Associate Professor
Language varies across space and time, and my passion is to explore the "how" and "why" of linguistic variation and change. My research focuses on the spread of linguistic change between Amish communities across North America — a long term, fieldwork oriented project on the dialectology of Pennsylvania German.
In my classes students investigate both the marvelous systematicity of all languages and the intersection of language use with aspects of social identity such as age, ethnicity, gender, history, region, and religion.
Teaching Fields
- Linguistics
Office Hours
Spring 2013
- MWF 2:00-3:00
Teaching Schedule
Spring 2013- 4120/101, Structure of the English Lang:Thematic Title: The Anatomy of English MWF, 10:00-10:50, DS569
- 4170/102, Studies in Language: Thematic Title: Rebuilding Babel: English as World Language, MWF 11:00-11:50, DS 569
- 2710/101, Intro to Lit: Fiction, Thematic Title: The Axe and the Frozen Sea, MWF, 1:00-1:50, DS569
Research Interests
- Linguistic change in Amish communities across the U.S.
Selected Publications
- 2007 “Ditching the Immigration Line.” American Speech 82:3 (Fall 2007): 330-6.
- 2006 “Portable Community: The Linguistic and Psychological Reality of Midwestern Pennsylvania German.” Eds. Thomas Murray and Beth Simon. Language Variation and Change in the American Midland: A New Look at "Heartland" English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 263-74
- 2003 “Pennsylvania German and the ‘Lunch Pail Threat’: Language Shift and Cultural Maintenance in two Amish Communities.” When Languages Collide: Perspectives on Language Conflict, Language Competition, and Language Coexistence. Eds. B. Joseph, J. Destefano. N. Jacobs, I. Lehiste. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press. 3-20
Honors/Awards
- 2007 Summer Faculty Fellowship Grant. Marquette University. For writing A Dialectology of Pennsylvania German.
- 2004 Curriculum Enhancement Grant, Diversity. Marquette University. For course development: Language in the City, focusing on language and social diversity
English Department
