WAIL abstracts and travel applications due soon!

Abstracts and applications for travel scholarships to the 21st Annual Workshop on American Indigenous Languages (WAIL 21) are due Friday, February 23.

Meeting Description

The Linguistics department at the University of California, Santa Barbara announces its 21st Annual Workshop on American Indigenous Languages (WAIL), which provides a forum for the discussion of theoretical, descriptive, and practical studies of the indigenous languages of the Americas.

Keynote Speaker: Anthony K. Webster (University of Texas at Austin)

Anthony K. Webster is a linguistic anthropologist and author of the books Explorations in Navajo Poetry and Poetics (UNM, 2009) and Intimate Grammars: An Ethnography of Navajo Poetry (Arizona, 2015). His research focuses on the interplay between language, culture, the individual and the imagination. He has published articles on Navajo ethnopoetics and Navajo language and culture in, among others, the Journal of Linguistic Anthropology; International Journal of American Linguistics; Anthropological Linguistics; Journal de la Société des Américanistes; Anthropology and Humanism; the Journal of Anthropological Research; and the Journal of American Folklore. His third book, The Sounds of Navajo Poetry: A Humanities of Speaking, is due out in 2018.

Call for Papers

Anonymous abstracts are invited for talks on any topic relevant to the study of indigenous languages of the Americas. Talks will be 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for discussion. Abstracts should be 500 words or less (excluding examples and/or references).Individuals may submit abstracts for one single-authored and one co-authored paper. Please indicate your source(s) and type(s) of data in the abstract (e.g. recordings, texts, conversational, elicited, narrative, etc.). For co-authored papers, please indicate who plans to present the paper as well as who will be in attendance.Abstracts should be submitted in .pdf format through the EasyAbs system at www.linguistlist.org/easyabs/WAIL21.Hard copy submissions will be accepted from those who do not have Internet access. Please send four copies of your abstract, along with a 3x5 card with the following information:

  1. your name
  2. affiliation
  3. mailing address
  4. phone number
  5. email address
  6. title of your paper

Send hard copy submissions to:

Workshop on American Indigenous Languages

Attn: Adrienne Tsikewa or Jesús Olguín Martinez

Department of Linguistics

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Deadline for receipt of abstracts: February 23, 2018Notification of acceptance will arrive by email no later than March 9, 2018.

Travel Scholarships

This year WAIL is pleased to offer 3 travel scholarships in the amount of $300 each. To be eligible, applicants must submit an abstract via EasyAbs and complete a brief application at the the following link:https://tinyurl.com/WAIL21TravelScholarshipApplicants will need to provide a statement that addresses the following:

  1. Why you wish to present at WAIL 21 and how it will benefit your studies and/or program milestones
  2. Your financial situation, needs, and if you are receiving any other funding to attend this conference

Successful applicants will be determined based on the quality of the submitted abstract and statement/need.

General Information

Santa Barbara is situated on the Pacific Ocean near the Santa Yñez Mountains. The UCSB campus is located near the Santa Barbara airport. Participants may also fly into LAX airport in Los Angeles, which is approximately 90 miles southeast of the campus. Shuttle buses run between LAX and Santa Barbara.For further information, please contact the conference coordinators, Adrienne Tsikewa or Jesus Olguin Martinez, at wail.ucsb@gmail.com or check out our website, http://osl.sa.ucsb.edu/org/nail/WAIL.