Amdo Lullaby: An Ethnography of Childhood and Language Shift on the Tibetan Plateau – A Book Talk by Shannon Ward

Speaker: Shannon Ward, Assistant Professor, Department of Community, Culture & Global Studies, University of British Columbia

Moderator: Lauran Hartley, Associate Research Scholar and Director, Modern Tibetan Studies Program, WEAI; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Dept of East Asian Languages and Cultures

Based on fifteen months of field research in Amdo, Tibet, this talk examines the forces leading to language shift to Mandarin in a region historically characterized by linguistic diversity. The talk analyzes oral histories from the region alongside children’s everyday talk to demonstrate that children are not passively giving up Amdo Tibetan for Mandarin. Instead, children are drawing on cultural and political knowledge about the values of languages in new urban places.

This event is hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and co-sponsored by the Modern Tibetan Studies Program.

Registration:

• To attend this event in-person, please register HERE.
• To attend this event online, please register HERE.