Everything Nac

David J. Peterson, linguist, author and creator of the Dothraki language featured in HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” spoke to a packed house Thursday night at Stephen F. Austin State University about the art of language invention.

Peterson began creating languages in 2000, and he is one of the world’s first full-time professional conlangers, someone who creates artificial languages. He has created languages for television shows and movies, including “Game of Thrones,” “Emerald City,” “Defiance,” “Star-Crossed,” “The 100,” “Dr. Strange” and “Thor 2.” He also has authored the books “The Art of Language Invention” and “Living Language Dothraki.”

“It’s quite different today to find that there are people who think it’s cool that somebody creates languages and that they are interested in the topic and want to hear more,” Peterson said. “It’s a very different world from what it was 15 years ago.”

During his discussion, Peterson recalled waking up when he was 17 years old with a desire to learn French and as many additional languages as he could. While studying at the University of California, Berkley, Peterson enrolled in many language courses, including Arabic, Russian and Esperanto, an international auxiliary language.

“I love coming here because I love talking about language. I feel the more people learn about language the better,” Peterson said. “Language is the best invention we have as humans, and I think it would be incredible if people spent some time digging into it to find what language is about and why it’s interesting.”

Throughout the evening, Peterson discussed his path to his current career, his process for creating a new language, the importance of linguistics and more.

“If you are a student at a university, my advice is this: Take a language course. It doesn’t matter which one,” Peterson said.

This was Peterson’s second time to speak at SFA. Event organizer Dr. Jessie Sams, associate professor in SFA’s Department of English and Creative Writing, has timed Peterson’s visits with her invented languages course, which she teaches every two years. Overall, she said Thursday’s event was a success.

“I believe Peterson’s presentations are a way for students in my class to get their work validated and to see that what we are doing in class has real-world application. Plus, his speech included great examples of how constructed languages reflect how natural languages work in real life,” Sams said. “It’s a way to get people excited about languages and linguistics.”

One attendee, Mahailey Oliver, an SFA sophomore English major from Scurry-Rosser, Texas, was inspired by the presentation.

“I really liked that Peterson was an English major, too, because a lot of people think English majors can only be teachers, and we won’t make any money, and that’s not true. It was nice to see an English major make it big,” Oliver said.

Peterson’s discussion piqued the interest of various majors, including accounting graduate student Cypris Adams from Cypress.

“It was really interesting to hear how he created a number system,” Adams said. “In our literal world, I think one is one — no matter where you are, but to hear there is more than one way to create a number system was interesting to me.”

Dozens of SFA students and community members engaged in the discussion during the question-and-answer session.

“I love ‘Game of Thrones’ and George R.R. Martin. The language for Dothraki is very strong. It shows the characterization of that culture very well. I find it impressive that someone made that,” said Marcus Dotson, graphic design senior from Dallas. “I feel a little bit closer to Jon Snow, Khal Drogo, and to the books and story. It makes me want to go home and pick up my books.”

Whispers of “This is the coolest place ever” and “This is the best day” drift through the 1837 Millard-Lee House at Millard’s Crossing Historic Village in Nacogdoches as dozens of third-grade students approach a frozen figure in the living wax museum. As a student rings the bell, Stephen F. Austin State University elementary education major Ciara Johnson of Houston springs to life as Bessie Coleman, the first African-American female aviator.

“Bessie was determined to become an aviator, so she learned French and went to France to get her license. She did all this to achieve her dream,” Johnson said.

For more than 20 years, SFA, area schools and Millard’s Crossing Historic Village have collaborated to bring the past to life in an interactive field trip known as Pioneer Days. Roz Couch, assistant director of Millard’s Crossing Historic Village, explained how this program benefits all participants.

“It’s part of our mission to preserve these historic buildings and their contents so people can see what life was like in the old days,” Couch said. “I’m so proud of this program. Since we’ve been doing this for more than 20 years, it’s become multigenerational — people who came here as kids now have their kids coming here. It’s so exciting. I get chill bumps just talking about it.”

Event coordinator and organizer Dr. Vicki Thomas, assistant professor of elementary education at SFA, agrees Pioneer Days serves a dual purpose of educating area school students about Texas history while providing SFA students an avenue to practice their teaching techniques.

“For many of our students, this is their first time teaching in whole group situations, and this field trip helps them learn to facilitate larger groups of students,” Thomas said. “It also helps education majors hone their craft, as they breathe life into their stations.”

During the event, SFA elementary education students enrolled in an elementary education social studies course interact with third graders through a variety of experiential learning activities, such as the living wax museum. In the museum, students take on the personas of Nacogdoches and Texas historic figures, including Nettie Marshall, Anna Raguet, Lera Millard Thomas, Stephen F. Austin, Bessie Coleman and Willie Lee Campbell.

Millard’s Crossing Historic Village received a grant to reopen its 1840s dogtrot house, and this was the first time a tour was offered during Pioneer Days. Community member Ingrid Davidson demonstrated spinning yarn on a spinning wheel at the dogtrot.

“We thought it would be a unique experience to see a dogtrot home with many artifacts inside, but Ingrid’s spinning wheel added a special touch and really got the students excited,” Thomas said.

Overall, there were 10 activity stations during the event, which included a rug cleaning and tools demonstration, corn shelling, garden plowing, washboard laundry, a lesson in the one-room schoolhouse, a pump organ demonstration, a “make-and-take” toy activity, spinning lessons, old-fashioned games and the living wax museum.

Hundreds of area elementary school students attended the event.

Stephen F. Austin State University senior Melissa Lenert recently presented research during the Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol in Austin.

This event showcased the experiences of undergraduate students engaged in research to Texas legislators and the public through high-quality poster displays. The program and event’s theme, “Transforming Texas Through Undergraduate Research,” highlighted how research conducted by undergraduate students positively impacts Texas and Texans.

Lenert, who is a double major in biology and psychology from Spring, presented research on the effects of caffeine on individuals who consume caffeine daily. She used the quantitative electroencephalography method to track changes in brain activity during caffeine withdrawal and shortly after drinking coffee.

“Representing SFA in Austin was a very cool experience for me. I enjoyed talking to other researchers and telling them about the research we do at SFA,” Lenert said. “Presenting at the conference taught me how to be more comfortable talking about my research to people who aren’t familiar with the field.”

Dr. Luis Aguerrevere, associate professor and director of the Human Neuroscience Lab at SFA, served as Lenert’s research mentor and attended the conference with her.

“I believe my role as her mentor is to foster growth throughout her professional career pathway. My role for this project was to provide scientific and statistical support,” Aguerrevere said. “Before this project, Melissa worked with me on a number of research projects, most of which have been presented at national conferences. Thus, for this specific project, she operated with a high level of independence.”

Dozens of research projects were displayed in poster format reflecting the work of numerous undergraduate students representing more than 50 academic and health-related institutions across Texas.

During the conference, Lenert toured the Capitol and visited the meeting rooms of the Texas Senate and House of Representatives. Following the tour, she attended two panel discussions where professors and researchers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics-related fields, and the humanities discussed their personal journeys and how research influenced their lives.

Senior interior design students at Stephen F. Austin State University will showcase their talents during the “Essence of Design” exhibit on display now through April 21 on the second floor of the Steen Library on the university campus.

The exhibit is open to the public and will kick off with an opening reception from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, April 1. Randy Johnson from Johnson’s Furniture is sponsoring the reception.

Each of the 17 students was allotted an 8-by-8 foot area equipped with a TV monitor to display their portfolio and show examples from their four years of study at SFA. The space also houses the student’s business cards, design philosophy and other elements.

“Since my freshman year, I’ve always wanted the opportunity to build a display and I’ve been really excited about the process,” said Meagan McNabb, senior interior design major from Rockwall. “It is rewarding to be able to bring your specific design style to your wall.”

After graduation, McNabb hopes to pursue hospitality design and design restaurants and hotels. Her career goal is incorporated in her project, which showcases an industrial contemporary style.

The exhibit achieves multiple objectives within the interior design curriculum: readying student portfolios for the job-search process; encouraging student self-assessment; allowing students to experience the complete design process, including conceptualization, design development, fabrication, installation and evaluation; communicating the scope of interior design education to the public; and providing a recruitment tool for the program.

To schedule a guided tour of the exhibit or for additional information, contact Sally Ann Swearingen, SFA associate professor of interior design, at (936) 468-2048 or sswearingen@sfasu.edu.