Bernadette Perry, a PhD student in French, has spent hundreds of hours honing Explorez, her new French-language video game that helps students reinforce their language skills while exploring the UVic campus.
Margaret Erasmus, of Yellowknives Dene First Nation, conducted her master's research on the mental and physical health benefits of learning one’s language as an adult.
Cultural exchange is a core component of the program at UVic’s English Language Centre. A simple request for "something more"—suggested by the Department of Education in the state of Veracruz, Mexico—created what has become an invaluable opportunity for Indigenous-international collaboration and dynamic learning at UVic.
The new Language Revitalization Pole, commissioned by the First Nations Education Foundation (FNEF), will be located at UVic as a centrepiece of UN International Year of Indigenous Languages and is also a significant point of reflection for UVic’s ongoing commitment to the work of decolonizing and Indigenizing the university.
Martin Ashwood-Smith (BA ’92) likens his signature crossword puzzles to good magic tricks. Part alchemy, part craft, part art, the Victoria-based constructor who has published 1,000 crossword puzzles—including 85 in the cruciverbalist’s holy grail, The New York Times—starts with a grid. And very few black squares.
A new guide by UVic researcher Onowa McIvor invites everyone to embark on an Indigenous language learning journey. "The most powerful act of reconciliation that anybody could do in terms of Indigenous languages is to learn the Indigenous language of the land they are on," says McIvor.
As lawmakers and social media companies scramble to find ways to stop the spread of fake news ahead of the US midterms, a UVic English professor is taking a close read of America’s political “God gap.” Chris Douglas’s research examines the rise of the Christian right in American politics and society since the 1970s through an often-overlooked medium—literature.
On the 11th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Sept. 13, 2007), the Canadian Commission on UNESCO published this three-page quick-facts and tips guide to Indigenous languages in Canada.
When Marie Cooper (SWETALIYE) received her Honorary Doctor of Education degree from UVic in 2010, it was a moment she had been steering toward her entire life. A teacher, counsellor, Elder, advocate and innovator, Dr. Cooper’s efforts to promote and defend Indigenous education, language and culture led to the inclusive transformation of educational policies and practices for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.
Tiffany Chan taught a web bot to write like a nineteenth-century author for her English master’s project—with amusing results.
UVic Indigenous studies student Kevin Perkins is wrapping up three co-op work terms with a First Nations-run Crown Corporation that supports the revitalization of Indigenous languages, culture and heritage in BC. He’s also part of the cohort of students who pushed UVic’s co-op and career program past 85,000 co-op term placements since 1976.
As an Indigenous student, Kevin Perkins wanted related work experience that aligned with his heritage and career goals and to give back to the community. He found that blend of academics and paid, culturally relevant work through the world’s only dedicated Indigenous co-op program.
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Growing up on a small island three hours north of Victoria, the outdoors served as Iona Lister's classroom. Home-schooled for the most part until high school, Lister spent her days reading, writing and making music while immersed in nature. The English master's student, who graduates this June, has since taken to travelling, trekking across Europe and South America, and learning several languages, including Spanish and French.
Margaret Fireman understands that language upholds her culture. Without language, oral traditions and wisdom passed down from her Cree ancestors would be lost. Language, she says, is closely tied to the land. And so when Fireman, a residential school survivor and then-manager of Chisasibi Heritage and Cultural Centre in northeastern Quebec, was searching for a program to bolster the preservation of her community's language of James Bay Cree, she chose carefully.
This four-letter word has a bad reputation among language purists, but new research from linguist Alex D’Arcy proves “like” is one of the English language’s most versatile words, with its use stretching back to Old English. Much of her work focuses on two controversial and misunderstood functions of “like."
