Distinguished Language Rights Scholar and Indigenous Communities Advocate
Associated with :
University of British ColumbiaShannon Bischoff serves as Chair of Communication Sciences & Disorders and Professor at Purdue University Fort Wayne, where he directs the Three Rivers Language Center and the Teaching English as a New Language Program. His interdisciplinary expertise spans computational linguistics, language documentation, and linguistic anthropology, supported by his PhD in Anthropology and Linguistics from the University of Arizona. His two-decade career includes significant work with Indigenous communities across the Americas and non-dominant language communities in Southeast Asia, particularly focusing on language preservation and rights. His research has garnered over $2 million in funding, including seven National Science Foundation grants and recognition from UNESCO for his contributions to Indigenous language preservation. His team won the 2018 Ken Hale Prize for their work with the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Language Programs, and his publications have been cited in major linguistic handbooks and encyclopedias. Through the Three Rivers Language Center, he continues to advocate for linguistic rights and support refugee, immigrant, and Indigenous language communities while maintaining partnerships with organizations like UNESCO for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages initiatives.