Director and Associate Professor, Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies
Email: cis.director@ubc.ca
Bernard C. Perley is Maliseet from Tobique First Nation, New Brunswick. He holds Bachelor of Fine Arts (studio arts) and Master of Architecture (architectural design) degrees from the University of Texas, Austin. His PhD is in Social Anthropology from Harvard. His academic training is interdisciplinary and aims to transcend disciplinary boundaries to serve his commitment to Indigenous community-based research and advocacy.
Research Area: Emergent Climate Response Research, Indigenous-Led Climate Action and Planning, Narratives, Visions, and Vocabularies of Climate Justice
Dr. Perley’s critical analysis of discourses on language death and endangerment in his monograph Defying Maliseet Language Death: Emergent Vitalities of Language, Culture, and Identity in Eastern Canada (Nebraska 2011) shifts metaphors of “language death and extinction” toward metaphors of “language life and vitality”. He asserts an Indigenous praxis of “emergent vitality” as an empowering stance for communities who are working toward language life. His ongoing writing, research, and teaching integrates language, landscape, and identity to enhance Indigenous language revitalization.