Mark Turin

Mark Turin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia. He directs both the Digital Himalaya Project and the World Oral Literature Project. Previously, he served as Chair of the First Nations and Endangered Languages Program (2014-2018) and as Acting Co-Director of the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies (2016-2018). Before joining UBC, he was an Associate Research Scientist with the South Asian Studies Council at Yale University and the Founding Program Director of the Yale Himalaya Initiative.

Dr. Turin's research focuses on ethnolinguistics, language endangerment, visual anthropology, digital archives, and fieldwork methodology. His work spans the Himalayan region (particularly Nepal, northern India, and Bhutan) and more recently the Pacific Northwest. He has worked collaboratively with Thangmi-speaking communities since 1996 and with the Heiltsuk First Nation since 2014. His academic training includes Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge and linguistic work on the Thangmi language through the Himalayan Languages Project at Leiden University.

His scholarly publications reveal a trajectory from specific linguistic documentation of Himalayan languages toward broader concerns with digital archiving, language revitalization, and the politics of language contact. Recent works focus on relational lexicography for Indigenous languages, the impact of global events like pandemics on language practices, and digital approaches to preserving oral traditions. His editorial work consistently centers community engagement and accessibility in language documentation.

Dr. Turin serves on numerous editorial boards including HIMALAYA (which he co-edited 2013-2017), HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, and Book 2.0. He also holds advisory roles with the Tamang Language Preservation Initiative, Archive Nepal, Canadian Language Museum, and multiple international language preservation organizations.

As an educator, Dr. Turin has led academic programs focused on Indigenous languages and has mentored students through UBC's First Nations and Endangered Languages Program. His community-based work has resulted in practical language materials including mother tongue primers for Thangmi-speaking children. He regularly acts as a peer reviewer for major research funding bodies including AHRC, SSRC, ESRC, and NSF.

Through the Digital Himalaya Project (co-founded 2000) and World Oral Literature Project, Dr. Turin has established significant digital infrastructure for preserving endangered cultural materials. His BBC Radio 4 series "Our Language in Your Hands" (2012) and "On Language Location" (2014) demonstrate his commitment to public engagement with linguistic anthropology and language endangerment issues.