The 2014 Institute on Collaborative Language Research (CoLang/InField) will be held at The University of Texas at Arlington in June and July 2014. The Institute provides critical training to generate more and better fieldwork as a response to the global crisis of language endangerment. As a result, a wide variety of audiences become trained in a multi-faceted set of skills in community-centered language documentation. Instructors come from the international community of indigenous and academic experts to provide state-of-the-art, intensive training. Participants include undergraduate and graduate students, practicing linguists, and members of indigenous communities. With prior Institutes held in 2008 (University of California, Santa Barbara), 2010 (University of Oregon), and 2012 (University of Kansas), the Institute has a developed a significant track record of national and international success, drawing an audience from the United States, Canada, and at least twenty other countries. Previous participants have parlayed their Institute experiences into successful fieldwork ventures and community documentation projects worldwide.
The Institute consists of two parts, lasting six weeks total. First, two weeks of intensive workshops focus on the practice and principles of documentary linguistics, ranging from new technology to interdisciplinary methods to best practices in ethical community collaborations. Following that, the Institute offers an optional four weeks of intensive field methods courses focused on several different endangered languages. These integrate the technology and documentation skills acquired during the preceding workshops. The entire six-week Institute thus offers those new to fieldwork the opportunity to put into practice the newly-acquired methods, technical skills, and collaborative approaches.
Given the rapid changes in technological tools and methodologies, even since the first Institute in 2008, the 2014 Institute offers the opportunity for participants and instructors to acquire and share cutting-edge knowledge in language documentation, to network with experts and possible collaborators, and to document endangered languages onsite in the field methods classes.
