Kichwa scholar Dr. Armando Muyolema visits Duke for Summer Institute

Kichwa scholar Dr. Armando Muyolema recently visited Duke University and participated in the Summer Institute on Diversity and Equitable Teaching and Learning of Languages and Cultures: Pedagogy, Research, Curriculum, and Community Building, hosted and funded by the Duke Slavic and Eurasian Language Resource Center (SEELRC) and the Duke Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies (CSEEES), on July 12-14, 2024.

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Dr. Muyolema has served as the Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies (LACIS) Director of Quechua at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was recently inaugurated as rector of the Amawtay Wasi University, Universidad Intercultural de las Nacionalidades y Pueblos Indígenas, in Quito, Ecuador.

The summer institute was a noteworthy opportunity for the exchange of information and perspectives across world regions around shared themes of language and cultural instruction.

Among many topics, Dr. Muyolema explained the Kichwa word yachachina, which means ‘to make others know’, to describe his pedagogical practices and culturally relevant instruction of the Kichwa language. He discussed teaching challenges, curriculum, textbooks, the creation of specialized lessons and resources, and problems regarding language standardization.

Furthermore, in the Q&A there was an engaged discussion regarding relational ontology, the articulation of familial relationships, and the distinction of possessive and relational conjugations.

The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) was honored to have generative and inspiring conversations with Dr. Muyolema and we applaud and thank our colleagues at SEELRC and CSEEES for the excellent summer institute.

CLACS also participated in the conference Global Voices: Exploring Multilingualism in the 21^st Century at Duke University on April 20-21, 2024, hosted and funded by SEELRC, CSEEES, and CLACS, at which Dr. Liliana Paredes (Duke University, Romance Studies Department, Linguistics Program and International Comparative Studies, CLACS Director), Dr. Abelardo de la Cruz (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Religious Studies, Nahua Scholar), and Patrick Semmler (Duke University, CLACS Senior Coordinator) presented on a roundtable.

Top photo: (left to right): Patrick Semmler, Duke Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), Dr. Armando Muyolema, Amawtay Wasi University, Universidad Intercultural de las Nacionalidades y Pueblos Indígenas, and Dr. Abelardo de la Cruz, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Religious Studies