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The first "Inimkond" seminar in the new academic year will be held by Alexander King from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and is titled "Language Death: Why we should care about language diversity and what we can do to preserve it". The seminar will take place on Wednesday, Sept 17th, from 6 to 8pm in room T 415 (Tallinn University Terra building).

There has been no better time for anthropologists to take to heart Dell Hymes’s comment that “Language is too important to leave to linguists and linguistics is too valuable to ignore.” This century will see the disappearance of hundreds of languages and a significant reduction in the use of thousands of others. In this paper, I show how documenting endangered ways of speaking can complement the production of a sophisticated, ethical, and robust anthropology without diverting anthropologists from their primary interests and without interfering with the scholarly production they deem critical for their professional advancement. Many indigenous communities want their linguistic knowledge preserved, and many are enthusiastic about collaborative projects with anthropologists. Fortunately, documenting languages has never been easier, given the recent proliferation of computer software and inexpensive quality audio equipment. Here I will show how anthropologists can add a language documentation component to their ongoing ethnographic research projects with six easy steps. As anthropologists know, not only does speaking take place in a context, but particularities of form are an important element of cultural expression. Documenting original, contextualized linguistic forms leads to a richer and deeper anthropology. A small investment in documenting the languages we immerse ourselves in can also contribute to good relations with communities, leave a valuable legacy for the future, and make a real difference in people’s lives.

Alexander King (PhD. 2000, University of Virginia) was born and educated in the United States. He is a linguistic anthropologist and has been working with Koryak people in Kamchatka, Russia since 1995. Teaching at the University of Aberdeen since 2003, he is currently senior lecturer and head of department. His book, Living with Koryak Traditions: Playing with Culture in Siberia (2011, Nebraska) is an ethnography of speaking, analyzing the ways in which Koryak people talk about and use their traditions and culture in everyday life. He is currently working on a project to document Koryak language variety with Valentina Dedyk, a Koryak speaking linguist. This current project is funded by the ELDP (SOAS, UK) and will provide a multimedia resource of nearly 200 hours of recordings with transcriptions and translations.

"Inimkond" seminar series features speakers from anthropology and related fields, and fosters discussion of their research with a transdisciplinary audience. It aims to contribute to the culture of academic scholarship and debate at Tallinn University. Speakers include both local researchers and guests from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds and with various takes on anthropological theory and methods. Presentations in the seminar series will be of interest to staff and students in anthropology, cultural theory, sociology, and history, among others.