Sheilah Nicholas

Sheilah Nicholas, Hopi, is of the Sunforehead Clan from the Village of Songoopavi on Second Mesa, the Hopi Reservation. She is an Assistant Professor in the College of Education, Department of Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies (TLSS), Language, Reading and Culture (LRC) Program and also Affiliate Faculty in the American Indian Studies Program (AISP) and Second Language Acquisition Teaching (SLAT). Professor Nicholas’ scholarly work focuses on Indigenous/Hopi language maintenance and revitalization. Her current writing draws on her dissertation, “Becoming ‘Fully’ Hopi: The Role of the Hopi Language in the Contemporary Lives of Hopi Youth—A Hopi Case Study of Language Shift and Vitality.” Her consultant roles with the Hopi Tribe and local schools have provided professional relationships resulting in the establishment of an on-site Hopi Language Summer Institute for teacher-training offering university course and transfer to LRC degree programs as well as on-going professional development in language-teaching.