PHOTO: Participants of CoLang 2012 pose at University of Kansas
Collaborative Research
CoLang, the Institute on Collaborative Language Research, is a summer training institute for engaging in hands-on experiences in best practices for language documentation, descriptive linguistics, and language revitalization for linguists, researchers, students of all levels, community members, tribal leadership, language advocates and allies, and other individuals interested in community-based language work.
CoLang was founded at the University of California, Santa Barbara by Carol Genetti in 2008. At that time, it was called the Institute on Field Linguistics and Language Documentation, or InField. The name was changed to CoLang before the 2012 institute to emphasize the collaborative aspect of work with and by language communities.
CoLang provides opportunities for participants and facilitators to acquire and share knowledge in language documentation techniques and ethical community collaborative practices. The institute has continuously advanced knowledge in linguistics and language revitalization through its role in developing and sharing cutting edge practices in the scientific, ethical, and sustainable methods for understanding the linguistic structure of languages, understanding the complex and important role language plays at the community level, and for enhancing and reinforcing revitalization efforts.
CoLang recognizes and honors our sister training institutes, especially the The American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI), the Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute (CILLDI), and the Northwest Indian Language Institute (NILI). , which focus on language revitalization, teaching and applied linguistics for local tribal nations.
CoLang focuses on collaborative documentation, and hosted in different places, which helps increase access to training to local Indigenous, immigrant, international and academic communities The institute engages specialists from language communities of and non-community specialists in knowledge-sharing for acquiring appropriate skills and methods for working with communities. The collaborative learning model grows networks of language workers who support each other in developing valid and sustainable approaches to language documentation.
Governance
CoLang is governed by the Advisory Circle (AC), Local Organizing Committee (LOC), and Charter. CoLang participants and facilitators passed the initial Charter at CoLang 2012. Advisory Circle is composed of elected committee members in charge of the larger CoLang direction. The Local Organizing Committee is the current host institute organizing team responsible for training activities.
The CoLang Advisory Circle provides long-term stewardship of the institute and guidance to the Local Organizing Committee for each individual institute. Along with the Local Organizing Committee, the CoLang Advisory Circle seeks to develop public awareness of CoLang and the institute's commitment toward sustaining language diversity.
The Advisory Circle is required by the Charter to reflect the diversity of CoLang participants and facilitators. The Advisory Circle includes Indigenous scholars, linguistics professors, language activists, students, representatives from partner organizations, and hosts. Non-student members serve for four years, and student members serve for two years.
The Advisory Circle is lead by two Co-Conveners. They are existing Advisory Circle members elected for two years and serve as liaisons to the Local Organizing Committee and partnering organizations. Co-Conveners information can be found in the Advisory Circle.
Institute Hosts
Each CoLang institute is organized by one or two local director(s), one or two local host institutions, and an organizing committee. The hosts and their institutions are responsible for funding the institute, working with their institutions for accommodations, enrollment and technical help, determining the content of the workshops and practicum within AC guidelines and the spirit of CoLang (generally including a Call for New Workshop Proposals), and creating other activities and relationships that honor place and the original and current Indigenous inhabitants of that area.
CoLang recognizes the hard work, dedication, and inspiration of each local host. Information on each local hosting team can be found on the Organizing Committee sheet. At all institutes, undergraduate and graduate student volunteers provided much of the organizational help and legwork. We thank them all.
Networking
Throughout the Institute are formal and informal events where participants have the opportunity to network with potential collaborators and experts as well as building a support system. Participants become part of a growing network of language workers, language activists, language teachers, undergraduate and graduate students, and linguists from both academia and language communities who support each other in developing valid and sustainable approaches to language documentation and revitalization.
The Institute endeavors to encourage the building of relationships alongside the building of skills. Opportunities for CoLang participants to connect with each other outside of the classroom are numerous. They include time spent together at meals, in communal housing, during interactive workshops, at evening activities like Sharing Nights, and on adventurous off-campus trips.
Impact
CoLang has developed a significant track record of national and international success, and previous participants have incorporated their Institute experiences into successful documentation projects and community revitalization activities worldwide.
Many long-term collaborations have been formed at CoLang. For example, the first Institute in 2008 resulted in ongoing collaboration between Kennedy Bosire and Carlos Nash for the completion of the Ekegusii encyclopedia and a dissertation on tone in Ekegusii, while the fifth CoLang in 2016 resulted in Keven Martens Wongs’s development of a thirty-year revitalization plan for Kristang in Singapore. Emmanuel Asonye attributes the success of his work on Deaf Indigenous languages in Nigeria to his experiences at CoLang.
CoLang training has also helped ongoing community-based linguistics work with the Kwak'wala in British Columbia, the Kari’nja in Suriname, and the Mississippi Choctaw, among others. Further impacts include numerous presentations, publications, and theses and dissertations based on projects, research, and relationships developed at CoLang.
Hosting a CoLang Institute
Interested in hosting a CoLang or want more information? Just send us an email! The email should briefly express your interest in hosting the CoLang Institute, and include some initial thoughts about possible institutional support, potential organizing committee, and local language community connections. Expressions of interest are typically accepted until February, three years in advance.
To gain insight into the scope and responsibilities of hosting, we encourage interested parties to look at former CoLang NSF grants, by going to NSF awards search and searching by the terms ‘InField’ and ‘CoLang’.
You can also sign up for “General Updates” to receive news from the CoLang Advisory Committee.
Web committee
This website is organized and maintained by the CoLang Web Committee. If you are interested in joining the Web Committee or have any questions for us, reach out at info@colanginstitute.org.