Aliki Marinakis

As the Indigenous Language Program Manager in Indigenous Education at UVic, Aliki manages the delivery of language specific, community-based programs that focus on both building language proficiency in adults, and teaching certification. Working in partnership with different Indigenous communities within their own traditional territories, she supports the community’s goals around language revitalization, and specifically around language learning and teaching. 

My education at UVIC shaped my career in so many ways. Besides providing crucial skills like critical thinking, problem solving and knowledges of language contexts, it provided exposure to learning contexts that I may have never found on my own. My profs guided me towards opportunities to learn in different ways, to indigenous community contexts, to language speakers I would otherwise never have met, and key players in the field of Indigenous language revitalization. They gave me a grounding in what it means to become an ally in the fight to revitalize and maintain Indigenous languages. I had amazing profs and unforgettable experiences during my time in the Department of Linguistics, and will always be grateful to my many teachers both for what they taught me, and for how they supported me to find work and ways to contribute to this field.