Projects

Xaitsnoo Community Dictionary with Robert Geary

There are thousands of pages of notes about the Xaitsnoo (Southeastern Pomo) language sitting in the California Language Archive. I am collaborating with Robert Geary of the Elem Pomo tribe to return the knowledge these materials contain back to the community. With the support of an incredible team of undergraduate UC Berkeley students, we are building an online dictionary based on these archival materials. 

Xaitsnoo Language Classes with Robert Geary for Koi Nation

I am developing curriculum for Xaitsnoo language classes for Koi Nation, and leading classes with support from Robert Geary. In this role I am especially focused in making knowledge from academic work on the language accessible to the language community. 

Language Revitalization Working Group with Julia Peck

I co-facilitate UC Berkeley's student-run Language Revitalization Working Group. This year we have shifted our focus to more hands-on workshops to support language revitalization work. In Fall 2024 I led a workshop on making mini zines for accessible, low-cost language materials. 

Accessibility in intro linguistics courses

Access barriers abound in introductory linguistics courses, particularly with phonetics modules (consider transcription-based tasks, captioning of IPA sounds, and mid-sagittal diagrams, for example). I am developing a set of recommendations for adapting UC Berkeley's Introduction to Linguistic Science course with Universal Design for Learning in mind, addressing both the presentation of course content and the assessment of student knowledge.

California Language Archive

In spring of 2023 I worked at the California Language Archive. I focused on increasing the archive's outreach to Indigenous communities to build long-lasting relationships in support of language reclamation and organized a three-day campus visit for a group of Wintu language learners. I also brought the website up to WCAG standards, developed a FAQ page, and created a walkthrough for searching the catalogue to make the archive and its materials more accessible. 

Tense, aspect, and negation in Lobi with Sansan Claude Hien

As part of a "field methods" course I collaborated with Lobi speaker Sansan Claude Hien on describing how tense, aspect, and negation are marked in Lobi. I contributed to a grammatical sketch of the language with the goal of increasing access to the language for the Lobi diaspora (Language Science Press, to appear).