Ojibwe Immersion Academy

Catalog description

The Ojibwe Immersion Academy offers a complete immersion experience in the Ojibwe Language for three weeks (120 hours) during the summer, with follow-up practice through the school year. Taught by first speakers and faculty instructors, the immersion academy enrolls qualified students and graduates of FDLTCC, students from other colleges and universities in the Upper Midwest, K-12 Ojibwe Language teachers in public and tribal schools, and other members of Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Wisconsin tribal communities. Qualified applicants should have studied the language for the equivalent of one year of college, exhibit intermediate facility in hearing and speaking Ojibwe, and possess a fierce resolve to improve their language fluency. Participants in the immersion academy commit themselves to speak Ojibwe and only Ojibwe as they engage in small group discussions with first speakers and elders, receive linguistic instruction from UMD, UM-TC, and FDLTCC professors, and engage in educational field trips aimed at enhancing knowledge and experience of the language and culture. Follow-up instruction and practice is provided at weekly language tables and language immersion weekends. ANTHROPOLOGY The mission of the Anthropology department is to provide for the study of human nature, society, and culture, focusing on the American Indian and world perspectives.