CELC Seminar Series
We host regular seminars and webinars on language endangerment and revitalisation. An archive of all our past seminars is available here. Please check this page for updates to our programme.
Easter Term 2023
Saving the language of William the Conqueror: The revitalisation of Sark's Norman tongue
Martin Neudörfl (Charles University, Prague)
4 May 2023, 17.00. Davidson Room, Peterhouse.
CELC Webinar Series
During the COVID-19 pandemic, CELC began hosting a regular webinar series bringing academics, students and the general public into conversation with language activists from minority language communities.
Ceylon Portuguese: Survival Against All Odd, Prof Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya FRAS
19 May 2022, 17.00 - 17.50 BST (Cambridge)
To register, click here.
In this seminar, the survival of Ceylon Portuguese will be considered with particular reference to a community of Afrodescent whose dual heritage – African and Portuguese – is entwined in the performance of chant-like manja, accompanied by dancing. The lyrics of manja encapsulate the words of a language that has become moribund. Ceylon Portuguese is a critically endangered language and the loss of language threatens the survival of the tradition, the only inheritance from their African ancestors.
Revitalising Jèrriais: The Norman Language of Jersey
16 November 2021, 17.00 - 18.00 GMT (Cambridge)
CELC hosted a webinar on the revitalisation of Jèrriais, the Norman language of Jersey. The webinar featured contributions from Jean Le Maistre (native Jèrriais speaker and activist), Charlie Le Maistre (Jèrriais Teaching Service), Susan Parker (Jèrriais Teaching Service) and Ben Spink (Head of Jèrriais Teaching Service) as well as a Q&A session with audience participation. The webinar was moderated by CELC Founder Professor Mari Jones.
Special webinar: Ideophone patterns across Kiranti languages (Eastern Nepal), Dr Aimée Lahaussois
9 November 2021, 16.30 - 17.30 GMT (Cambridge)
We were delighted to welcome Dr Aimée Lahaussois (CNRS) to Cambridge, who is currently Visiting Fellow at Churchill College, as Senior Research Associate at CELC.
No recording of this event is available.
Revitalising Kanyenʼkéha (Mohawk)
18 May 2021, 17.30 - 19.00 BST (Cambridge), 12.30 - 14.00 EDT (Ontario)
This webinar focused on the ongoing revitalisation of Kanyen’kéha (Mohawk), an endangered Northern Iroquoian language spoken in Ontario, Quebec, and New York State. We were joined by Owennatekha Brian Maracle (founder of the Onkwawenna Kentyohkwa (OK) revitalisation school in Ohsweken, Ontario); Rohahiyo Jordan Brant (teacher at OK); Karahkwenhawi Zoe Hopkins (in charge of OK’s online programme); and Ryan DeCaire (Assistant Professor, Centre for Indigenous Studies and Department of Linguistics, University of Toronto). After individual presentations by each speaker, the audience had the opportunity to ask questions in order to discuss the topics covered in more depth.
The Future of Louisiana Creole
5 March 2021, 17.00-18.30 GMT (Cambridge), 11.00 - 12.30 CST (Louisiana)
A recording of this event is available here.
Together with the NOUS Foundation, CELC hosted a follow-up to our very popular October webinar. We continued our conversation, focusing on the future of Louisiana Creole. The event was moderated by Oliver Mayeux and featured Scott Tilton & Rudy Bazenet (NOUS Foundation), an opening presentation by Christophe Landry, and a panel discussion including Adrien Guillory-Chatman, Herbert Wiltz, Shawanda Marie, Clif St. Laurent and Jonathan Mayers.
Revitalizing Louisiana Creole
23 October 2020, 17.00-18.30 BST (Cambridge), 11.00 - 12.30 CST (Louisiana)
A recording of this event is available here
Together with the NOUS Foundation, CELC hosted a discussion of revitalizing Louisiana Creole. The event comprised three panels moderated by Oliver Mayeux (CELC): - ‘Building Bridges: New Opportunities for Louisiana Creole’ (Scott Tilton & Rudy Bazenet, NOUS Foundation); - ‘Foundations: A Retrospective on Revitalization’ (Herbert Wiltz & Christophe Landry); and - ‘Path Forward: Amplifying Louisiana Creole’ (Adrien Guillory-Chatman, Jonathan Mayers, Nathan Wendte).
