Miki Makihara

Makihara, Miki, and Bambi B. Schieffelin (eds.). 2007. Consequences of Contact: Language Ideologies and Sociocultural Transformations in Pacific Societies. Oxford University Press.

2005 Rapa Nui Ways of Speaking Spanish: Language Shift and Socialization on Easter Island. Language in Society 34(5), November 2005. [Download PDF file]

2005 Being Rapa Nui, Speaking Spanish: Children’s Voices on Easter Island. Anthropological Theory 5(2):117–134. [Download PDF file]

2005 Rapa Nui. In Encyclopedia of Anthropology, edited by H. James Birx, pp.1985-1989. Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage. [Download PDF file]

2004 Linguistic Syncretism and Language Ideologies: Transforming Sociolinguistic Hierarchy on Rapa Nui ( Easter Island ). American Anthropologist 106(3):529–540. [view abstract at AnthroSource ]

2002 Book review of Regimes of Language: Ideologies, Polities, and Identities, edited by Paul Kroskrity (Advanced Seminar Series, School of American Research Press , 2000). American Ethnologist 29(1):176–177.

2001 Modern Rapanui Adaptation of Spanish Elements. Oceanic Linguistics 40(2):191–222. [view abstract at Project MUSE]

2001 Rapanui -Spanish Bilingualism. Rongorongo Studies 11(1):25–42.

2001 Changing Rapanui Language and Identity. In Pacific 2000. Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress on Easter Island and the Pacific, edited by C. M. Stevenson, G. Lee, and F.J. Morin, pp.425–428. Los Osos , CA : Easter Island Foundation.

2001 Book review of Rongorongo : The Easter Island Script, History, Traditions, Texts, by Steven Roger Fischer (Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics, Oxford University Press, 1998 ) Anthropological Linguistics 43(1):111–115.


			Office:	Powdermaker Hall 315L
			Phone:	(718) 997-5513
			Fax:	(718) 997-2885
			E-mail:

Interests:	Courses Taught:
Linguistic anthropology Language and identity Language Contact Linguistic Ideology Pacific Societies	Language, Culture and Society (104) Language, Gender, and Ethnicity (239) Language and Social Identity (280) Voices of New York (289) Anthropology of Bilingualism (330) Multilingualism and Globalization (380) Core Course in Linguistic Anthropology (Grad Center)

Field Research:
I have been interested in the use and conception of language and how these relate to aspects of social life, in particular, to social identity, intergroup relations, and political and economic changes. My research combines linguistic analysis and interpretive ethnography. I am currently working on the “Rapa Nui Cultural and Linguistic Heritage Project,” to explore memory, social change, and language through oral history narratives. This NSF-NEH financed project will also build community resources for the documentation and revitalization of the Rapa Nui language by creating a digital archive of oral history narratives.
Selected Publications:
Makihara, Miki, and Bambi B. Schieffelin (eds.). 2007. Consequences of Contact: Language Ideologies and Sociocultural Transformations in Pacific Societies. Oxford University Press. 2005 Rapa Nui Ways of Speaking Spanish: Language Shift and Socialization on Easter Island. Language in Society 34(5), November 2005. [Download PDF file] 2005 Being Rapa Nui, Speaking Spanish: Children’s Voices on Easter Island. Anthropological Theory 5(2):117–134. [Download PDF file] 2005 Rapa Nui. In Encyclopedia of Anthropology, edited by H. James Birx, pp.1985-1989. Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage. [Download PDF file] 2004 Linguistic Syncretism and Language Ideologies: Transforming Sociolinguistic Hierarchy on Rapa Nui ( Easter Island ). American Anthropologist 106(3):529–540. [view abstract at AnthroSource ] 2002 Book review of Regimes of Language: Ideologies, Polities, and Identities, edited by Paul Kroskrity (Advanced Seminar Series, School of American Research Press , 2000). American Ethnologist 29(1):176–177. 2001 Modern Rapanui Adaptation of Spanish Elements. Oceanic Linguistics 40(2):191–222. [view abstract at Project MUSE] 2001 Rapanui -Spanish Bilingualism. Rongorongo Studies 11(1):25–42. 2001 Changing Rapanui Language and Identity. In Pacific 2000. Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress on Easter Island and the Pacific, edited by C. M. Stevenson, G. Lee, and F.J. Morin, pp.425–428. Los Osos , CA : Easter Island Foundation. 2001 Book review of Rongorongo : The Easter Island Script, History, Traditions, Texts, by Steven Roger Fischer (Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics, Oxford University Press, 1998 ) Anthropological Linguistics 43(1):111–115.
Address: Department of Anthropology, Queens College of the City University of New York Powdermaker Hall 314, 65-30 Kissena Blvd, Flushing NY, 11367