INVITED TALKS

2024

Indigenous Approaches to Nature: Insights at a Time of Planetary Crisis. Public Lecture given at the Laudato Si' Research Institute, Campion Hall, University of Oxford, UK. 13 November 2024.

 

2024

Can Endangered Languages be Revived? A Case Study of Hrusso Aka. Talk given at the 4th International Conference of The Tibeto-Burman Linguistics Association of North East India, English and Foreign Languages University, Shillong, 7-9 February 2024.

 

2023

Disappearance of Indigenous languages: What is at stake and what can we do? Presented at The Indigenous Peoples, Synodality & Asian Church, Asian School of Wisdom, Chiang Mai, Thailand, Oct 27-30.

 

2023

Mother Tongue Education in North East India: Necessity, Possibilities and Challenges. Presented at the Annual Conference of the School Principals, the Kohima Jesuit Education Commission, Guwahati, India, September 23.

 

2023

The Word Among us: Language Endangerment and Faith in North East India. Presented at the Oriens Theological Institute, Shillong, Meghalaya, August 1.

 

2023

Language Oppression, Social Exclusion and Linguistic Justice. Presented at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar. February 27.

 

2023

Indigenous Cosmologies and Land Conflicts: North East India. Presented at the webinar Contestations in Land and Agriculture: New Perspectives in Theology and Ethics, Laudato Si Research Institute, Campion Hall, University of Oxford, May 17.

 

2023

Tower of Babel or Power of Babel? Language Diversity and Endangerment in North East India. Presented at Shalom Biblical Seminary, Kohima, Nagaland, March 31.

 

2023

Language Endangerment in North East India: From despair to hope. Presented at Tetseo College, Kohima, Nagaland, March 30.

 

2022

Language Documentation: Whose need? Box-ticking vs Community-based language documentation. Presented at the 3-day workshop on Documenting and Developing Cultural Heritage: Methodological Approaches, Nagaland University, September 9.

 

2022

The Linguistic Edge: Speaking Your Heritage Language for a Better and Smarter Future. Presented at Alder College, Kohima, Nagaland, September 8.

 

2020

Steps, Contours, and a Hidden Wanderer: Tone in Hrusso Aka. Indophon-I online phonology talk Series, November 24.

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2020

Orchid, Our Sister: Identities, relationality, and language documentation. SOAS Linguistics Webinar, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 28 July.

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2020

More Than Just Words: Learning from an Endangered Indigenous Language. Campion Hall, University of Oxford, Oxford, June 08.

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2019

When Hope Is Stubborn: Preserving an Endangered Language in the Himalayan Foothills. TGSS, Tibetan and Himalayan Studies, University of Oxford, Oxford, May 30.

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2019

Let Them Live! Documenting Endangered Languages. Prior Park School, Bath Spa, UK, March 28.

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2018

Let These Voices Endure: Documenting Endangered Languages, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, October 1.

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2017

A Scientific Orthography for Aka (Hrusso). Seminar on Aka (Hrusso) orthography, organised by the Aka (Hrusso) Elite Society, Bhalukpong, Arunachal Pradesh, August 31.

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2016 

Documentation and Description of Hrusso Aka. Introducing Endangered Languages, Taylor Institute Library, University of Oxford, Oxford, October 26.

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2016

A Phonologically Grounded Orthography for Aka (Hrusso). Symposium on Aka (Hrusso) orthography, organised by the Aka (Hrusso) Elite Society, Bhalukpong, Arunachal Pradesh, May 13

 

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
 

2024

Uprooted Words, Despoiled Worlds: When Linguistic Violence Breeds Ecological Crisis. Plenary talk presented at the 1st International Conference on Language, Ecology and Culture, North Eastern Institute of Language and Culture, Guwahati, September 30-October 1.

 

2023

Sentence-final Particles in Hrusso Aka: A Descriptive Study. Presented at the 12th International Conference of the North East Indian Linguistic Society, Gauhati University, Guwahati, Feb 2-5.

 

2023

Language Celebration as a Resilience Strategy: Joy, Laughter and Memories in Language Conservation. Presented at the International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation (online), University of Hawaii, Manova, March 3-5.

 

2022

Exploring ethical frameworks for valuing endangered languages. Presented at the Transdisciplinary Dialogue Series on Endangered Languages -1. Organised by NEILAC, Guwahati and LSRI, Campion Hall, University of Oxford, UK, October 26.

 

2022

Multidimensional poverty and endangered languages and cultures. Presented at the Transdisciplinary Dialogue Series on Endangered Languages -2. Organised by NEILAC, Guwahati and LSRI, Campion Hall, University of Oxford, UK, November 2.

 

 

2022

Pitch and Prominence in Hrusso Aka: A Study of Tone-Stress Interaction. Presented at the 26th International Conference of the South Asian Linguistic Analysis Roundtable (SALA), Madan Bhandari College, Kathmandu. November 26-29.

 

2019

The Village Goat and the Cosmic Domains: The Hidden World of Meaning Systems. Presented at the IV Linguistic Students Research Conference, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, June 10.

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2018    

What Do We Preserve for the Future, Why, and Who Decides? Presented at the Documentary Linguistics: Asian Perspectives – 3. Language documentation and reclamation of cultural heritage, Mahidol University, Bangkok, July 23.

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2018

Context-Based Revitalization: Emerging Revitalisation Efforts among the Hrusso Aka. Presented at the Eighth Cambridge Conference on Language Endangerment, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, July 4.

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2017

Hrusso Aka and Its ‘Wicked Tongue Twisters’: Consonant Clusters, Fricatives and Affricates. Presented at the 23rd International Conference of Himalayan Language Symposium, Tezpur University, Tezpur, July 5.

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2017

Communities, Texts and Contexts: Maximising Impact through Culturally Aware Language Documentation. Presented at the Documentary Linguistics: Asian Perspectives - 2, Transformations and sustainability, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong, May 25.

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2016

Gathering the Right Stuff: Some Reflections on Collecting Language Data during Language Documentation. Presented at the Documentary Linguistics: Asian Perspectives, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong, April 6.

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2016

High Vowel Devoicing in Hrusso Aka. Presented at the 9th international conference of the North East Indian Linguistics Society, Tezpur University, Tezpur, February 5.

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2012

Ripples of Influence: The Hrusso Aka Worldview of Creation. Presented at the Reflections on Tribal Theology for North East India, North Eastern Social Research Centre, Guwahati, April 17.

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2012

Changing Land Relations Among the Hrusso Akas of Arunachal Pradesh. Presented at the International Seminar on Resources, Tribes and State, Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar, February 13.