Alumni Digest.

Community · Alumni Digest original

A language degree becomes a community practice

UBC Okanagan’s first St’át’imc language graduates are carrying immersion, teaching and family life into the next chapter of revitalization. Published in Alumni Digest as verified reporting from the University of British Columbia.

UBC Okanagan’s first St’át’imc language graduates are carrying immersion, teaching and family life into the next chapter of revitalization.

Alumni Digest editorial deskAugust 21, 20263 min read
In the September issue
The inaugural St’át’imc Language Fluency graduates at UBC Okanagan.
Four graduates make up the inaugural cohort of UBC Okanagan’s Bachelor of St’át’imc Language Fluency. The degree was built with community partners and follows earlier Interior Salish language programs at UBCO. The source reports fewer than 50 fluent speakers in the northern St’át’imc area, making the cohort’s work part of a much larger effort to keep language in use. Graduates described applying what they learned in early-childhood education, at home and in continued study. The story’s most durable image is not a credential alone. It is a circle of learners who supported one another across distance, then returned that learning to families and communities. Photo: Reporting: David Trifunov. Source image retained for editorial review; rights clearance is still required before any broader reuse.

The context

Where the work begins

Four graduates make up the inaugural cohort of UBC Okanagan’s Bachelor of St’át’imc Language Fluency. The degree was built with community partners and follows earlier Interior Salish language programs at UBCO.

The work

In the field

The source reports fewer than 50 fluent speakers in the northern St’át’imc area, making the cohort’s work part of a much larger effort to keep language in use. Graduates described applying what they learned in early-childhood education, at home and in continued study.

The takeaway

What follows

The story’s most durable image is not a credential alone. It is a circle of learners who supported one another across distance, then returned that learning to families and communities.

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