Sheilah Nicholas

Dr. Nicholas (Hopi) is Qalwungwa (Sunforehead Clan) from Songoopavi Village on Second Mesa in the Black Mesa Plateau of Arizona. As a Professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies at the University of Arizona, a Faculty Instructor for the American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI) and Immersion Instructor-Consultant for the Indigenous Language Institute (ILI), Dr. Nicholas teaches courses in: Indigenous culture-based education, Indigenous language revitalization, and the Oral Immersion approach to Indigenous language revitalization, and provides professional development and strategic support for community and school-based Indigenous language programs. Her work with the Hopi Tribe’s Hopilavayi Summer Institute for Hopi language teachers (2004-2010) continues to inform her research and teaching trajectories. Dr. Nicholas is Co-PI on a national study, “Indigenous Language Immersion and Native American Student Achievement” which seeks to understand how Indigenous language immersion as an innovative education practice affects language acquisition, academic achievement, and well-being.