Sign Language Linguistics (Fall 2022, Fall 2023)
Inventing Languages (Undergraduate FIG; Fall 2023)
Language Emergence (Undergraduate Honors Course; Spring 2024)
Language Socialization (Advanced Undergraduate; Fall 2021)
Children learning language are faced with an immensely difficult task. They need to figure out the rules of their native language, but they are also expected to know what kinds of things are appropriate to say or sign in different contexts, how to interact with different conversation partners, and how to interpret diverse communicative practices. We will cover the primary theoretical and methodological approaches in the field of language socialization and read case studies from economically and culturally diverse samples in the U.S. and internationally. Topics to be discussed include: variation in language input cross-culturally, beliefs about how children acquire their native language(s), ideologies about communicative competence and who is recognized as a proficient speaker/signer, as well as critiques and current trends in the study of language socialization.
Language and Cognition across the Lifespan (Advanced Undergraduate; Spring 2019)
In this course, we explore the relationship between language and cognition, at the beginning, middle, and end of the lifespan, as well as in cases of language disorders. We cover topics including linguistic relativity, bilingualism and aging, multimodal language and cognition, and language conditions like aphasia. Throughout we will think critically about why researchers work with particular populations to address different questions in research on language and cognition, what the benefits and drawbacks are of different methodologies, and how we can leverage diverse approaches to the study of language use across the lifespan to understand the relationship between language and cognition.
Literacy, Language, and Education (Advanced Undergraduate; Winter 2019)
This course will consider the complex relationship between literacy, standard and nonstandard language, and formal and informal education. Many of the world’s languages and speakers are non-literate, they speak one or more languages that have a long history of use but have never been represented with a written script. We will consider theoretical perspectives on the effects of cultural practices - literacy and formal schooling - on the individual child. Specifically, we review theories and empirical studies considering relationship between literacy and cognition, literacy and social change, and literacy and mobility, identity and status.
Socialization, Development and Acquisition: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Language Learning in Childhood (Advanced Undergraduate, Bernice Neugarten Prize Lectureship; Winter 2018)
This course will provide a broad cross-disciplinary introduction to the study of how children learn language. The question of how children acquire their native language is of interest to many fields, in particular: developmental psychology, linguistic anthropology, and linguistics, but each of these fields have markedly different perspectives on the nature of the process and outcomes of language learning. This class will use background lectures, seminar discussions and a short “field work” project to explore the theoretical claims and methodological strategies across disciplines. Topics include case studies from a variety of languages and cultures and students will be encouraged to think critically about the benefits and drawbacks of each of the three disciplinary perspectives to better understand what it means to “know” a language in a cognitive, cultural and structural sense.
Introduction to Developmental Psychology (Introductory Undergraduate; Summer Session 2017)
Introduction to College Writing (Introductory Undergraduate; Summer 2015)
Mind (Introductory Undergraduate course providing an introduction and overview of the field of Psychology; Spring 2015, Fall 2018, Winter 2019)
Perspectives in Social Science Analysis, (Graduate; Fall 2016, Fall 2017)
Language, Culture and Thought, (Advanced Undergraduate; Spring 2014, Spring 2018)
Mind, Teaching Intern, Social Sciences Division, (Introductory Undergraduate; Winter 2014, Spring 2014)
Language and the Human, Writing Intern: Humanities Core, (Introductory Undergraduate; Fall 2013)
Elementary Special Education Teacher, Upper Pointe Coupee Elementary School, Batchelor, Louisiana, 2009-2010