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- The Museum is open Tuesdays and Saturdays from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Open First and Third Sundays, 1 - 4 pm.
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Coming Events
From the telegraph to the Internet: How both governments and protesters exploit new communications technologies
January 22, 2012, 2-4 pm - Presented by Irene Wu, Ph.D.
How do activists use communications technology? How do governments influence communications?
While the Internet is still new, using technology to communicate is not. Media are as old as cave paintings. However, the Internet and mobile phones bring something new to politics. Protesters organize by phone and Facebook. Online support groups give strength to those suffering from discrimination. The Internet space is both a new public square and a new private sphere.
New communications technology enables people to participate in a broader array of networks and enables them to deepen and enrich their relationships with people in these networks, more easily and cheaply. The technology facilitates the rise of new communities, enables them to build social capital, and increases the likelihood of collective action. Today that technology may be social media, yesterday it was the mobile phone, before that it was the television, the telegraph, and the newspaper.
This lecture explores these ideas using historical examples from China, India, Brazil, Canada and other countries to examine the political communities enabled by networks of people, machines, ideas, and information. Registration requested, admission is free. Download a flyer to share.
Irene S. Wu is Consumer Research Advisor in the Consumerand Government Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission and is servingon the White House Task Force for Smart Disclosure. Previously, she was Chief Data Office (Acting) inthe International Bureau of the Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC), where she guided studies on international trends inregulatory policy on telecommunications, Internet, and media. Dr. Wu also teaches at Georgetown University. She is author of the book From Iron First to Invisible Hand: the Uneven Path of Telecommunications Policy Reform in China published by Stanford University Press. Dr. Wu received her B.A. from Harvard University and Ph.D.in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
National Virtual Translation Center
February 26, 2012 Mary Okurowski
Oral traditions of Quechua
March – Date TBA - Regina Harrison
Computational Linguistics
April 29, 2012 - Speaker TBA
Past Events
Boogeymen, Spirits, and Specters: Stories of Fear, Wonder, and Haunting from Brazil |
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Boogeymen, Spirits, and Specters: Stories of Fear, Wonder, and Haunting from Brazil
Sunday, October 23, 2011; 2 P.M. – 4 P.M.
Deborah Schindler
Learn about scary beings who come out at night, forest spirits who punish unwary travelers and victims of spells, curses and transformations.
Brazilian language is an amalgam of characteristics from three major cultural groups: Native American, European and African. The oral literature of Brazil has absorbed, blended and reprocessed these influences into an incredibly varied body of myths, stories, fables and legends.
This lecture explores different categories of scary stories from Brazil. Few of the stories that will be discussed have been translated into and published in English. (Content may not be appropriate for children.)
Deborah Schindler studied Art and Latin American Studies at U.C.L.A. and The Ohio State University. In 1982, she was awarded the Araujo Castro scholarship for study in Brazil by the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C. For the past 15 years, Ms. Schindler has been active with the D.C.-Brasilia Chapter of Partners of the Americas. Until recently, Ms. Schindler taught public school in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Peoples and Languages of the Middle East
November 20, 2011; 2 P.M. – 4 P.M.
Michael Chyet
This lecture explores the peoples and languages of the Middle East. The languages are: Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, Neo-Aramaic. The peoples are: Arabs, Jews, Iranians & Afghans [who are not Arabs], Turks, Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians and Chaldeans. While Iranians [formerly Persians] are primarily Muslims, they see themselves as quite distinct from their Arab co-religionists. There are Arabic-speaking Christians as well: Copts in Egypt, Maronites in Lebanon, Syria and Israel/Palestine.
Michael L. Chyet, Ph.D. is a cataloger of Middle Eastern languages at the Library of Congress. Formerly he was senior editor of the Kurdish Service of the Voice of America and professor of Kurdish at the University of Paris and at the Washington Kurdish Institute. Dr. Chyet is also a trained folklorist, and focuses on Middle Eastern folklore.
Around the Language World
A program for children of College Park & University Park
From July 18 - 21, a day camp program was held for local children presenting culture and language of four countries: China, Japan, Spain & Egypt. Below is a photo of the Chinese dragon dance.
NML's Annual Dinner
Sunday, June 26th, 2011 2:00 pm at the Clarion Inn, College Park, MD
This is our main gathering of the year; a chance to meet fellow members and friends of the Museum. The keynote this year was given by Dr Charles Stansfield.
The Amelia C. Murdoch Speaker Series
The series began February 20, 2011 and included these presentations for Winter and Spring:
Black American Sign Language: The Sociohistorical Foundation
Sunday, May 15, 2011 at the National Museum of Language
This presentation is about the variety of American Sign Language known as Black ASL and used by Black signers. The socio-historical reality that made for the emergence of this variety will be described and examples of the linguistic features that characterize this variety will be discussed.
Dr. Ceil Lucas, Professor of Linguistics from Gallaudet University Dr. Lucas’ research interests center around the sociolinguistics of Deaf communities, including issues of sociolinguistic variation within signed languages, issues of bilingualism and language contact, language policy and planning, and language attitudes. She is also interested in the structure of sign language discourse. She is co-director of a project funded by the National Science Foundation on sociolinguistic variation in American Sign Language as well as another National Science Foundation funded project on Black ASL (2007-2011).
Dr. Carolyn McCaskill, Associate Professor from Gallaudet University Dr. McCaskill’s research interests center around multicultural issues in the Deaf community, and Black Deaf history community, and culture. Dr. McCaskill is a recipient of the Thomas and Julia Mayes Award 2005. She also was selected as a Diversity Fellow in the Provost Office in 2006.
Volunteering and Contributions
Teaching African Languages in the U.S.: A View from Howard University
Sunday, February 20, 2011, 2 - 4 pm. Held at The National Museum of Language.
Dr. James Davis, Chair and Professor for the Department of World Languages and Culture- Howard University, presents the challenges and issues of teaching African languages in US educational institutions. He discusses Howard University's African Languages program and the role that it has played in US African language instruction. Some influences of African languages on other world languages and cultures are exhibited. Implications and suggestions for future research are included. The presentation concludes with East and West African cultural entertainment/learning experiences.
The Four Official Languages of Spain: An Overview of their Importance
Saturday, March 5, 2011 Time: 10:30 am - 12:30 pm. Held at the City of College Park Chambers, 4500 Knox Rd. College Park, MD 20740
A panel of educators discusses the four languages of Spain: Basque, Catalan, Galician (Gallego) and Castilian (Castellano), the people who speak those languages, the regions in which they live, the cultures, and the changing views within the country. The audience is invited to ask questions, see video showing the beauty of the country, and taste non-alcoholic Sangria.
An Endangered Legacy: Indigenous Language Loss and Revitalization in the United States
October 31, 2010 at 1:00 p.m.
Dr. Erin F. Haynes
The vast majority of the more than 300 languages that were spoken in North America since time immemorial have either ceased to be spoken, or are in imminent danger of being lost. However, many Native American communities are making heroic efforts to save these languages, preserving a cultural legacy that encodes the diversity of America's past, and hopefully, its future. In this talk, Dr. Haynes will discuss the reasons that so many of these languages are endangered, including forced removal and destruction of communities, the infamous boarding schools that Native American children were forced to attend in the 20th century, and the trend in the United States towards monolingualism. She will also discuss efforts that are currently underway to save America's Indigenous languages, including the remarkable stories of two languages that have speakers again, despite being pronounced "dead" decades ago.
Emerging American Language in 1812
May 2, 2010
2 - 4 pm, Main exhibit hall, National Museum of Language, 7100 Baltimore Ave Suite 202., College Park, MD 20740. Join NML friends to celebrate the opening of our new exhibit, funded in part by the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority. Refreshments will be served. Orin Hargraves, lexicographer, author, and expert in British and American English differences, will give an overview of the exhibit at 2:30, followed by a guided tour. Admission is free - no RSVP required.
Beyond Words: The Unlimited Potential of Visual Communication
Presenters: Amy Carattini, Doctorial Student and Dr. Gail Thakur, Sociocultural Anthropologist
The history of the Western Alphabet often begins with a discussion of cuneiform, clay tablets discovered about 5,000 years ago in the Mediterranean that document the pictographic elements upon which the alphabetic writing system has evolved. However, these pictorial forms were eventually abandoned in the West in favor of symbols connected to sound, thus eliminating the need for thousands of pictures to represent mental concepts in which to communicate ideas.
Severing written forms of linguistic communication from their pictorial origins prematurely disengaged us from further developing a visual language already in existence, diminishing the complexity inherent in its form and discarding its linguistic relevance as a language in its own right.
Despite this, the study of visual communication, through other forms, is becoming increasingly salient. This is evidenced by the proliferation of still and moving images in the media, on the street, through the internet, and on television. Furthermore, because technological innovations occur rapidly and regularly, new and creative forms of visual language are continually produced and readily dispersed throughout the world.
We demonstrate how visual languages, aside from words, are composed differently, such as comprising smaller units of analysis through lines, forms, colors, depth, and dynamic movement. Yet, these elements, while not the same as more conventional alphabetic systems, share some important similarities, as well as significant differences, in their communication potential.
This recognition is critical. As we argue, by taking advantage of other specific forms of visual language that are available, and utilizing them interactively with the written word, the reach and depth of communication potential is broadened. This entails both thoughtful selection of written and other visual forms, and careful arrangement, or juxtaposition, of these. Especially in our increasingly interconnected world, this collaboration between the written word and other visual languages may most effectively achieve cross-cultural communication.
Dr. Gail Thakur is a sociocultural anthropologist, who has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor at UMD, and is presently at American University. Her particular research interests are in identity, belonging and its negotiation, and self-representation among marginalized groups.
Informal Language Learning In and Around DC: Families Welcome!
Saturday May 16, 1 - 4 pm
Kaaren Agnez, Minilinguists.com & Mashinke/Marcia Gruss Levinsohn, Jewish Educational Workshop, Talia Kowitt, University of Maryland.Download flyer
People who want to learn a language outside of traditional classrooms can choose from a wide, sometimes confusing variety of informal local and online resources for many languages. These resources are also available for parents searching for the best methods and environments for their children to acquire second language proficiency. The key is knowing how to integrate language learning into everyday life, leading to fluency. Techniques for individuals or families to use cassettes, online resources, books, computer programs such as Rosetta Stone, and private tutors or group classes are presented and evaluated. Participants' questions will be addressed about their own and their children's interests and experiences in language learning. Mashinke Gruss Levinsohn (bobe mashinke), read a favorite children's book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, in Yiddish and showed how to help children understand a new language through use of the five senses. Talia Kowitt shared resources available in the International Digital Children's Library.
Paper, Rock, Bone, and Bronze--An Epigraphic Odyssey with Dr. Edward D. Rockstein, L-3 Communications.
Sunday, April 19
Take this odyssey through the learning and experience processes stemming from Rockstein's interest in languages and, most particularly, in the development and evolution of writing systems. His journey goes from Latin, Greek, and Russian to the Korean han'gul 한글 alphabet and Hancha 漢字 Chinese characters used in Korean, the development of the Japanese kana カナ syllabaries, to various Runic scripts with a side journey into Ogham along the way.
Rockstein has had a life-long interest in the decipherment of unknown scripts, in writing systems, and in the origins and evolution of scripts. He stumbled into Norse Runic cryptography and pre-Columbian American epigraphy "by accident." This eventually led him to a long correspondence with Barry Fell, the author of America B.C., Bronze Age America, and editor of the Epigraphic Society Occasional Papers, that prompted him to look into the origins of the Turkic and Hungarian runiform scripts. He eventually studied the Turkic and Hungarian runiform scripts.
The story of the Turkikc 'runes' begins in the early 1700's when inscriptions in an unknown script and language were found on the banks of the Yenisei River in Siberia. They were deciphered with the aid of a bilingual text with Chinese. Early in the 20th century F. Babinger was preparing and editing a text of a 16th-century travel journal which included a transcription of an inscription in "litterae incognitae." Vilhelm Thomsen later identified the script as the Hungarian Szekely script and applied it to decipherment of the Turkic inscriptions from Mongolia. Ed will share some of his experiences and insights while "rambling among the Runes" in this presentation.
From Abyssinia to Addis Ababa: A Live Painting Demonstration with Amharic Characters
Sunday, March 15
Solomon Asfaw
Born in Ethiopia, Solomon Asfaw graduated from the University School of Fine Arts and Design in Addis Ababa and has exhibited his work in Africa, Europe, and the United States.
Solomon will give visitors the opportunity to explore an Ethiopic writing system, the alpha-syllabary, through a live painting presentation. He will create an original art-work, which will be inspired by Amharic characters. Through this presentation, visitors will also be encouraged to investigate the connection between Ge’ez, an ancient Ethiopic language, and Amharic, the dominant language of Ethiopia today.
Finally, this live painting will expose Solomon’s unique perspective as an Ethiopian artist whose interaction with the Amharic script since childhood has become a catalyst for exploring his cultural and life experiences and for seeing how they are transformed on canvas.
Persian Poetry and Calligraphy
Sunday February 22
Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, Director of The Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute of Persian Studies
Persian poetry, which has developed over 1400 years, is beloved and known by modern readers for the influence and achievements of poets like Sa'di, Hafiz, Rumi and Omar Khayyam. The Persian language, which uses the Arabic writing system, has spread across Central Asia from its roots in Iran. The beauty of the form of the language as well as the content will be demonstrated by examples of Persian calligraphy. Details will be given of current and future efforts of the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute of Persian Studies to promote understanding of Persian and Iranian language and culture. Reservations requested by February 20.
Discourses in Dying Languages: My Story With Yiddish
Sunday January 25
Miriam Isaacs, Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies, University of Maryland
What is the place of Yiddish in the context of a globalizing world? The role of Yiddish as a heritage language and its present uses by Jewish and non-Jewish speech communities around the world are considered, including Hasidim at one end of a cultural spectrum and European Christians at the other end. A theoretical description of the instruction of Yiddish and language competition with Hebrew and English will be supplemented by a personal reflection on what it means to be a Yiddish speaker and Yiddish teacher in today's world. Reservations requested by January 23.
World Englishes
October 12 (Sunday)
Rebecca Oxford
University of Maryland. Discover the vast variety of “World Englishes”; how English has spread around the world and how World Englishes can be a two-edged sword, offering gifts and dangers. How do power, oppression, imperialism, and resistance link to World Englishes?
Lost In Translation: Collaborative Translation of Chinese Poetry
Saturday November 8
Liang Huichun, University of Maryland, & Steven Schroeder, Shenzhen University and the University of Chicago
A guided tour of two translation projects on which the speakers have collaborated over the last several years: translation of Li Nan's Small and translation of poems included in Two Southwests, an anthology of 27 poets from the southwestern United States and southwest China. Liang and Schroeder demonstrate how collaborative translation becomes a conversation out of which a new work emerges. They understand that the translation, inscribed in written form, will always be a new creative work. Liang and Schroeder experiment with treating the poem as music by reading simultaneously in Chinese and English, resulting in an experience of musical improvisation, helping audiences understand what a poem is about, and what we are about when we are making poetry.
Arabic Calligraphy
We have completed our Summer 2008 series of presentations which brought fascinating experts of language into the museum. The photos at left are from the Arabic Calligraphy presentation on August 23rd. We want to thank Amy Carattini, our star volunteer, for organizing this unexpectedly successful series of presentations, and helping the museum to grow by leaps and bounds.
See materials on loan to us in the museum by Dr. Khaled Mohamed.
Writing an Unwritten Language
by David Weber
See Presentations
Cherokee
By Carrie Clarady
See Presentations
Silent Auction
The Museum holds a silent auction each year as part of the annual dinner. We thank the donors of merchandise and services for the 2008 auction. See a complete list here.
Volunteering and Contributions
We are seeking volunteers to act as docents and to assist in other capacities in connection with the opening. Readers in the Metropolitan Washington area who may be interested in participating are asked to contact Dr. Amelia Murdoch either by telephone at 301-864-7071 or email.
The Museum has received a Community Services Grant from the City of College Park in support of this exhibit, and the Center for Heritage Studies of the University of Maryland as well the Museum of the Alphabet in Waxhaw, NC are also providing technical assistance and funding. These contributions are greatly appreciated but there are many expenses not covered by these grants. Members are encouraged to renew their membership promptly, and if possible to renew at a higher level. Special contributions to celebrate the opening of the Museum will be most welcome. We encourage contributions in honor of or in memory of a friend, mentor or loved one; major donations will be suitably recognized. All such contributions will be published in the Newsletter as appropriate.