Laudato Si' Research Institute at Campion Hall, University of Oxford - ‘Endangered Tribal Languages in India’ Seminar Series

Format: Online seminar series

Date: Consecutive Wednesdays, weeks 3,4,5,6 of Michaelmas term (starting 26 October)

Time: 14.00-15.30

Contributors: Dialogue between academics from the University of Oxford and elsewhere, and researchers/practitioners from the North Eastern Institute of Language and Culture, based in the Indian State of Assam, who are working with indigenous communities to preserve, promote and revive endangered languages.

The endangerment of tribal languages is a salient issue, with some linguists estimating that between 50% and 90% of current spoken language systems will be severely endangered or dead by the year 2100. But as well as intrinsic loss, endangered languages often provide an index for wider issues of cultural, political and economic marginalization of the world’s most vulnerable populations. This series of research dialogues will explore this via themes such as poverty, globalisation and ideas of what constitutes a “sacred” identity.