Summer Research Update: Brodkin in Indonesia
Fourth year PhD student Dan Brodkin, who spent part of the summer in Indonesia, sent in this report from his fieldwork:
Dan Brodkin (left) and collaborator Jupri Talib (right) at the Mandar Cultural Library in Pambusuang, West Sulawesi
“This summer I spent a month in Indonesia, setting up a new field site and building toward a new theory of engagement with foreign academia. This trip continued my pre-pandemic work in the country, and it provided me with the opportunity to engage with the local linguistics scene in new ways — by presenting research to departments, giving talks on the value of generative grammar, and putting on a Praat workshop for the Government Language Office of South Sulawesi. After three years of Zoom, this trip also allowed me to engage with a broader segment of the Mandar community, and to ask questions, listen and take new steps toward giving back.
“As part of that process, I appeared on a local podcast to discuss language ideology and the challenge of language loss with a prominent author and cultural expert, Ridwan Alimuddin.” The episode, which can also be viewed on YouTube, is below.