Tim Pasch Blog

NunatsiaqOnline 2011-02-08: NEWS: Could iPad save the Inuit language?

2011-03-19T15:12:00.001-07:00

NunatsiaqOnline 2011-02-08: NEWS: Could iPad save the Inuit language?:

Pasch Dissertation Published by ProQuest

2010-12-14T20:01:00.001-08:00

ProQuest^® Dissertations & Theses

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Inuktitut online in Nunavik: Mixed-methods Web-based strategies for preserving Aboriginal and minority languages

by Pasch, Timothy James, Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, 2008, 311 pages; 3345576

Abstract:

The Canadian Arctic, long considered an isolated frontier, has become an area of contention and amplified media attention. The recent unblocking of the Northwest Passage shipping routes for the first time in human memory has created a global movement toward appropriation of the Arctic. In order to ensure the environmental health and sustainable economic profitability of this environment while avoiding its destruction through misuse, it is essential that the knowledge of those who know it best, the Inuit, be communicated in the strongest manner possible. Nevertheless, the opinions and voices of the Inuit are too-often overlooked when International policy creation is considered. During this tumultuous period when the voices of the Inuit need to be stronger, more focused, and more united than ever before, the traditional language and culture is eroding in response to foreign language media influx into the area.

During the 5 years preceding this research, the Internet has arrived in the Canadian North and the Inuit of Nunavik are actively participating in social networking, linking the communities together more closely than previously possible. Many of these online communities, however, are designed in English and optimized for English users. Inuktitut online is additionally fragmented through disconnects in fonts, software optimization, and hardware design. This research focuses on technological means for the creation of networks and tools designed to encourage Inuktitut use, preserve traditional knowledge, and more strongly connect a new generation of Inuit for the purpose of resistance to global pressures for unsustainable appropriation of the land and resources.

Based on a Mixed-Method Case Study design, this research incorporates a survey given while living in the community of lnukjuaq, Nunavik, in addition to Content Analysis, direct observation, and interviews. Research questions focus on the use of social networking in the Arctic, language use online, and the potentiality for increased use of Inuktitut on the Internet. Data was analyzed using SPSS and atlas.ti software and triangulates results for validity and reliability. Results demonstrate the extent of problems and hindrances regarding Inuktitut online and the research proposes nine policy recommendations.

Advisor:	Chan, Anthony B.
School:	UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Source:	DAI-A 70/01, p. , Jul 2009
Source Type:	Ph.D.
Subjects:	Canadian studies; Mass communications;Information science
Publication Number:	3345576

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UW Title VI Report mentions Pasch

2010-12-14T19:08:00.001-08:00

A University of Washington report on $17.2 million in Title VI (foreign languages and international affairs) grant renewals from the U.S. Department of Education focuses on UND Assistant Professor of Communication Timothy Pasch’s Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship in the Canadian Arctic.

http://uwnews.org/uweek/article.aspx?id=60709

Oct. 7, 2010
New grants keep UW at top of schools receiving Title VI funding

By Catherine O'Donnell
News and Information

Tim Pasch, who studied the Inuit people of northern Quebec while a doctoral student at the UW, poses with an inukshuk, a stone landmark made by the grandfather of his Inuit foster brother.

Grants totaling $17.2 million will fund all eight Title VI National Resource centers in the Jackson School of International Studies for another four years. The money comes from the U.S. Department of Education, which in May also awarded $1.57 million to the Foster School of Business to continue its Global Business Center.

According to Resat Kasaba, who became director of the Jackson School in August, the National Resource awards put the UW ahead of 43 other institutions in number of centers per school. The UW is tied with the University of Wisconsin in number of centers, and is second only to that school in dollar amount awarded.

Title VI money supports learning of foreign languages and international affairs. As many as 500 graduate and undergraduate students will receive full scholarships to study a foreign language.

Tim Pasch, who obtained a doctorate at the UW and is now an assistant professor of communication at the University of North Dakota, had a Title VI fellowship to study the language and culture of the Inuit people of northern Quebec. "My academic program has been enriched beyond my expectations," he said.

Other uses for the funds include public lectures, seminars for K-12 teachers and specialized courses.

The two oldest Jackson School centers -- the East Asia Center and the Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies -- are each 100 years old. The newest one, the Center for West European Studies, was founded in 1994. Other centers are Canadian Studies, Global Studies, Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

"The UW's success in this round of Title VI competition is testament to the University's deep expertise and leading national and international role in global studies," said Steve Hanson, vice provost for global affairs.

The Global Business Center, one of 33 federally funded centers at business schools around the country, makes possible such things as MBA study tours, exchange programs and the Certificate of International Studies in Business.

The new money from the Department of Education will also help fund 32 new Business Center initiatives particularly important to the Pacific Northwest. They include a workshop for small and medium-size companies on doing business in China and a series of conferences on energy-based economies.

About 30 percent of Foster School undergraduates study abroad each year. The center aims to increase the number to 50 percent by 2014.

"Global Business education is critical to the future success of our students and to U.S. competitiveness," said James Jiambalvo, dean of the Foster School.

Site Updated

2010-12-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

The site timpasch.com has been significantly updated as of today, December 04, 2010.
This corresponds in part with the end of a particularly eventful year.
Now employed at the University of North Dakota, my activities can be found on the Curriculum Vitae embedded on the site, along with Professional Statement.
As always, I can be contacted via the contact page on this site, or via email at
timothy.pasch@und.edu

Timothy J. Pasch, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Communication
University of North Dakota
Merrifield Hall Room 218
276 Centennial Drive Stop 7209
Grand Forks, ND 58202-8380
timothy.pasch@und.edu
206-391-0890 cellular
701-777-2128 office/fax

Working on a writing workflow

2009-05-04T08:48:00.001-07:00

I'm working on a book chapter. I'm still trying to organize my writing workflow so that it's streamlined, fast and stable. Unfortunately, although there are lots of software packages available for writing and research, they don't always play well together.

Endnote has been a thorn in my side for some time. Their upgrades are very expensive and it crashes Word 2008 (Mac) on a semi-regular basis. It's much better on the Windows side (Word 2007). I've tried using my Windows 7 Vmware Fusion guest for word processing (for those who haven't tried it, it's great to run both Windows and Mac at the same time!) but it's still clunky and slow for me to move files between the two OSes.

The most exciting tool for my writing lately is called Scrivener. It's a fantastic writing tool that's something like Ableton Live for Audio, you can easily drag and drop sections of your manuscript to create a more cohesive narrative. I find this flexible writing system very powerful and it allows a much more forgiving style of organization than Word.

Word, in general, while still looking very slick, is such a behemoth of a program, takes a while to load and crashes far too often for my liking. I prefer light and fast applications. Bean is another great option, but doesn't offer reference tool integration.

I've been experimenting with Bookends which apparently plays very well with Scrivener. This seems to be an excellent solution. Some of the power users are exporting from Scrivener to LaTeX and rendering there, but I don't think I'll go that route for now as I've seen how complex TeX can get at times. This week I'll keep writing in Scrivener and experiment with inserting references using Bookends.

The last thing I want to mention is the program Papers, it's a fantastic tool for grabbing journal articles but it's been frustrating me a great deal lately due to its clunky browsing system. It's impossible for me to add new tabs even though the developers say that it should be possible! I may have to reinstall it and see what happens...

All in all I would very much like to see more integration between these tools, with easy drag and drop reference management between programs. I want my citations to appear correctly no matter what program I use them in, with stable and light Word Processors providing backup. I hope that the Papers/Scrivener/Bookends system will work out well. The final export will probably be to Word but we'll see.

As always, any suggestions/comments very much appreciated!
Tim

Teaching a Class today

2008-08-05T08:21:00.001-07:00

Today I'm teaching a class that I'm excited about, it's called
"Hacking your Mac for Academic Research".
I've been looking forward to this one, it's focusing on Word 2008 for Mac and Endnote integration, the new program called "Papers" for finding research on the web, and a lot of other tips and tricks I've learned while conducting research. All together we'll focus on:

Word 2008
Endnote X1
Iclip
Copypaste Pro
Papers
Skitch
DevonAgent

I've got a Powerpoint, I'll throw it in the downloads section.
I've been busy but as soon as I finish a big project this week I'll start with the video screencast tutorials of some of these great apps!

Until next time :)

Test of MarsEdit

2008-07-23T20:56:00.001-07:00

It has been a very exciting few months in Seattle. Just on the software front, I've discovered Screenflow, very powerful screencasting software, DevonThink Pro Office for scanning and achieving the goal of a paperless office, and MarsEdit, for blogging! These three packages are simply amazing. I'm teaching a course on using macs for academic research in August, and I will create screencasting tutorials then.

Net Neutrality Concerns Increase

2008-06-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

This is my first entry into the new website blog. I have been trying to make a site for quite some time and have finally felt comfortable enough with the software to begin. It is my hope that this site will generate interest in my projects and put me in touch with individuals and groups sharing similar interests and goals, facilitating collaboration.
Please feel free to contact me using the 'contact' page!
This site will become a central hub for my projects, and will eventually host audio, video, and the webstore. The podcasts will also be hosted on this page. Enjoy!
-Tim

Arctic Sovereignty Debate

2008-05-28T16:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/05/28/arctic-nations.html?ref=rss

Arctic nations will 'follow the rules' in North Pole sovereignty debate.

I am concerned about this Arctic development, as the ‘rules’ that will be followed will invariably be concerned with the economic developing of the signing nations at the expense of the natural resources, culture and environment of the Inuit.

It goes without saying that this land is the hunting ground of the Inuit people.

The main explanation for development in the region is summarized here:

“Interest in the region is intensifying because global warming is shrinking the polar ice, and that could someday open up resource development and new shipping lanes. A U.S. study suggests the region may hold 25 per cent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas”.

Although Canada signed the treaty I am interested in whether the Inuit delegation, including the Makivik Corporation in Nunavik, are involved in this treaty. I will investigate.

Tim Pasch

Update

2008-04-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since my last entry, work on the dissertation is progressing well, and I am working on a publication opportunity with Barbara Endicott-Popovsky, director of the Center for Information Assurance here at the UW.
Life in Seattle is excellent, the rains are slowing and spring is definitely here. The possibilities with technology are vast here in the Pacific Northwest.
My concerns for the environment continue to grow, and the prices of gasoline continue to climb, which is definitely a blessing in disguise.
On the technology front I am running VMware Fusion in a Macbook Pro, for the first time using WIndows successfully inside a UNIX system.
I have created a working partition of Ubuntu Linux and am exploring there. The most exciting thing is that I can now run SPSS, Nvivo and Eviews in a Windows Partition on my Mac, making research seamless and preparation for publication much more streamlined. This is a great thing as my life right now is all about publications!
Otherwise, family life is great and I must stay focused on writing the dissertation- it seems endless but slow progress is the key.

Conference a success!

2008-02-02T23:44:00.000-08:00

The conference was a success. I was very impressed by the experiences of the panelists. Mark Stenge in particular spoke eloquently about the plight of the Marshall islands and all those who live on atolls. Global warming and climate change is affecting us all so far, however for the Inuit and those living closer to the land, the impact is felt much more greatly. Carl Sander from the Burke Museum did a wonderful job organizing, Dr. Stevan Harrell from Anthropology moderated very well, and Terry Williams from the Tulalip Nation brought everything full circle with his powerful teachings concerning the importance of respect for our watershed and realizing that we are all still connected to the Earth- no matter how little some of us may still be aware of it. Qingxia Yang from Tibet spoke of the changes in her native region since her childhood, and they have been dramatic indeed. I am putting my Keynote slide presentation in the downloads section for archival, please feel free to take a look.

New site is up.

2008-01-31T12:05:00.001-08:00

My main site is now officially up! The address is
www.timpasch.com
I will be continuing my blog there, however thanks to a new program called MarsEdit I hope to be able to post the blogs here on blogger as well as on my site.
I have been lazy about writing lately however now I hope to begin 2008 with newly inspired writing.
As I have a dissertation to finish I will be writing non-stop...perhaps this practice will assist in motivating me to start early every morning!

Focus the Nation Conference tomorrow

2008-01-30T14:00:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the Focus the Nation conference at the University of Washington. This is a big event for us at the UW- we are joining over 1000 other campuses in our discussion and search for solutions to Global Warming and it's repercussions. I will be presenting at this conference specifically about the impact of climate change on Canada's Northern Communities. It promises to be an important day for Climate change awareness nationally. I've dropped the program for the UW in the downloads section.

Site is up!

2008-01-29T01:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally was successful in uploading the site today. This was not an easy task, and after the site posted, there was a whole series of technical issues to work through. While there are still so many details that I am not happy with, at least the structure of the site is in place, and I can add edits later.
Today, in addition to working on the site, I was attempting to overclock my main studio computer. This is an art form, as I discovered, and there is a whole litany of tricks, techniques and equipment designed to achieve this goal of getting more speed than you should out of a computer. Unfortunately I pushed things a little too far and for a while I felt like I had destroyed everything. It turns out that I lost a hard drive however.
Luckily it wasn't a critical one and I should be able to restore most of the data. I learned my lesson though- no more overclocking for the time being.

First Entry

2008-01-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

Go North, young man | Arctic sea ice, Climate change, Northwest Passage | TerraPass: Fight global warming, promote alternative energy

2007-10-10T17:27:00.001-07:00

TerraPass, a carbon credit based sustainability energy broker (you can offset the carbon emissions from your vehicle or flights through their services) has posted this article on the state of the arctic thaw and the 'no-longer-fabled Northwest Passage'. As I saw in Nunavik, not only language and culture are changing, but the entire geography and way of life are being altered. Now more than ever the Inuit are relevant on the International Stage as the peoples most visibly affected by climate change.

Here's the most recent post from the TerraPass blog:
Go North, young man
by Adam Stein

You may have heard that the Arctic is disappearing. Sea ice is at the lowest level ever recorded. Last month, a chunk of ice the size of Florida (!) disappeared in the span of six days. Polar bears are officially screwed. The no-longer-fabled Northwest Passage has opened up several decades ahead of schedule.

I mention all of this depressing news so that I can bring your attention to the exploits of Ben Jervey, a friend of TerraPass and author of the much-loved Big Green Apple guide to eco-friendly living in New York. Ben right now is on a small boat somewhere north of Greenland, exploring firsthand the effects of climate change in the Arctic.

The trip is part of Cape Farewell, a project that “brings artists, scientists and educators together to collectively address and raise awareness about climate change.” Cape Farewell has a pretty amazingly slick web site that ties together a ton of video and written content, including Ben’s personal blog charting his trip to Greenland and beyond by sailing vessel.

It’s got polar bears, ice bergs, Northern Lights — the whole Arctic enchilada. Check it out.

Go North, young man | Arctic sea ice, Climate change, Northwest Passage | TerraPass: Fight global warming, promote alternative energy

Arctic thaw opens fabled trade route

2007-09-16T19:34:00.001-07:00

Arctic thaw opens fabled trade route: "Science & environment: The Arctic's sea covering has shrunk so much that the Northwest Passage has opened up for the first time."

(Via Guardian Unlimited home | Guardian Unlimited.)

Arctic melt opening up Northwest Passage

2007-09-16T08:52:00.001-07:00

Arctic melt opening up Northwest Passage: "PARIS-Arctic ice has shrunk to the lowest level on record, new satellite images show, raising the possibility that the Northwest Passage that eluded famous explorers will become an open shipping lane."

(Via Toronto Star.)

Record sea ice loss opens Northwest Passage

2007-09-15T13:23:00.001-07:00

Record sea ice loss opens Northwest Passage: "Sea ice in the Arctic has sunk to its lowest level since satellite record-keeping began, fully opening the most direct route through the Northwest Passage."

(Via CBC | World News.)

NPR : Nations Jostle for a Share of the Arctic

2007-09-10T06:11:00.001-07:00

NPR : Nations Jostle for a Share of the Arctic: "

CLIMATE CONNECTIONS
This article is just one of many articles starting to flood the international media about the Canadian Arctic. This last week in particular has seen a flood of news stories concerning the plight of the polar bear and the vastly underestimated scale of melting ice in the North. Although the polar bear may be an easily identifiable posterchild for Arctic warming, the case of Inuit lands being despoiled through international use of the Northwest Passage are just as critical. Since returning to Seattle from Nunavik I have been taking time to digest all the experiences and have begun organizing my thoughts, it took me a while to get used to things again; my memories of my Inuit family and experiences on the land are very strong and vivid in my mind. Here's another article concerning NOAA's opinion.

NOAA Affirms Sea Ice Will Shrink in Half: "Summer sea ice will probably recede 300 to 500 miles off Alaska's north coast by 2050, compared to the 1980s when ice packs were only 30 to 50 miles off the coast, and decrease to half the size. Mammals dependent on the sea ice, such as polar bears, and fishermen will suffer. Federal scientists compared computer simulations of how warming would affect sea ice with 20 years' of observations.

(Via Wired News.)

Inuit Wedding in Inukjuaq

2007-08-16T09:21:00.001-07:00

I was invited to an Inuit Wedding reception in Inukjuaq, and we left home for the event around 6pm. It took place at the Anglican Church in town, and when I arrived there were already about 50 ATVs outside the building. I entered and took in the scene, it was very different from any wedding reception that I had attended before. The bride and groom were seated at chairs at a table facing the crowd, but the guests were seated on the floor (pews had been removed) and everyone was eating seafood with gusto. The fish (mostly char) had been removed from the community freezer and were still frozen, so there were several axes scattered around the room to use in chopping good-sized pieces off the fish, or for chopping off heads or tails. Sea Urchins were also in bowls in the corners. There were also bowls of Western foods, spaghetti, meatballs, salad, fruit, juice, and banana-bread. It was a wonderful combination, the atmosphere was very welcoming, people were all smiling and passing food around, I congratulated the bride and groom in inuktitut and was gracefully thanked, it was a wonderful evening and a very colorful event!

The last few days in Inukjuaq

2007-08-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

The last few days in Inukjuaq have been passing pleasantly, the family walked up the mountain outside of town yesterday, it was a long walk, about 5 hours there and back! The mountain has "Inukjuaq" written in syllabics up there, and there is an inukshuk on top where we gathered around, drank Inuit tea and talked. Even grandmother walked all the way up, very impressive! The view from the top was amazing, like looking out over the grand canyon, a vast open space with valleys and lakes spread out all around. There were hawks circling overhead and the wind was whipping so hard we took refuge behind the stones.
I noticed so many different types of mushrooms, berries, roots, a herbalist's dream. The grandparents told us about legends of the caribou (they used to be the rulers of the world until the spirits knocked their teeth out!). We saw several complete caribou skeletons on the way up the pass, including one with pelt still on its head and bones. There were several crevasses that we had to avoid while climbing and descending, it would be most treacherous to climb if these were disguised by ice and snow.
On the way down we were attacked by flies, we fled off in all directions, I had to cross a small swamp by jumping on the stable rocks, the insects were in clouds, finally made it through and we all met at an Inuit graveyard, Christian crosses but all handwritten names in Inuktitut, we paid our respects and returned to the boats needed to cross the channel and return home.

Day 5- Sunday

2007-08-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

Day 5 Sunday

Today we hear over the CB that heavy rain is coming and we need to return back if we don’t want to be stuck on this part of the Hudson for a long time. We pack camp very early (start at 5am) and we are ready to leave with all meats dressed and packed for travel by 730. We check the nets and get some more fish for the cooler on the way back, there are 3 nets to check, J* works very hard in the cold morning water, he is quiet and a hard worker and has a gentle way about him and he is the best hunter on the team. We begin the trip back, this is very difficult, waters are very rough and crash on every wave, soon backs and bones hurt and this continues for several hours. We stop at grandparents’ for a break, this is a welcome respite and we are grateful for the tea and bannick. They accompany us with young I* who is 10 and shows me his new rifle, a .22, very impressive). We relax for a bit before heading off again for the next leg of the return journey, this is a long trip, and I am shown and taught Inuktitut words for the geography on the way back. Seeing the houses of the Inukjuaq community was wonderful, we return before 3pm, then we unload for about an hour. I return back to my Inuit family, utterly exhausted, looking in the mirror I have grown a scraggly beard and am sunburned, but feel that sense of happy deep exhaustedness that means when you lie down you breath a big sigh of contentment…I must say that a shower was very welcome,I take a long rest, download some pictures, and after a few hours walk up the hill to the satellite dishes where I can jump on an internet connection, I spend a few hours up on the hill hood up against the wind checking my email, this has been a wonderful week. I will begin my survey data collection next week and take some time here in town before possibly heading out on the land again.

-

Day 4- Saturday

2007-08-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

Day 4 Saturday
This morning the mosquitoes are so bad I don’t want to leave the tent. I am told that an amaruq (wolf) was spotted over the ridge at sunrise. There are fresh caribou tracks on the beach. We put on our waterproof and bee-keeping insect gear and head out early, checking nets, and this day is spent cruising the coastline looking for caribou and fishing. The nets are full today with many iqaluqpiq and codfish. We do not see caribou but not from lack of trying, we cruise for miles along the beautiful coast, scanning for antlers and signs. We have language class in the boat today and I learn a lot of vocabulary. We catch some fish, one char gets away after being on the hook, to universal dismay. I am taught local geography, we stop at an island for tea, I am shown goose eggs but these are not taken as the geese are already developing inside. I am shown the herbs that are used to make Inuit tea and there is an arctic spider, very big and I take a picture, they are not sure if it is poisonous. We drink tea, it is bitter but good, we head back on the water, find a mussel bed and harvest some of them, there is target practice but no real shooting, they cannot find the tuktu this time! My guides are berated for not shooting that buck when they saw it…everyone laughs good naturedly but there is some seriousness in it too, the chance was there and they should have taken it they say. We return to camp and we have many, many fish today, nets are again full, we have about 6 big char and many more codfish just from the second checking, the 5 geese left, the one duck and we are in good shape. Everyone wants to try the fire-cooked way, this time we make a really big fire, it is indeed a lovely bonfire, we stand around as the northern lights come out again, there are shooting stars, as the fire dies down we wrap 7 fish and 7 potatoes in foil, we have 3 big char and 5 codfish, the fire is so big that there are plenty of embers, I let them cook slowly for about an hour, the smells are delicious, when they are unwrapped it is like ‘presents’ everyone laughs, we eat with our hands right on the rocks, we gorge ourselves, the steaming char cooked in its own juices on the fire in the cold air was very very nice. Grace was said over the food but it is eaten not with quiet reverence but with lip smacking finger-licking appreciation, the pleasure taken in food here is almost sexual, the animals killed with your own hands and eaten in the same way, there is no distance between you and your food, you take it from start to finish and I think that the Inuit appreciate their food very intensely. We sleep deeply and everyone is completely full for the first time.