October 2011 Community Lectures
Arctic Visiting Speakers Series
Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S.
10-20 October 2011
For further information on AVS, please go to:
http://www.arcus.org/arctic_speaker/index.html
Or contact:
Julie Griswold
Email: julie [at] arcus.org
Phone: 907-474-1600
The Arctic Visiting Speakers Series (AVS), managed by the Arctic
Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) with funding from the National
Science Foundation Division of Arctic Sciences, funds researchers and
other arctic experts to travel and share their knowledge in communities
where they might not otherwise connect. Speakers cover a wide range of
arctic research topics and can address a variety of audiences including
K-12 students, graduate and undergraduate students, and the public.
The AVS program is proud to announce that Aviaja Egede Lynge will be
traveling to Alaska in October to present several programs concerning
the Inuit model of education in Greenland. Her host, Diane Hirshberg
from the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research at the University
of Alaska Anchorage, believes that Alaskan educators could benefit
greatly from some of the Greenlandic practices.
On Monday, 10 October, Lynge will fly to Bethel, Alaska to visit the
Ayaprun Elitnaurvik Yupik Immersion School. The school's mission is to
"help strengthen Yup'ik language and culture, to promote understanding
of cultural differences, to enhance one's own cultural identity, and to
accept that of others."
From Bethel, Lynge will fly to Barrow, Alaska on Wednesday, 12 October
with her host Diane Hirshberg. There she will visit with the Ilisagvik
College faculty and president in a discussion entitled "Education as a
Decolonizational Process." At 7:00 p.m. Alaska time on Wednesday, in the
Tuzzy Library (http://www.tuzzy.org/), she will present a lecture
entitled "Mental Decolonization in Greenland." This lecture is open to
the public. On Thursday, 13 October she will tour the Inupiat Heritage
Center and present a lecture entitled "Taking Responsibility for Our
History" to Barrow High School students taking an Inupiaq literature and
composition course. Also while in Barrow she will meet with the North
Slope Borough School District Board of Education and discuss education
reform in Greenland.
After traveling to Anchorage on Friday, 14 October, Lynge will present a
public event at the Institute of Social and Economic Research in the
Diplomacy Building fifth floor conference room at 12:00 p.m. Alaska
time. Entitled "Reforming Education in Greenland: Recognizing the
Culture and Identity of Greenlandic Children," the lecture covers the
history of Greenland's education system. Greenland is a former colony of
Denmark, and used the Danish school system for 250 years. In 2002,
Greenland passed the first law requiring the education system to take
into account the culture and identity of Greenlandic children. Lynge
will talk about efforts to put the 2002 law into practice, focusing on
results and experiences of public school teachers.
Lynge will also be presenting at the Elders and Youth conference, part
of the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) annual convention on 17-18
October. The AFN Convention is the largest representative annual
gathering in the United States of any Native peoples. During the
convention, the entire state of Alaska is blanketed with discussion on
current events and issues. International observers are present at most
meetings, both exchanging information and learning from the Alaska
Native experience. Lynge's lecture, "Mental Decolonization in Greenland
and Alaska: Comparing Issues" is open to the public with registration to
AFN. The agenda for AFN has not been released; please check the website
(http://www.nativefederation.org/convention/agenda.php) for the final
date and time of her presentation.
Lynge will also be visiting the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School in
Anchorage, and will participate in other AFN sessions. On Thursday, 20
October she will have her last public event at the Native Student
Services on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus in the Rasmuson
Hall, Room 108. Her 12:00 p.m. Alaska time presentation is titled
"Indigenous Values Gathering." The Native Student Services mission is to
provide quality support services to native and rural students, which
promotes their scholastic achievement, student retention, and personal
success. They aim to foster academic excellence, career development,
leadership skills, personal growth, college transitioning, a sense of
belonging, and the attainment of one's scholastic and life goals.
For more information on the tour, please see:
http://www.arcus.org/arctic_speaker/2011_tours.html.
For further information on AVS, please go to:
http://www.arcus.org/arctic_speaker/index.html.
Or contact:
Julie Griswold
Email: julie [at] arcus.org
Phone: 907-474-1600