K. David Harrison, a leading specialist in the study of endangered languages and co-leader of the National Geographic Enduring Voice project, will deliver a lecture titled “Endangered Languages: Local and Global Perspectives” at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, in Social Science Building Room 356 at The University of Montana.
Harrison is an associate professor at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and has conducted extensive fieldwork in Siberia, Mongolia, Bolivia, India and North America. His work includes scientific descriptions of languages, as well as storybooks, translations and digital archives for use by the language community.
Approximately half of the world’s 7,000 languages are predicted to go extinct this century. In his lecture, Harrison will address how language death leads to intellectual impoverishment in all fields of science and culture. He also will detail efforts to sustain, value and revitalize linguistic diversity worldwide.