PhD program grad Sonja Thoma interviewed about her work with Indigenous languages
Recent PhD program graduate Sonja Thoma has been working as a consultant and language coach on various projects in support of First Nations communities, and has been interviewed about this work on the Language Sciences site.
PhD alumnus John Lyon accepts tenure-track position at UBC-O
Doctoral program alumnus John Lyon has accepted an assistant professor position at UBC Okanagan in Indigenous Studies in the Department of Community, Culture and Global Studies.
Hannah Green and Roger Lo receive TA teaching award
Hannah Green and Roger Lo have been recognized for outstanding undergraduate teaching with this year’s department Excellence in Graduate Teaching Assistantship Award.
Oksana and Muhammad’s research featured in Pithy Papers
Language Sciences has organized Pithy Papers, a series of brief descriptions of UBC Language Sciences recent research. The inaugural installment features work by Oksana Tkachman on conventionalization in sign languages and by Muhammad Abdul-Mageed on ‘micro-dialects’.
New course on the languages of Africa
The department is offering a new survey course, LING 308: Languages of Africa. Students will study African languages and cultures from the ground up, including through inquisitive exploration in language projects.
Three grad students recognized as UBC Public Scholars
Three grad students have been recognized as UBC Public Scholars. The Public Scholars Initiative supports doctoral students “make purposeful contributions to the public good through collaborative, action-oriented, and/or creative forms of scholarship.” They are Anne Bertrand, Roger Yu-Hsiang Lo, and Michael Schwan. Congratulations all around!
Two students win Edna Dharmaratne Award
Two students have been honored with the Edna Dharmaratne Award: Nicole Ebbutt, an undergrad in speech sciences, and Ife Adebara, a Ph.D. student in linguistics. Congratulations to both!
Samuel Akinbo on talking drums
Linguistics grad student Samuel Akinbo’s research on ‘talking drums’ is profiled in an interesting and entertainingly pun-filled discussion on the Language Sciences site. The crucial observation is that the gángan, a drum used in Nigeria, can convey a rich array of linguistic information about spoken Yorùbá.
Coronavirus phonetics cookbook
As a way to boost morale during isolation, the LING 314 (Instrumental Phonetics) class had an online potluck party, but, as they couldn’t actually share food, they shared recipes. The result was a coronavirus cookbook available to all.
West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics
UBC is hosting the annual West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics in March, and the program is now available.