Teaching

Fall 2024

Intro to Language

ENGL 2370

Course description

  • Mon/Weds 1:00pm–2:20pm
  • Section 001: Humanities 308 [map]
  • Section D02: Online via Zoom
  • More information

Analyzing Quantitative Data with R

ENGL 5377 (Approaches to Tech. Comm.)

Course description

  • Mondays 6:00pm–8:50pm
  • Section 001: Humanities 202 [map]
  • Section D01: Online via Zoom
  • No prior knowledge of statitics, programming, or experimental design is assumed or required.
  • More information

Office hours

  • Mon/Weds 12:00pm–12:50pm and by appointment
  • Be sure to book a time to ensure a slot!
  • F2F in Humanities 312C [map] or online via Zoom

Upcoming teaching

Spring 2025

The Sounds of Language (Advanced Studies in Linguistics: Phonology)

ENGL 4373

Course description

Phonology (Graduate)

ENGL 5339

Course description

Fall 2025 (tentative)

Spring 2026 (tentative)


Past teaching

Texas Tech University

Semester Course Syllabus

Overview of all Texas Tech student evaluation scores: [CSV]

Representative student comments from all Texas Tech courses: [PDF]

Texas Tech Humanities Building

Rutgers University

Linguistics courses

Overview of all Rutgers linguistics student evaluation scores: [PDF]

Expand list of past courses

  • Spring 2011. Instructor. Linguistics of Signed Languages. [Syllabus | Student Evals]
  • Fall 2010. Teaching Assistant (Instructor: Paul de Lacy): Introduction to Linguistic Theory (2 sections). [Student Evals]
  • Summer 2010. Instructor. Linguistics of Signed Languages. [Syllabus | Student Evals]
  • Spring 2010. Instructor. Introduction to Linguistic Theory. [Syllabus | Student Evals]
  • Fall 2009. Teaching Assistant (Instructor: Paul de Lacy).: Introduction to the Study of Language (2 sections). [Student Evals]
  • Summer 2009. Instructor. Linguistics of Signed Languages. [Student Evals]

Hide list of past courses

Other courses

Expand list of past courses

  • Fall 2012. Instructor. 01:355:101: Expository Writing (2 sections). [Syllabus]
  • Fall 2011. Instructor. 01:355:101: Expository Writing (2 sections). [Syllabus]

Hide list of past courses

Rutgers Linguistics Building

Brandeis University

Spring 2007. Peer Assistant to Henrietta Hung. Phonological Theory.

Advising

PhD students

Chair
  • Katie Weiss (in progress)
  • Mohammad Alahmadi (in progress)
  • Amnah Madkhali (in progress)
  • Khaleel Abusal (2023)
Member
  • Nikki Lyssy (in progress)
  • Anna Kroon (in progress)
  • Georgianna Ravenna (2023)
  • Anastasia Coles (2022)
  • Yilan Liu (2022, TTU Health Sciences Center)

MA students

Chair
  • Shannon Cearley (2022)
  • Tate Quinn (2019)
  • Marcus Roberts (2019)
Member
  • Jamal Hossain (2024)
  • Mikhaela Köhlo (2016, Rhodes Unviersity)
  • Neal Durbin (2015)
  • Amy Huff (2014)

Does the brain process emojis in the same way it processes spoken language? Why is the Pokémon named “Snorlax” larger than the one named “Pikachu”?

This course provides a broad overview of language—its structure, its origins, and its role in society. We'll try to understand why language is so weird (Why does the tiny island of Papua New Guinea have over 800 languages? Why does the !Xóõ language have 164 consonants?) by applying the tools of linguistics to the language we encounter in our daily lives and to languages from around the world.

How does our culture influence our language? How does our language influence our culture?

In this course, we will examine the role of language in the melting pot of America. We'll look at language as influenced by race, gender, sexual and gender identity, and power structures in order to see how social dynamics affect the way people speak—and the way people interpret what they hear.

We'll learn about the methods involved in gathering sociolinguistic data, and even engage in some hands-on research ourselves.

Why is "blik" a possible word of English, but not "bnik"? Why can we have [tl] in the middle of a word (e.g., "butler"), but not at the start or the end? (And how come some languages, like the modern Aztec language Nahuatl, are perfectly content with [tl]-final words?)

This course provides an overview of the field of phonology—how languages organize, represent, and manipulate their sounds. We will begin by discussing the sounds of the world's languages and their articulatory,acoustic, and distributional properties. We will examine why some sounds are allowed in certain parts of a word but not others, and how sounds change based on their surroundings.

Linguists and non-linguists alike are welcome to join this course.

Language touches every aspect of our lives. From reading the morning paper to decrypting secret codes, the subconscious knowledge of language is uniquely human. In this course we'll ask what it means to have a command of language—do animals have it? Infants?

By examining the structures of the world's languages, we will discover why linguists believe in a “universal grammar” in spite of the world's rich linguistic diversity. We'll also learn how to make the sounds of the world's languages—from French nasal vowels to the clicks of Africa's Bantu languages.

This course is suited to anyone interested in language, how the mind works, or the characteristics that make us uniquely human.

Why is "blik" a possible word of English, but not "bnik"? Why can we have [tl] in the middle of a word (e.g., "butler"), but not at the start or the end? (And how come some languages, like the modern Aztec language Nahuatl, are perfectly content with [tl]-final words?)

This course provides an overview of the field of phonology—how languages organize, represent, and manipulate their sounds. We will begin by discussing the sounds of the world's languages and their articulatory,acoustic, and distributional properties. We will examine why some sounds are allowed in certain parts of a word but not others, and how sounds change based on their surroundings.

Linguists and non-linguists alike are welcome to join this course.

This course will introduce you to tools and methods for collecting, analyzing, and visualizing quantitative data—including survey responses, experimental results, and usability studies. We’ll learn how to turn raw numbers into digestible information in the form of numerical and visual summaries, basic statistical analysis, and inferences about your sample population. And we’ll learn some basic data-wrangling techniques along the way that will be useful even outside the realm of research.