
  • the collegiality of a network of like-minded people

Charitable donations to SSILA (now a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization) can be designated for any purpose such as travel support, awards, etc. To join or renew, go to http://www.ssila.org/members/join-or-renew/My thanks to all of you for your valuable work,Alice TaffSSILA President

Global Survey on Language Revitalization

Dear SSILA colleague,The Recovering Voices Initiative at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Natural History is carrying out a survey of language revitalization programs worldwide. As part of our efforts, we are asking revitalization practitioners to please share their experience with us. This research is the first of its kind, and we expect that it will yield insights that are of value to practitioners involved in language revitalization around the world.We would be most grateful if you would be willing to take a moment to tell us about the language you are working to revitalize, and about your efforts to do so. You can access the survey in various language versions:

Chinese, Arabic, and Russian versions are coming soon and will be accessible through the Recovering Voices website at http://recoveringvoices.si.edu/research/associatedresearch.html.Please also share this call and relevant links with other language revitalization practitioners.  Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Gabriela Pérez Báez at perezbaezg@si.edu.

Is your SSILA membership expired? Here's how to check and renew!

Is your SSILA membership expired? Are you not sure? Here's how to check, and renew your membership if needed!

  1. Go to http://www.ssila.org/members/member-login/.
  2. Login if you haven't already.
  3. Click on Manage Membership.
  4. Under the section titled Your Member Status, it states the date your membership expires.
  5. Has your membership expired? Click the link that says Renew Your Membership or IJAL Subscription here. (Or go to the Members option in the menu, and click Join or Renew.)
  6. Choose which items you'd like to purchase, and click the button that says Add to Cart.
  7. In your cart (on the right side of the page), click the yellow Checkout with Paypal button to complete your purchase.

If you have any questions, feel free to email the webmaster at webmaster@ssila.org.

Webinar: Documenting Endangered Languages Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants

DEL DDRIG Webinar

December 5, 2016 2:00 PM toDecember 5, 2016 3:30 PM

The DEL DDRIG solicitation, 16-617, was recently published. The solicitation can be found at https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2016/nsf16617/nsf16617.htm. This webinar will provide information for the preparation of proposals to be submitted to the Documenting Endangered Language Program (DEL) for Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (DDRIG).The webinar is scheduled for 2 pm EST, Monday December 5. It will last an hour and a half and there will be time for questions.Registration required. Register at: https://nsf.webex.com/nsf/j.php?RGID=r729dd54b7e50587827e8c7c7358905e2.Meeting number (access code): 742 845 353Meeting password: DELDDRIGs@2016Contact: Dr. Colleen Fitzgerald, Program Director for Documenting Endangered Languages cfitzger@nsf.gov

LSA 2017 Fellowship for students and faculty of Tribal Colleges and Universities

The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) and the Endangered Language Fund is partnering with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), to learn from Tribal Colleges & Universities (TCUs) how linguists can support their language research and revitalization goals, and to foster ongoing collaborations with TCU students/faculty and linguists through identifying potential sources of support for such collaborations.Twenty fellowships, which cover travel, lodging, meals, and conference registration to the LSA Annual Meeting and the Workshop (January 5-8, 2017 in Austin, Texas), will be awarded through an application process to TCU students/faculty.  Each participant will be paired with a linguistics faculty or graduate student mentor throughout the conference.More information about the project and a link to the application can be found at the following link:http://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/building-capacity-linguistics-and-endangered-languages-tribal-colleges-and-universitiesApplication deadline: November 9, 2016, 5 PM, EST

Native American Studies position at Southern Oregon University (SOU)

The Southern Oregon University (SOU) Native American Studies program invites applications for a tenure track faculty position in Native American Studies at the Assistant (possibly Associate) Professor level.The person in this position will demonstrate a strong commitment to undergraduate teaching and mentoring, and will contribute to the development of the Native American Studies program (see http://www.sou.edu/natam/index.html). This person should be able to teach the core three-quarter sequence in Native American Studies (NAS 201, 301, and 410) along with other courses to be determined according to the person’s areas of interest and program needs. This person’s specialization is open, but the program is especially interested in furthering course offerings on topics in language, ecology, and ethnobotany in a way that supports the tribal communities around SOU. This person will be a scholar-practitioner who can advance the program’s objectives of furthering Native American Studies across the wider community and of integrating Native American needs and perspectives into teaching, scholarship, and service.Read the full job posting at the link below:https://jobs.sou.edu/postings/5659

ELDP grant round open

SSILA members may be interested in applying for the Endangered Languages Documentation Program (ELDP) annual grant:The grant round closes 15th January 2017, 5pm (GMT) and applicants will be notified of the result by 15th June 2017.The types of grants available are:

  • Small Grants of up to £10,000
  • Small Grants of up to £10,000
  • Individual Postdoctoral Fellowships
  • Major Documentation Projects

Our key objectives are:

  • to support the documentation of as many endangered languages as possible
  • to encourage fieldwork on endangered languages
  • to create a repository of resources for linguistics, social science, and the language communities
  • to make the documentary collections freely available

You can find detailed guidelines about the scope of our programme, the different grant types and eligibility criteria here: http://www.eldp.net/en/our+ grants/grant+types/All applications must be submitted online. You can access the application forms through our website: http://www.eldp.net/en/apply/all+grant+types/

Native American Linguistics & Language Revitalization position at University of Arizona

The Department of Linguistics at the University of Arizona is initiating a search for a tenure-track position in Native American Linguistics and Language Revitalization.  The position requires a PhD in Linguistics or a related discipline, and involves teaching and mentoring at the undergraduate and graduate levels, conducting research, and undertaking service duties in Native American Linguistics and Language Revitalization. The course load is 2-2, including courses in both our Native American Master's in Linguistics program and in the Language Revitalization track of our PhD program.The full job add may be viewed here.We are eager to be sure that ALL potential candidates have a chance to consider our ad! Please forward this announcement as widely as you can, and if you or someone you know may potentially be interested in applying but have questions, please contact me (or have them contact me: hharley@email.arizona.edu). Also feel free to send us suggestions for potential candidates who we could reach out to!Here's a link to our current Graduate Handbook, in case you'd like to check the relevant graduate programs out.

  • Master of Arts in Native American Languages and Linguistics: p. 27-28
  • PhD track in Language Revitalization: p. 10-11
  • Joint PhD in Anthropology and Linguistics: p. 23-25

At the undergraduate level, the Department of Linguistics offers a survey course on Native American Languages, among diverse other courses in linguistics, and also language courses in the Tohono O'odham and Navajo languages.The University of Arizona is also home to the American Indian Languages Development Institute (AILDI), which brings students and educators working in Indigenous language revitalization to campus every summer for an intensive course of study.

Call for Tribal College & University Linguistics Workshop Participants

(Reposted from the LSA website)The LSA joined with its project partners to issue the following call to students and faculty at Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) to apply to participate in a special workshop on language and linguistics at the LSA's upcoming Annual Meeting in Austin, TX. Please share this call [pdf] with anyone who might be interested.Are you studying, teaching, or revitalizing languages at your Tribal College or University? Have you wanted to know more about linguistics, how to work with linguists, or why linguists described your language the way they did?The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) is partnering with AIHEC on a grant that LSA received from the National Science Foundation (Grant No. 1643510) to collaborate in building the research capacity of Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) and in broadening participation by American Indians and Alaska Natives in the language sciences. This project seeks to learn from TCUs how linguists can support their language research and revitalization goals, and to foster ongoing collaborations with TCU students/faculty and linguists through identifying potential sources of support for such collaborations.The centerpiece of the project will be a full-day workshop designed to address the interests and needs of TCU faculty and students in their work on language and the scientific study of language (linguistics). Twenty fellowships, which cover travel, lodging, meals, and conference registration to the LSA Annual Meeting and the Workshop (January 5-8, 2017 in Austin, Texas), will be awarded through an application process to TCU students/faculty. Each participant will be paired with an LSA faculty or graduate student mentor throughout the conference.Selection criteria includes: 1) current TCU student or faculty, 2) maximizing TCU representation, 3) match between participant goals and resources of the workshop and the LSA meeting as a whole, and 4) the participant’s ability to travel to Austin, TX in early 2017 for the all-day workshop on January 5th.To apply, complete the form by clicking here, or paste this link into your browser: https://goo.gl/forms/KvxdT5K0fb4zRVLp1. The deadline for submission is November 9, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. EST.If you are not able to attend the workshop or the Annual Meeting, but would like to be notified when video from the workshop is published, please complete this form.To learn more about the Linguistic Society of America and this project, click here. Again, the submission deadline is 5:00 p.m. EST on November 9, 2016.