This hybrid event will feature a presentation by Abduweli Ayup on the state of Uyghur as a heritage language in the diaspora, and the efforts that this language community has taken to maintain the language and culture in different countries. A panel discussion will follow.

The online component will take place by Zoom.

Registration is required to attend.

Panelists

• Abduweli Ayup
• Arienne Dwyer (University of Kansas)
• Gulnisa Nazarova (Indiana University, Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region) 
• Tanya Ivanova-Sullivan (University of California, Los Angeles, NHLRC)
• Maria Polinsky (University of Maryland, College Park, NHLRC)

Abduweli Ayup is a Uyghur linguist, educator, activist, and poet, originally from the Uyghur region of northwest China but currently based in Norway. His work came to international attention in 2013 when he was arrested on charges of “inciting separatism” after opening Uyghur-language kindergartens in his hometown and the provincial capital. After international outcry resulted in his release 15 months later, he left China and settled in Norway. He has published Uyghur-language textbooks for children and been involved in the establishment of more than 70 Uyghur mother-language classes around the world. His non-profit, Uyghur Hjelp, works to document the ongoing Uyghur crisis and support educational and cultural events. Abduweli’s work has been honored with the 2023 Linguapax International Award, the Linguistic Society of America’s 2024 Excellence in Community Linguistics Award, the Global Coalition for Language Rights’ first annual Language Rights Defenders Award, and an invitation to speak at the 2024 UN Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. Additionally, Abduweli has released two documentaries in the past year: Freedom of Speech, which looks at three Uyghur heritage language schools in diaspora, and Behind the Mask, about his meeting with a former Chinese prison officer.

For questions about the event, please contact nhlrc@international.ucla.edu.

Sponsor(s): National Heritage Language Resource Center, Program on Central Asia, Asia Pacific Center, Center for World Languages