Alumni Accomplishments

Josh Higdon, ‘21, will attend the University of Florida in the fall to pursue a Ph.D. in Spanish and Portuguese Studies, specializing in Hispanic Linguistics. Drawing on research experiences with professors Kissling, Lowder, and Giancaspro, they will consider how heritage Spanish speakers process language, and sociolinguistic implications of this language processing. 

Daniel Stewart, ’18, is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Spanish linguistics at Georgetown University. His research interests include bi/multilingualism as well as second and third language acquisition. In addition to his studies, he teaches English part-time on the online language learning platform, iTalki, where he is able to witness the progress of learners towards their language goals. This insight has both better informed him of the implications of his studies and motivated his personal language studies.

Adrian Zhou, ’21, is working as a Junior Specialist in the Psycholinguistics Lab at the University of California, Davis. His work involves designing eye-tracking experiments, in-person subject testing, and analysis of speech and eye movement data. He is interested in generative syntax and is currently researching the acceptability of dangling modifiers in English. 

Gwynna Ryan, '21, is enrolled in the Speech Language and Learning M.S. program at Northwestern University. She is training to provide speech, language, and swallowing therapy to adults with acquired neurogenic communication disorders. After finishing her degree, she hopes to work in a hospital or inpatient rehab facility serving patients recovering from acute neurological insults like stroke or traumatic brain injury. In addition, she instructs a linguistics course intended for non-native English speaking graduate students at Northwestern to improve their proficiency and confidence in their English both in the classroom and beyond.

Tess Monks, ’20, was selected as one of Harvard’s newest Presidential Scholars after being accepted into several of the world’s premier Ph.D. programs for historical linguistics. Read more about Tess’s accomplishments here.

Young Brinson, ’15, teaches Japanese (along with biology and psychology) at the Cesar Chavez Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. Young speaks the Native American language Nottoway/Nansemond as well as Lumbee English.

Emily Gove, '17, is finishing an M.A. thesis in the anthropology of food at the University of London. She studies concepts of authenticity in immigrant-run supper clubs in London. Her work involves an analysis of the language used to characterize undesirable guests and how that discourse reinforces the conventions and food choices of supper clubs. This involved taking courses in intensive Turkish. While finishing the M.A., Emily is working at Equal Exchange, a company that builds alternative food system models. She is researching the discourse of marketing in a culture where terms like organic or fair trade have become privilege-oriented.

Bill Leach, ’15, finished an M.A. in childhood and special education and is currently working as a special education case manager for a charter middle school in New York City. Bill taught in a charter school in Harlem while pursuing the MA, and he also spent a summer teaching English in Cuzco, Peru.

 

 

Remi Pomaranski, ’16, is working as a Compliance Officer for the Sex Offender Investigative Unit of the Virginia State Police. As she works with a diverse population, she finds that her linguistics training makes her more aware of the value and nuances of code switching as well as the role of gender in interpersonal communication

Lorena Bolanos Abarca, ‘15, is in the Ph.D. program in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan. Lorena’s research topics include the history, literature, and culture of the medieval period up to the early modern era, with a particular interest for Franco-Spanish cultural exchanges. She is especially fascinated with oral tradition and the rise of writings in the Romance vernacular.

Shayna Webb, ‘17, is currently teaching English online to students (aged 4-12) from China and pursuing teaching credentials in elementary education with a dual immersion certificate to teach in a Spanish speaking classroom. She reports that her background in linguistics makes her a better teacher. She is also keeping up her Arabic and Turkish!

Melanie Kramer, ’15, finished the M.A. program in French education at Queens College and is currently a French teacher at a middle school on Long Island.

Alumni who completed the self-designed major in linguistics:

Katherine Hinman, who completed the self-designed major in linguistics in 2016, is now teaching English at USA Veritas Prep School in Beijing, China.

Noraya Razzaque, who completed the self-designed major in linguistics in 2016, is studying for the MA in international education management at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.