By Courtney Luckhardt
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Center for Indo-European Studies’ task is nothing less
than to understand the language, archaeology, mythology, and
culture of a widespread civilization on the Eurasian continent that
has been lost in the mists of prehistory.
In order to further this goal, the center is sponsoring its 12th
annual conference and inviting Indo-European scholars from around
the world to participate.
The conference consists mainly of presentations and lectures
related to the study of the civilization that culturally and
linguistically is the precursor to such diverse languages as Latin,
Sanskrit, English, German, Gaelic and others.
“This conference is very high-quality,” said
Christopher Stevens, a professor affiliated with the Center for
Indo-European Studies, and who specializes in Germanic languages
such as Old High German and Gothic.
“This is one of the two major conferences in the United
States, and consequently, in the world,” he said.
Christopher Wilhelm, a graduate student in linguistics, is
moderating a panel on Saturday, one of several throughout the
weekend.
“It’s a wonderful conference,” Wilhelm said.
“I’ve been to it every year since I’ve been at
UCLA, and it’s the only one I know of that is open to
faculty, students, everyone with an interest in the
subject.”
There are also more than 20 paper presentations by graduate
students and faculty as well as two main-event speakers.
The event starts today at 9 a.m. and continues through the
weekend, ending at noon on Sunday.
Today’s papers and speakers consist mostly of experts in
Indo-European languages and linguistics, which is the specialty of
UCLA’s program.
The conference features National Science Medal-winner Jared
Diamond, an eclectic academic from UCLA’s School of
Medicine.
In addition to studying physiology and evolutionary biology,
Diamond also managed to turn a side interest into a 1998 Pulitzer
Prize-winning popular science book titled “Guns, Germs, and
Steel: The Fates of Human Societies,” exploring the causes of
the European conquest of places such as the Americas.
Brent Vine, chair of the Indo-European Studies program and a
Classics professor, organized the event, and commented on his
choice of Diamond as a main speaker.
“Although Dr. Diamond is not directly involved in the
program, he has written a great deal about ancient societies, and
is interested in language expansions, which is the primary focus of
the IES program,” he said.
Diamond’s lecture on Saturday is titled “Language
Expansions of the Last 13,000 Years.”
In addition to his scientific background, Diamond is an
accomplished linguist, speaking approximately 12 languages with
some degree of proficiency.
He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Sejong University
in Korea for his contributions to the greater understanding of the
Korean alphabet.
George Dunkel of Zurich University in Switzerland is the second
featured speaker.
Dunkel is a specialist in Indo-European languages, especially
the oldest texts of Greek, Indic and Anatolian, which is related to
Turkish.
On Friday, Dunkel will give a lecture titled “The
Particles Strike Back,” referring to a type of Indo-European
grammar.