What it means to be NorCal Country: Variation and Marginalization in Rural California
My dissertation is an ethnographic study of local ways of being and talking "country" in one remote, mountainous Northern California county. The dissertation explores how these "country" styles are constructed in opposition to liberal, urban, coastal California(ns). I also analyze the language and lifestyles of the county's Nor-Rel-Muk Indians, who are marginalized by the dominant white culture, despite the fact that many residents claim Native American heritage.
I have had the pleasure of serving as a Teaching Assistant at Stanford University for three courses: Winter 2012. Linguistics 150: Language in Society, Professor Penelope Eckert. Winter 2011. Linguistics 65/265/African and African American Studies 21: African American Vernacular English (AAVE), Professor John R. Rickford. Winter 2010. Linguistics 156: Language and Gender, Visiting Professor Sarah Roberts.
Under review. Real Woods-people Say PIN for PEN: Variation and gentrification in rural Northern California. Journal of Sociolinguistics. Under review. Fractal Marginalization and Linguistic Style in Hill Country: How the Nor-Rel- Muk Indians mix Englishes to construct authenticity. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology. In prep. “He’s so smart!”: Pauses, gender, and social meaning in student speech styles. Language Variation and Change. In prep. Sound Symbolism in Adult Baby Talk (ABT): The role of the frequency code in the construction of social meaning. Language in Society. 2012. “The people who say tsh tsh”: The social life of Cairene Arabic palatalization Penn Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 18.2.
2013 Best Graduate Student Paper Prize, The Society for Linguistic Anthropology (awarded for: “Fractal Marginalization and Linguistic Style in Hill Country: How the Nor-Rel- Muk Indians mix local Englishes to construct authenticity"); 2012-14 National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (Award No. BCS-1225758)