Stuart Heslop

My name is Stuart Heslop (he/they), and I am completing my senior year at the University of Washington as a double major in linguistics and American Indian studies. I am a settler scholar living in dxʷdəwʔabš territory—among lands and waters I am grateful to call home. For much of my undergrad, I have studied and researched Lushootseed, the Indigenous language of the eastern Puget Sound. In the future, I hope to pursue a career in Indigenous language revitalization, and I have applied to the MA in Linguistics at the University of Victoria to gain the necessary experience and skill to do so.

It is for this, among many reasons, that I am thankful to have been selected as a Corbett Scholar. As a Coast Salish language, Lushootseed is tied through structure and culture to Indigenous communities across the Salish Sea, including the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ on whose territories sits the University of Victoria. Peoples throughout the Salish Sea watershed, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, are connected through shared cultures and histories of settlement, trade, and politics. It is these relationships and histories that I hope to better understand through the Corbett Exchange. Further, I am excited to build relationships with other students and professionals whose work, lives, and interests span the U.S.-Canada border. Through study and conversation, I look forward to developing a more well-rounded understanding of not only life and scholarship in BC, but in my own home region as well.

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The Corbett British Columbia-Washington International Exchange Program Fund provides an opportunity for undergraduate students at the University of Washington to spend two semesters at the University of British Columbia or University of Victoria; and for students from the University of British Columbia and University of Victoria to spend three quarters at the University of Washington.