Language & Culture
American Indian Language Development Institute
The American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI) has provided effective training of Native American language educators, practitioners and researchers from across the U.S., Canada, South America, and various parts of the world. Since the establishment of AILDI, its primary mission has been to advocate Indigenous language rights and to ensure linguistic and cultural diversity. In its long history, AILDI has developed a format that has worked exceptionally well for educators with diverse experiences and needs.
AILDI is a four week residential summer program at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It is housed in the Department of Language, Reading & Culture in the College of Education. It offers six credit hours at the graduate and undergraduate level that can be applicable towards ESL and other state endorsements or any other university program.
The Arizona State Museum
At Arizona State Museum you experience the vibrant indigenous cultures of Arizona and northern Mexico throuhg exhibitions, educational programs, a research library, and a museum store. The museum's scholars and extensive collections are among the most significant resources in the world for the study of Southwest peoples. Arizona State Museum is...
- Arizona's premier research museum
- The oldest and largest anthropology museum in the Southwest, est. 1893
- A Smithsonian Institution affiliate
- Home of the largest whole vessel collection of Southwest Indian pottery in the world
ArtsReach
ArtsReach is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating communities of literacy for Native American students and families, encouraging cultural vitality and academic success through the power of imaginative writing. We are currently located on the second floor of the Historic Y near 4th Avenue. ArtsReach works closely with local artists to provide intensive writing workshops in schools and communities that are predominantly Native American. We produce an annual student anthology, Dancing with the Wind, which showcases the best works of both academic and artistic writing.
The Critical Languages Program
The Critical Languages Program was created in order to meet the need for instruction in less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) which are not offered either by traditional departments or formats at the University of Arizona. All basic language courses emphasize speaking and aural comprehension at the elementary and intermediate levels while a writing component is incorporated at the advanced level. Languages offered vary from semester to semester and year to year, depending upon student demand.
The Department of Linguistics
The University of Arizona Department of Linguistics offers undergraduate and graduate programs in linguistics and human language technology. Our faculty has research specializations in phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, computational linguistics, psycholinguistics, language acquisition, represented by diverse interests in a variety of languages. We also offer unique programs in Native American linguistics. The department trains students for careers in teaching, research, and industry, and is equipped with a variety of laboratory facilities.
The Joint Program in Linguistics and Anthropology at the University of Arizona
The University of Arizona offers a Ph.D. program in Anthropology and Linguistics. The program makes it possible for students to pursue the study of language and linguistic theory drawing on the resources of both the Linguistics Department and the linguistic anthropology program within the Anthropology Department, without having to go through two separate Ph.D. programs.
National Center for Interpretation Testing, Research and Policy
The National Center for Interpretation Testing, Research and Policy (NCITRP)
is a renowned research and public service office whose mission is to help
private and public agencies develop efficient and effective language
policies and create appropriate language and interpreting services. NCITRP
is the country's major repository for theoretical and practical aspects of
specialized interpretation, its cognitive underpinnings, its ethical
parameters, its best practice, its assessment, and the policy that guides
it. The NCI is committed to using this knowledge in support of it
(community, local, national and international) to ensure equal access to
both civil rights and social services for all limited-and-non-English
members of the community, as it has for nearly 30 years. Moreover, the
NCITRP is committed to doing so in a way which respects and supports the
cultural and linguistic diversity and it sees as a profound asset within any
community.
One of its many programs is the New Mexico/Arizona Navajo Interpreter
Certification Project. It has been an ongoing project since 1995. As of
2006, the Navajo Interpreter Certification Project has certified 119
individuals and trained approximately 200. For more information, please
contact our office.
RED INK: A Native American Student Publication
RED INK's primary mission is to cultivate and highlight Native American intellectual and creative expression through the media of poetry, short stories, creative non-fiction, scholarly articles, original artwork and photography, and book, music, and film reviews. RED INK also promotes an ongoing discourse with students, professors, tribal leaders, tribal members, and all other interested communities (Native and non-Native) regarding critical and timely Native American issues. In an attempt to present a journal that is both challenging and accessible, RED INK is interdisciplinary in focus and provides a vital forum for both students and non-students to engage in an open dialogue with other Native American researchers and writers in their respective fields.
Technology-enhanced Language Revitalization
Tohono O'odham Community Action
TOCA is a community-based organization dedicated to creating cultural revitalization, community health and sustainable development on the Tohono O'odham Nation. TOCA was founded in 1996 as a non-profit organization.
Words & Place
Through a unique blend of imagery and sound, this website captures the complex oral traditions of Native American communities in the American Southwest. Songs are sung and stories told within the landscapes which inspired them. The tapes explore a world in which words and place possess symbolic and time-honored significance. Native oral tradition generates a history separate and distinct from the written history of the West.
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