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[YOUR NAME HERE] thought you might be interested in this story from the University of Rochester.
MEDIA CONTACT: Department of Anthropology (585) 275-8614 or Sharon Dickman 585.275.4128
October 29, 2003
From children in Samoa to middle-class families in America, Elinor Ochs 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."
Ochs is the guest speaker for this year's Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures, titled
"Becoming a Speaker of Culture," sponsored by the Department of Anthropology
at the University of Rochester. She will also participate in a panel discussion
by local health care professionals and advocates for children. Both events are
free and open to the public.
In her presentation on "Talking to Children and the Limits of Culture,"
Ochs will discuss how everyday speech and language makes children participants
in their culture. Her talk is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, in Lander
Auditorium in Hutchison Hall on the River Campus.
Ochs is professor of anthropology and applied linguistics at the University
of California at Los Angeles. Her research has examined 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.
Ochs has numerous publications to her credit, including, with Schieffelin, Language
Socialization across Cultures and Developmental Pragmatics. She has
served as president of the American Association for Applied Linguistics and
of the Society of Linguistic Anthropology, is the recipient of a John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, and has been a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow
and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow.
Ochs received her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1974 and
also has taught at Cambridge University and the University of Southern California.
"Narrative Lessons," the panel discussion portion of this year's Lewis
Henry Morgan Lectures, will be held at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, in the Gamble
Room in Rush Rhees Library on the River Campus. In addition to Ochs, the other
panelists, who will respond to her work, are Eileen Hurley of Spiritus Christi
Mental Health Clinic; Pieter LeRoux, associate professor and director of the
Family Therapy Training Program in the psychiatry department at the University
of Rochester Medical Center; Donna Schulman, nursing coordinator at the Monroe
County Public Health Department's Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic; and Anne
Steider, senior instructor in the psychiatry department at the University of
Rochester Medical Center.
The Morgan Lectures honor the memory of Lewis Henry Morgan, the distinguished
19th-century anthropologist and University of Rochester benefactor, and have
been presented annually since 1963. They are one of the oldest and most prestigious
lecture series in anthropology in North America. For more information, please
contact the Department of Anthropology at (585) 275-8614.
The University of Rochester (www.rochester.edu) is one of the nation's leading private universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and the Memorial Art Gallery.
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