Steven M. Castro Jr.

Steven M. Castro Jr.

Ph.D. in Linguistics

Humanities Teaching Fellow

Office Location: Rosenwald Hall 205G

Sociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, Raciolinguistics, Langauge Contact and Change, Phonetics
smcastro@uchicago.edu

University of Chicago

I am a linguist whose research specialization lies in raciolinguistics, sociolinguistics, contact linguistics, linguistic anthropology, and critical mixed-race studies. My work focuses on contact environments both racial and linguistic where I examine the intersections of language and the conceptualization of racial mixedness. I received my Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Chicago in August of 2025 and currently hold the position of Humanities Teaching Fellow at the University of Chicago.

My current research focuses on the ways in which mixed-race individuals in the Fiji Islands use terms, labels, language patterns, ideologies, and attitudes to construct a mixed-race identity and the effects the Fijian conceptualization of race has on the co-naturalization of language and race. I am also interested in language and mixed-race identity in other locations outside of Fiji as well including other Pacific Areas, Latin and South America, the U.S. and the Caribbean. I am also beginning preliminary investigations into language and mixedness in various Latinx populations in Southern California, and how mixedness and race is constructed (through language) in Mexico. All these questions and paths focus on the expansion of the research and knowledge of mixed-race identity development and creation through language. I have experience and interests, via past work, in phonology, phonetics, language change, and variation of the languages in the Fiji Islands (Fijian, Fiji Hindi, English). Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

A link to my dissertation (available upon request): Kailomas, Fruit Salads, Halves, and Parts: Linguistic Constructions of Mixedness in the Fiji Islands

Spring 2026 Office Hours:

Office Location: Rosenwald Hall 205G

Monday: 9:00am - 4:00pm

Tuesday: None

Wednesday: 9:00am - 4:00pm

Thursday: 9:00am - 11:00am

Friday: 9:00am - 4:00pm

and/or By Appointment

Course Offering!

Contact Linguistics and Multilingualism

Spring 2027

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse