About Laura Martin
Laura
Martin has been interested in in language her whole life. Trained as a linguistic
anthropologist, she has gathered data in field settings and then analyzed
the materials -- narratives, histories, conversations, anecdotes, etc. --
from various linguistic perspectives, such as the phonology (sound system),
grammar, meaning (semantics), and discourse organization.
She began to work on Mayan languages in 1972 when she first went to Guatemala. She spent a year there, working on the language known as Q'anjob'al, as part of the Proyecto Lingüístico Francisco Marroquín (PLFM). The PLFM stills exists, offering one of the premiere Spanish language schools in Central America and continuing its production of linguistic materials in Mayan languages.
Since then, Dr. Martin continued to study Q'anjob'al, and, since 1984, has been the only linguist publishing on the structure of the distantly related Mayan language Mocho', spoken in Chiapas, Mexico. Since 1986, she has directed the recurring K'inal Winik program at Cleveland State. In 2003, she was named director of the K'inal Winik Cultural Center and Yax Te' Books. The Center is a university unit dedicated to multicultural education, and, especially, to the production of curricular resources about the contemporary Maya and to the training of teachers in their use. The Center is also engaged in the development of international collaborations with a Mayan and Mesoamerican focus. During the course of the Fulbright experience, Dr. Martin hopes to put several such collaborations in place.
Dr. Martin, Professor of Modern Languages and Center Director, has been on the faculty at Cleveland State University since 1970. She has served as Chair of the Department of Anthropology, Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences, and Interim Director of the Biomedical and Health Institute. She achieved the rank of Professor in 1989, and has held appointments in several departments. She has published in such fields as Spanish dialectology, foreign language pedagogy, culture and health, and, of course, in linguistics. She has held NEH, Title VI, Fulbright-Hayes, Ohio Humanities Council, and many other grants in support of her research, teaching, and program development activities.