WHAT'S HAPPENING AT SANTA CRUZ
A weekly digest of linguistics news and events from the University of California, Santa Cruz
Last weekend Sandy Chung spent an enjoyable day and a half in Cambridge, MA, at AFLA 18, which was held at Harvard. She saw many friends and heard papers by UCSC alums Eric Potsdam (Ph.D. 1996, now Associate Professor of Linguistics, University of Florida) and Joseph Sabbagh (B.A. 2000, now Assistant Professor of Linguistics, University of Texas at Arlington). She also gave a paper on sluicing in Chamorro. The AFLA program can be found here.
The Stanford half of the UCSC-Stanford research group Crosslinguistic Investigations in Syntax-Phonology (CrISP) will host Michael Wagner (Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Canada Research Chair in Speech and Language Processing, McGill) as part of its Distinguished Visitors Series on March 28-29. As part of his visit to Stanford, Michael will give a talk on “The Locality of Allomorph Selection and Production Planning”. This will take place at noon on Tuesday, March 29, in the Greenberg room (Stanford Linguistics Department). All are welcome. More details, including an abstract, can be found here.
The Linguistics Department has a limited amount of research funds to support small research projects by undergraduates, including travel to conferences. Applicants should submit a 1-page proposal plus a budget (not to exceed $500) to Undergraduate Coordinator Susan Welch by April 30, 2011.
The Brain and Language Lab at Georgetown University, directed by Michael Ullman, investigates the biological and psychological bases of first and second language in normal and disordered children and adults, and the relations between language and other cognitive domains (primarily memory, music and motor function). The lab’s members test their hypotheses using a set of complementary behavioral, neurological, neuroimaging (ERP, fMRI) and biological (genetic, endocrine, pharmacological) approaches. They are interested, first of all, in the normal acquisition and processing of language and non-language functions, and their neurocognitive variability as a function of factors such as genotype, hormone levels, sex, handedness, age, and learning context. Second, they investigate the breakdown and recovery of language and non-language functions in a variety of disorders, including Specific Language Impairment, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, Tourette syndrome, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and aphasia. For more details on the Brain and Language Lab, please see http://brainlang.georgetown.edu.
We are seeking a full-time Research Assistant/Lab Manager. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to be involved in a variety of projects, using a range of methodological approaches (see above). S/he will have primary or shared responsibility for various aspects of research and laboratory management, including a number of the following (depending on aptitude and experience): creating experimental stimuli; designing experiments; running experiments on different subject groups; performing statistical analyses; writing papers; helping manage the lab’s computers; managing undergraduate assistants; and working with the laboratory director and other lab members in preparing and managing grants and IRB protocols. In general, s/he will work closely not only with Dr. Ullman, and with other RAs, PhD students, and postdocs in the lab, but also with our collaborators at Georgetown and other institutions.
Minimum requirements for the position include a Bachelor’s degree (a Master’s degree is a plus), with a significant amount of course-work or research experience in at least two and ideally three of the following: cognitive psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, computer science, and statistics. The following are *highly desirable*: experience with Windows, Linux, programming, and statistics. A strong math aptitude is a plus. The candidate must be extremely responsible, reliable, energetic, hard-working, organized, and efficient, and be able to work with a diverse group of people.
To allow for sufficient time to learn new skills and to be productive, candidates must be available to work for at least two years, and ideally for three. The successful candidate will be trained in a variety of the methods and approaches used in the lab, including (depending on the focus of his/her work, and ongoing lab projects) statistics, experimental design, and neuroimaging methods. The ideal start date is late spring or early summer 2011. Interested candidates should email Kaitlyn Litcofsky (at brainlangadmin@georgetown.edu) their CV and one or two publications or other writing samples, and have 3 recommenders email her their recommendations directly. Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. The position, which includes health benefits, is contingent upon funding. Georgetown University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer.
The Department of Linguistics at the University of Maryland, College Park, is looking to fill up to FOUR full-time positions for post-baccalaureate researchers. Starting date for all positions is Summer or Fall 2011. Salary is competitive, with benefits included. The positions would be ideal for individuals with a BA degree who are interested in gaining significant research experience in a very active lab as preparation for a research career. Applicants must be US or Canadian citizens or permanent residents, and should have completed a BA or BS degree by the time of appointment. Previous experience in an area related to the positions is required, and relevant research experience is preferred.
Applicants may request to be considered for all four positions. Review of applications for all positions will begin immediately, and will continue until the positions are filled. For best consideration for positions #1-#3, completed applications should be received by April 21st.
One-year Baggett Fellowships are full-time positions intended for individuals with a BA or BS degree who are interested in gaining significant research experience in an active interdisciplinary environment before pursuing graduate study in some area of linguistics or cognitive science. Fellows can pursue research with one or more faculty mentors in linguistics, cognitive (neuro-)science of language, or computational modeling of language. One or two fellowship positions are available for the 2011-2012 year. Positions are for one year and are not renewable. Salary is competitive, with benefits included. Contact person: Dr Naomi Feldman, nhf@umd.edu. Further details, including faculty mentor list, at: http://www.ling.umd.edu/baggett.
This person will take a leading role in research projects in psycholinguistics and cognitive neuroscience of language. The person will be involved in all aspects of the design, testing and analysis of studies of language comprehension in adults, using behavioral and neuroscientific techniques, including ERP and MEG brain recordings (training provided). The person will also play a key role in the management of an active lab group and will contribute to Maryland’s IGERT training program in Language Science (http://languagescience.umd.edu ). Previous experience in linguistics and/or psycholinguistics is preferred. The ability to interact comfortably with a wide variety of people (and machines) is a distinct advantage. The position is for a one year initial appointment, with the possibility of extension beyond that time. For more information contact Dr Colin Phillips, colin@umd.edu, http://www.ling.umd.edu/colin. Application requirements are the same as for the Baggett Fellowships.
This person will play a leading role in the operation of a magnetoencephalography (MEG) facility that is housed within the Dept of Linguistics and serves researchers from many departments, for studies on language, vision, memory, reading, audition, and kinesiology. The person will be trained as an expert user of the facility, will help to guide and train other users, will coordinate and enhance resources for the experimental paradigms in use in the lab, and will manage the smooth daily operation of the lab. The person will also have opportunities to participate in and/or lead research projects, and participate in a range of other intellectual activities in language and cognitive neuroscience. Previous laboratory experience is preferred, and the ability to interact comfortably with a wide variety of people and technologies is strongly preferred. Prior experience with MEG or other electrophysiological techniques is NOT required. The position is for a one year initial appointment, with the possibility of extension beyond that time. For more information contact lab co-directors Dr Colin Phillips (Linguistics, colin@umd.edu) or Dr Jonathan Simon (Electrical Engineering, jzsimon@umd.edu). Applicants are the same as for the Baggett Fellowships.
Applicants for any of the 4 positions should submit a cover letter outlining relevant background and interests (including potential faculty mentors), a current CV, and the names and contact information for 3 potential referees. Letters are not needed as part of the initial application. Applicants should also send a writing sample. All application materials should be submitted electronically. Positions #1-#2 – Naomi Feldman (nhf@umd.edu). NOTE: Put “Baggett Fellowship” in the subject line. Positions #3-#4 – Colin Phillips (colin@umd.edu). NOTE: Put “Research Assistantship” in the subject line. Prospective applicants should fel free to send a preliminary letter of interest to Dr Feldman or Dr Phillips.
It was a busy Friday-Saturday in the department, as we welcomed 9 of the 12 visiting prospective graduate students that we have admitted into the Ph.D. program. The “prospies” were courted with lab meetings, presentations, dinners, and of course, the annual Linguistics at Santa Cruz conference. LASC showcases the work of our second- and third-year graduate students, and there’s no better argument for choosing linguistics at UC Santa Cruz. Congratulations to the students who gave outstanding LASC presentations: Nathan Arnett, Boris Harizanov, Mark Norris, Oliver Northrup, Kevin Reschke, Bern Samko, and Anie Thompson. Many thanks also to Ph.D. alumna Lynsey Wolter, who gave an excellent and entertaining Distinguished Alumnus lecture to close the conference. Finally, many congratulations to Donka Farkas, the maestro behind this year’s LASC.
Norvin Richards, Professor of Linguistics at MIT, will give a talk entitled “Generalized Contiguity” as part of the CrISP Distinguished Visitors Series. The talk will be this Friday, March 11, at 4 pm, in Humanities 1, room 210, and you can read the abstract here.