麻豆视频

by nicole north

What were the most meaningful and valuable aspects of your 麻豆视频journey? 

My 麻豆视频journey has been such an amazing experience that I will always be grateful for. I felt that not only did I get the training I needed to start my career, but was also given tools to further explore my interests in a direction that could lead to meaningful change in the world. I completed four co-op terms through two eight-month placements: Communications Assistant at Transport Canada, and Archaeology Technician at Landsong Heritage Consulting. I worked in Downtown Vancouver for Transport Canada and relocated to Chetwynd, BC for my position at Landsong. Both positions were amazing opportunities, and I worked with teams that genuinely cared about my career development and made both placements excellent co-op experiences. 

Anthropology has always been a subject that challenges our assumptions about the world and I think everyone can greatly benefit from having at least some understanding of it, regardless of the area you are in or plan on going. Linguistics, on the other hand, allowed me to understand the way in which we use language. For example, by learning how languages spread, change through contact, and borrow from one another, we can better understand how people have made sense of the world throughout history. 

How did you balance the time and energy demands of both coursework and co-op? 

Managing my coursework with my jobs was definitely a challenge and at some point in my second year I had three jobs while going to school, which made me burn out. At that point, I made the choice to stop school so I could save money, and then come back with a better focus. That definitely felt like a challenging time, but I was determined to return as soon as I could. 

What inspired you to pursue Linguistics and Anthropology as a joint major? 

The intersection of Linguistics and Anthropology is something I find very fascinating. Every language carries and reflects accumulated cultural knowledge, histories and ways of categorizing experience. For those who speak two or more languages, you may know the feeling of listening to a song or reading poetry in a language and not being able to ever properly translate into another language. I believe a highlight of interdisciplinary learning is that you can find your own way to put the two subjects into conversation by bringing authors or concepts from one discipline to the other, it gives you more freedom to explore your niche without restricting you to it. 

A memorable experience I have of bringing both together was during a sociolinguistics course with Suzanne Hilgendorf, where I got to work on a paper on directional systems in different languages around the world. For instance, instead of using 鈥楴orth鈥� or 鈥楽outh鈥�, speakers would use concepts such as 鈥榃indwards鈥� or 鈥楧ownstream鈥�. It was a completely new field of interest that I discovered which blends Linguistics and Anthropology in very interesting ways, researching it was a very memorable experience and I felt that I got to write about something quite unique. 

Please tell us about the courses and instructors that had a big impact? 

I鈥檝e had amazing professors that inspired me and supported me, which is what motivated me the most. To name a few, during my Linguistics course 鈥淟inguistics in the Real World: Indigenous Languages in Canada鈥�, taught by Heather Bliss, we focused on how languages carry cultural knowledge in the context of language revitalization. That was definitely a class that changed my perspective on the meaning of language, and taught me so much. Another significant class I took was 鈥淚ndigenous Worldviews鈥� during my exchange at the University of New Mexico with Maia Rodriguez, and that was a class I still think about regularly and often revisit readings. My 麻豆视频Anthropology courses with Stacy Pigg and Natasha Ferenczi were also amazing courses where I got the support I needed to learn and conduct my own ethnographic research projects.

What do you envision for the road ahead? 

I plan to continue working in commercial archaeology, a field that is closely connected to my studies and in which I have already gained practical experience. But not before going on a graduation trip to Spain, which I鈥檝e been saving for since forever! 

In the long term, I plan to pursue a master鈥檚 degree exploring the role of linguistics in archaeology and how it can help reconstruct not only the movements of people in the past, but also the circulation of knowledge and different ways of being human and understanding the world.