Anthropologist hosts talk, panel discussion

linor Ochs, an anthropologist who has studied the role language and culture play in childhood development in cultures around the world, is the guest speaker for this year's Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures, titled "Becoming a Speaker of Culture," sponsored by the Department of Anthropology.

In her presentation on "Talking to Children and the Limits of Culture," Ochs will discuss how everyday speech and language make children participants in their culture. Her talk is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, November 12, in Lander Auditorium in Hutchison Hall.

She will also participate in a panel discussion by local health care professionals and advocates for children at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, November 13, in the Gamble Room in Rush Rhees Library. Both events are free and open to the public.

Ochs, professor of anthropology and applied linguistics at the University of California at Los Angeles, has studied how people use language and culture as they develop and learn. Her work with fellow anthropologist Bambi Schieffelin has helped create the field of research known as "language socialization." Her studies have included such diverse situations as laboratory discussions among scientists, conversations by people with mental disorders, and family talk at the dinner table to show the importance of language and conversation in emotional well-being and collaboration.

At UCLA, Ochs helped establish the Center for Language, Interaction, and Culture to study and analyze how people talk in different community settings such as schools, shops, medical offices, and the workplace. Most recently, she has taken on the direction of the UCLA Center on Everyday Lives of Families, a Sloan Center on Working Families that examines how middle-class working families create a home life through social interactions.

The Morgan Lectures honor the memory of Lewis Henry Morgan, the distinguished 19th-century anthropologist and University benefactor, and have been presented annually since 1963. The series is one of the oldest and most prestigious in anthropology in North America. For more information, call x5-8614.

Maintained by University Public Relations
Please send your comments and suggestions to:
Public Relations.