معرفی
Ofelia Zepeda is a Regents' Professor in Tohono O'odham Language and Linguistics at the University of Arizona, affiliated with the Department of Linguistics and the College of Education. She co-founded and co-coordinates the American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI), a summer program supporting educators working with Indigenous and multicultural communities. Her work bridges linguistics, education, and cultural preservation, with a focus on the Tohono O’odham Nation's language revitalization efforts.
Education: PhD (specific discipline and institution details not explicitly provided in text).
Research interests include Tohono O'odham grammar, sociolinguistics of Indigenous languages, and interdisciplinary approaches to language education. Her publications combine linguistic analysis with cultural studies, addressing topics like language policy and oral tradition. She has co-edited academic journals and authored foundational works on Tohono O'odham linguistics.
Advising and institutional contributions: Served on the SUN TRACKS literary advisory committee for a decade and currently edits this Native American literary series. Her teaching spans linguistics, American Indian literature, and language-in-education courses across multiple departments.
Labs/Initiatives: AILDI, established 14 years prior to text publication, collaborates with the American Indian Studies Program and other academic units to promote Indigenous language education.
