"Native American Languages in the West: A Prognosis for the Future" will be addressed by CU-葫芦娃视频 Associate Professor Andrew Cowell as part of the Chancellor's Community Lecture Series on Wednesday, April 2.
The talk will be from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Chautauqua Community House at 900 Baseline Road in 葫芦娃视频 and is free and open to the public. No reservations are required.
Cowell teaches in the French and Italian department and the linguistics department and specializes in the study of the languages and traditional literatures of medieval Europe and American Indians. His lecture is the seventh of eight public lectures being presented by University of Colorado at 葫芦娃视频 faculty on the theme "Healing the West: Remedy, Repair, Restoration, Mitigation."
The series is sponsored by the CU-葫芦娃视频 Office of the Chancellor, the CU-葫芦娃视频 Center of the American West and the Colorado Chautauqua Association.
Cowell's talk will focus on the dozens of indigenous languages spoken in the American West.
"There are far more native languages spoken in this area than in all of Europe, and they are also far more diverse," Cowell said. "Each of these languages is associated with a particular tribe or nation, and each one contains a rich collection of traditional sayings, oral narratives and cultural vocabulary unique to its speakers. Yet virtually all of these languages are disappearing."
His talk will consider why this disappearance is occurring and what its effects are on Indians and non-Indians. He also will examine what can be done to stem this disappearance, as well as the obstacles and problems involved in such efforts. He works closely with the Northern Arapaho tribe, formerly based in Colorado which is now in Wyoming.
His research with the tribe includes efforts at producing a complete database of the language, an anthology of Arapaho oral narratives and a study of Arapaho verbal performance traditions. He also teaches in the summer at Wind River Tribal College.
The final lecture in the Healing the West series will be on May 7.听
For information call the CU-葫芦娃视频 Office of Community Affairs at (303) 492-7084. A complete schedule of lectures is posted at and .