SOAS University of London

Department of Linguistics, School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics

Plants, animals, words: a multidisciplinary workshop

THIS EVENT IS ARCHIVED
Plants, animals, words workshop - logo

Date: 19 September 2013Time: 9:00 AM

Finishes: 21 September 2013Time: 5:00 PM

Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings Room: L67

Type of Event: Workshop

This workshop is designed to encourage interdisciplinary research in the areas of linguistics and ethnobiology by bringing together researchers from these fields and others. Through a sharing of perspectives and theories, followed by hands-on skills workshops and a series of presentations and case studies, participants will learn how to make their research truly useful to a multi-disciplinary audience. The aim of this workshop is to open discussion between researchers, developing opportunities for future collaboration and providing a platform for learning about each other’s methods and requirements.

By bringing together researchers from the relevant disciplines, namely linguists and ethnobiologists, this workshop will be a space for engagement and exchange, increasing support networks and informing future research.

Students from anthropology, ethnobiology, linguistics, and other relevant disciplines are strongly encouraged to participate.

Programme

Day/Time Description
Thursday, 19 September
09:00-10:00 Welcome and Rationale Candide Simard (SOAS) and Lydia Green
10:00-13:00 Interdisciplinary Ethics Workshop

Interactive exercises and group work while planning and designing a project as we explore:

  • Ethics statements (ISE, AAA)
  • Participation
  • Working with people/Cultural differences
  • Research agreements
  • FPIC
  • Children and other vulnerables
  • Returning results
  • Redlists and Endangered species

Round table discussion: Raj Puri
13:00-14:00 Lunch  
14:00-17:00 Linguistics Workshop

2 x 2 hour sessions(CS, LG, ED, SM, KC)

  1. IPA/Phonetics training; Eliciting data and data collection
  2. Quality recordings
  3. Archiving/quality of recordings (Kakia Chatsiou): How to manage and present your data

Why this is important, what constitutes documentation in linguistics; showcase ethnobotanical language documentation projects held in the archive; discuss the importance of metadata for making primary data relevant for cross-disciplinary audiences; access protocols

Hands-on exercises so participants can explore corpora and learn about managing the information. Walkthrough of the archive's related collections - registering, accessing, protocols, browsing
Friday, 20 September
09:00-09:30 Welcome, Feedback session Review of previous day
09:30-09:40 Introduction of speakers  
09:40-10:50 Linguistics Serge Sagna: Research in Senegal on Gújjolaay Eegimaa (Serge’s own language)
Link between linguistic enquiry and biology; noun classifiers and biological classification
10:50-11:50 Ethnozoology/placenames Thomas F. Thornton, Director, MSc Environmental Change & Management & Senior Research Fellow, Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford,  Christ Church
12:00-13:30 Ethnozoology/bird identification Bob Gosford, Darwin-based writer, lawyer and ethnobiologist, Pacific & Oceania representative for the International Society of Ethnobiology, and moderator of the web-based Ethnoornithology Research & Study Group
13:30-14:00 Lunch  
14:00-17:00 Ethnozoology Workshop

2 x 2 hour sessions
Andrew Gosler, Tom Thornton, Bob Gosford

  • Collecting animal specimens (animals parts
  • Identification of animals, species
  • Matching local names to scientific nomenclature
  • Skills and techniques
Saturday, 21 September
09:00-09:30 Welcome, Feedback session Review of previous day
09:30-13:30 Ethnobotany Workshop

Raj Puri, others TBC

  • Local classification systems: pitfalls
  • Landscapes and habitats (env. contexts)
  • Collecting plant specimens (incl plant parts)
  • Identification of plants (vouchers and plant)
13:30-14:30 Lunch  
14:30-16:00 Round Table Round table discussion “lessons learnt” from previous days. Ask participants (teams) to produce a diagram (or flipchart) of everything they have learned throughout the three days. This will help identify gaps in the workflow and provide a visual interpretation.
Where do we go from here?
16:00 Closing Session A wrap-up/feedback session of the conference

Organisers

This workshop is jointly organized by the linguists Lydia Green (PhD candidate, University of Newcastle, Australia), Sophie Mu and Ebany Dohle (PhD students, SOAS, University of London) and Dr Candide Simard (post-doctoral researcher, SOAS, University of London).

Partners
Ethnobotany

Rajindra K. Puri, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer in Environmental Anthropology

Centre for Biocultural Diversity, School of Anthropology and Conservation, Marlowe Building
University of Kent at Canterbury

Ethno-ornithology/ethnoozoology

Andrew G. Gosler
University Research Lecturer in Ornithology & Conservation

Fellow in Human Sciences, Mansfield College Oxford, Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology & Institute of Human Sciences, Oxford

Endangered Languages ARchive (ELAR)

Data Management and Archiving
Tom Castle, Kakia Chatsiou, Andrew A Clark, Frances Simmons
Endangered Languages ARchive (ELAR)
SOAS, University of London

Organiser: Centres & Programmes Office

Contact email: ethnobiology@soas.ac.uk

Contact Tel: 020 7898 4892/3

Sponsor: We are grateful for the support of ELAR, ELAP and the Faculty for the organsiation of this event