A thread sewn throughout my research, teaching, and advising is an emphasis on community partnerships. Because I spent three years outside of academia (2008-2011) conducting proprietary cognitive linguistic analysis at a nonprofit research institute, Real Reason, I have built connections within the political communications and advocacy field. This experience in applied linguistics informs both the content of my curriculum and my engagement with students. Apart from my involvement with the nonprofit advocacy community, I also have a passion for service learning. With a small grant from the Cachil Dehe band of Wintun Indians, I in 2013 began work with SFSU MA Linguistics students to build a smart phone application for tribal youth to learn basic vocabulary in their indigenous language, Patwin.
Colusa, CA September 2013
Language Revitalization
The preservation and revitalization of endangered languages is close to my heart. During my graduate career at UC Berkeley I worked on language revitalization initiatives with the Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians in Colusa CA. In 2004, I helped them produce a phrasebook of their language, Patwin, for use within the tribe. Here are some images of the book:
The preservation and revitalization of endangered languages is close to my heart. During my graduate career at UC Berkeley I worked on language revitalization initiatives with the Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians in Colusa CA. In 2004, I helped them produce a phrasebook of their language, Patwin, for use within the tribe. Here are some images of the book:
