I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. I completed my Ph.D. in Linguistics (in 2011) at the University of Michigan.

My research interests span current topics in sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, linguistics pedagogy, and media studies. See the above link for more details. If you are interested in using the visual stimuli I have developed for psycholinguistic research, click here.

In Spring 2012, I am teaching ENG321: Structure of the English Language and ENG103: Advanced College Reading and Writing. In the past, I have taught courses such as Writing about Language, Language and Discrimination, and Language and Community. I also am the primary researcher in UNCW’s Linguistics Lab.

In my teaching, I want to help students discover the socialness, humanness, and systematicity of language and language varieties. I also hope that students emerge from my courses with a heightened sensitivity to the role of language in culture and interaction, and with a spirit of inquiry, rather than judgment, when encountering linguistic difference. Relatedly, I have a particular interest in ideologies around Standard English and how those manifest in classroom dynamics.

On the personal side, I am an avid tap dancer, watcher of reality television, and enjoyer of culinary things.