About this Event
- To attend via Zoom, please email [email protected] to register and receive the link.
- To attend in-person at the First Peoples’ Gathering House, please register here via Eventbrite.
This talk is the keynote event for SFU Multilingual Week 2026, a university-wide celebration that showcases the rich diversity of languages spoken within the Simon Fraser University community. See more info about Multilingual Week below.
Title
Many worlds: Experiences working in Indigenous language revitalization outside academia
About the talk
This colloquium will explore the speaker’s transition from academia and in-community work to working within the public service. These three domains must work in harmony to support evidence-based, community-driven, government-funded language revitalization. Individuals working in these spaces must learn to balance the needs and protocols of each domain. The speaker will share stories that highlight this balancing act to illustrate lessons learned from this journey. Finally, the speaker will share insights about how current students can work towards careers in Indigenous language revitalization.
About the speaker
Kyra Borland is a linguist of mixed Irish and Métis heritage. Her ancestors come from Belfast, Northern Saskatchewan, and the Red River. Her Métis family names are Shirtliffe, Welsh, Hogue, and Taylor. Kyra trained as a linguist at UBC and UVic, working primarily with Gitksan communities and speakers, to whom she credits her early passion for community-based language work. Her academic focus is in acoustic phonetics, vowel variation, and dialectology. Her career has focused on training, program development, language plan implementation, and funding distribution for Indigenous Language Revitalization across British Columbia. Kyra is passionate about sharing these experiences and inspiring others to pursue fulfilling careers in ILR.
About Multilingual Week
Multilingual Week (MLW) is SFU’s annual global connection on campus. All events are free and open to the public, and take place during the week of February 23rd – 28th, 2026. The goal and purpose of Multilingual Week is to embrace diversity, break barriers, and build connections.
MLW is your opportunity to meet new people with whom you may share language and cultural connections, to hear from different language speakers and language experts, and to find out how language knowledge sets you up for success in your life and career.
The theme for MLW 2026 is Our stories, our languages.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
First Peoples’ Gathering House, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, Canada
CAD 0.00
