Season finale of UAS Evening at Egan features presentation on Lingít Language Revitalization in a Musical Context, December 10

The team has focused on bringing Lingít tundatáani—the Lingít thought world—into the pedagogy, which is transforming the way music is being taught at Sítʼ Eetí Shaanáx̱ (Glacier Valley Elementary)

Juneau, Alaska

Date of Press Release: December 6, 2021

The annual fall lecture series Evening at Egan has its last presentation this Friday, December 10 at 7 p.m.: Woosh Jín Tulshát Yeisú: Weʼre Still Holding Each Others’ Hands - Lingít Language Revitalization in a Musical Context, featuring experts X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell, Gax̱.áan.sán Lorrie Heagy, Koolyéik Roby Littlefield, George Holly, and Meghan Johnson.

Over the past year, the presenters have been working with a team of Lingít speakers, language teachers, and music teachers to develop methods for teaching violin through Lingít. Even though this is a new area for the language, the team has focused on bringing Lingít tundatáani—the Lingít thought world—into the pedagogy, which is transforming the way music is being taught at Sítʼ Eetí Shaanáx̱ (Glacier Valley Elementary). By taking the language to new places, they have collaborated to increase access to language learning and to incorporate the use of Lingít in a new subject area. In this reflection on the work, the presenters will cover current initiatives in Lingít language revitalization, an overview of teaching violin using Lingít, and the process of language modernization.

This year due to the COVID-19 pandemic all Evening at Egan events will be offered virtually using Zoom. The full line-up of speakers and registration links is currently live on the Evening at Egan website. Once registered, a link is provided to the participant. After each event, the lectures are posted to the UAS YouTube channel. These videos can also be accessed via the website, with the button for each lecture changing its label from “free registration” to “watch video.”

Updates for the lectures series can be found on the Evening at Egan website. Lectures can be watched live or recorded on the UAS YouTube channel.

Planning for the 2022 season will begin in early spring. Proposals for speakers will be accepted between now and the end of March 2022 by contacting Keni Campbell, UAS Public Information Officer at klcampbell4@alaska.edu.