Indigenous Languages Week (working title)
- The Quechua Language Program and Kelly Writers House
- Office of the Provost, School of Arts & Sciences
- Provosts Interdisciplinary Grant
The Quechua Language Program and Kelly Writers House will program a series of events and gatherings in fall 2019 to celebrate indigenous languages of the Americas, with a special focus on Quechua (South America) and Zapotec (Central America / Mexico), and join a global conversation about the importance of indigenous languages today. The UN declared 2019 The Year of Indigenous Languages— to raise general awareness of indigenous languages and indigenous peoples and to draw attention to their contemporary, living, material existence, sometimes in oppressive contexts. Kelly Writers House and The Quechua Program, in consultation with additional partners at Penn, will draw attention to the study of indigenous languages at Penn, to bring new audiences to Writers House, to showcase underrepresented writers, and to highlight some of the contributions of indigenous language users to contemporary literary practice.