Panel discussion: The September 19 Coup in Thailand
Thursday, October 28, at 7 pm in Howell 104
An open panel discussion with...
* Will Itoh, former U.S. Ambassador to Thailand
* Jack Kasarda of the Kenan Institute
* Kevin Hewison of the Carolina Asia Center.
After months of political controversy and an annulled election, on September 19 a faction of the Thai military staged a coup d'etat in Bangkok, ousting Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The coup leaders declared martial law and suspended the 1997 constitution, while receiving support from a large segment of the population.
If you're interested in learning about the current political situation in Thailand and the events that led to the coup, join us as we hear three experts share their perspectives and discuss issues surrounding the recent coup in Thailand. All are welcome to attend and participate.
For background information about the coup and the events leading up to it, you can read the Wall Street Journal's coverage (in PDF format) at http://www.unc.edu/seaia/docs/wsj-coup.pdf
Please direct questions to Jim Wilson. Sponsored by SEAIA and the Carolina Asia Center.

Documentary film: The Last Speakers
Monday, October 9 at 1 pm in Murphey 104
Sneak preview of a documentary on endangered languages. Also see related lecture below.

Endangered Languages, Knowledge Loss, and Sustainability
Monday, October 9 at 4 pm in Dey 402
Lecture by K. David Harrison of Swarthmore. Also see related film screening above.
Of the world's nearly 7,000 known languages, the majority are endangered, and up to half may disappear in this century. Most languages remain unwritten, undocumented by science and cannot be recreated once lost. How, where, and why do languages vanish; what do we stand to lose; and what are scientists doing about it? This talk addresses four key aspects of language extinction. First, the distribution of languages across space and populations is highly uneven. Mapping global hotspots of linguistic diversity is proposed as an efficient way to identify areas of critical endangerment. Second, we consider who abandons languages, when,
and why. What are the demographics of endangerment and factors driving the disappearance of languages? Third, languages are shown to serve as repositories of traditional knowledge that contribute to human survival and ecosystem management. Specific domains of human knowledge are packaged in languages in such a way that they cannot be readily transferred when a community switches to speaking a global language. Fourth, each language with its grammatical quirks provides unique insights into human cognition. The ability to understand and explain the architecture of cognition is diminished as the number of languages decreases.