Events – Page 3 – WHAT'S HAPPENING AT SANTA CRUZ

WCCFL 41 at UC Santa Cruz: May 5-7, 2023

March 20, 2023

Download the WCCFL 41 Program

The 41st West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics (WCCFL), pronounced [wɪkfəl], will take place in and around Stevenson College on May 5-7. One of the premier international conferences on formal linguistics in North America, WCCFL has been held annually since 1982. The first WCCFL was at Stanford University, and UC Santa Cruz has hosted the conference four times before, in 1984, 1993, 2002, and 2012.

Over the years, WCCFL has featured much groundbreaking research in the formal study of human language, and this year’s conference will be no exception. Conference attendees will hear from three invited speakers — Luke Adamson (Rutgers University), Dorothy Ahn (Rutgers University), and Eva Zimmermann (University of Leipzig), and other linguists from around the world will present 42 talks and 39 posters, on a wide range of topics in theoretical phonology, syntax, and semantics. These will include two special sessions: one on deixis and anaphora (How does human language make reference to the physical and linguistic context?) and one on phi-features (What semantic domains are represented featurally in human language, and how are these features represented in the syntax and morphology?)

The program for WCCFL 41 has just been posted, and conference information — including registration fees — can be found on the conference website.

Rickford Lecture Re-Scheduled for February 28

February 24, 2023

John R. Rickford, who is J. E. Wallace Sterling Professor of Linguistics and the Humanities at

Professor John R. Rickford

Stanford University, will give a Stevenson College Distinguished Alumni Lecture on Tuesday, February 28 3:30-5:00 pm in the Stevenson College Library. (Note: This event was re-scheduled from the fall.) He will be speaking about his autobiography Speaking My Soul: Race, Life and Language. The lecture, which is co-sponsored by the Department of Linguistics, will be followed by a reception and book signing outside on the patio.

Professor Rickford received his BA in sociolinguistics at UC Santa Cruz in 1971, with highest academic honors and honors from Stevenson College. He has been on the faculty at Stanford since 1980. Professor Rickford’s research has been recognized by an American Book Award, a Language and the Public Award from the Linguistic Association of America, and the Best Paper in Language Award, among other honors. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017 and was President of the Linguistic Society of America in 2015.

UCSC Linguists at the 2023 LSA Linguistic Institute

February 24, 2023

The 2023 LSA Linguistic Institute, “Linguistics as Cognitive Science: Universality and Variation,” will be held June 19-July 14 at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Two of the Institute’s courses will be taught by UC Santa Cruz faculty or alumni: Field Psycholinguistics (course 220) will be taught by Professor Matt Wagers and Jed Sam Pizarro-Guevara (PhD, 2020) and Advanced Pragmatics (course 211) will be taught by Maria Biezma and Kyle Rawlins (PhD, 2008).

Santa Crucians at the LSA Annual Meeting

January 25, 2023

Picking up a tradition disrupted by the pandemic, current and past members of the Department gathered for the Santa Cruz party at the Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America in Denver earlier this month. In attendance on Saturday night, at the lounge atop the conference hotel with sweeping views of the Rocky Mountains, were current faculty Ryan Bennett, Maziar Toosarvandani, and Matt Wagers, joined by graduate alumni Aaron Kaplan (PhD 2008), Chris Kennedy (PhD 1997), and Anissa Zaitsu (BA 2017, MA 2018) and undergraduate alumni Caroline Andrews (BA 2011), Kirby Conrod (BA 2011), Maura O’Leary (BA 2013), and Devin Tankersley (BA 2011).

Also in attendance was a South Bay neighbor, Yining Nie, who recently joined the Department of Linguistics at San José State as an Assistant Professor.

The Santa Cruz party attendees all look forward to reuniting with other members of the UCSC linguistics community at next year’s Annual Meeting in New York.

UC Santa Cruz Linguists at CreteLing

October 10, 2022

There was a large UCSC contingent at CreteLing 2022 this year, the annual linguistics summer school hosted at the University of Crete in beautiful Rethymno. Two current faculty members, Professors Ivy Sichel and Donka Farkas, and incoming faculty member Professor Roumyana Pancheva, taught classes over the two-week program. Nine students from UCSC, both undergraduate and graduate, attended these classes and others. Here are some quotes from participants about their favorite part of the program:

UCSC students and professors at the Port of Rethymno. From left clockwise: Owen O’Brien (senior), Sophia Stremel (PhD), Sadie Lewis (senior), Donka Farkas (faculty), Eli Sharf (PhD), Jackson Confer (alum), Matthew Kogan (MA), Roumyana Pancheva (faculty), Ivy Sichel (faculty), and Niko Webster (PhD).

“Easily, the best part was getting to know so many brilliant professors and students from around the world, both in the classroom and out. Conversations with new friends were consistently insightful and rewarding, and I loved being able to explore the island during down time and end the days with good food and night swims in such great company.” – Jackson Confer, alum

“At CreteLing, I enjoyed many of the meals we shared together, lunch between classes, and late-night dinners, where everyone was welcome and we seemed to keep cramming chairs around the table. Some of the most exciting conversations were had over a great meal and a view of the Mediterranean.” – Sadie Lewis, senior

“I really enjoyed going out with our big Santa Cruz cohort to enjoy the tremendous food and culture in Crete. I was quite excited to be thinking about Linguistics with everyone in this very vacation-esque setting.” – Matthew Kogan, 2nd year MA

Donka Farkas, Professor Emerita at UCSC and Sabine Iatridou, Professor at MIT and Co-Director of CreteLing

“It was pure joy to be in a real classroom with real live students again. I loved interacting with the large and lively UCSC contingent, in class, at Brew your Mind cafe, on the bus, or even during a brief forced march from the classroom to the bus station.” – Donka Farkas, Professor Emerita

“I enjoyed dancing: whether in the club or in the streets!” – Owen O’Brien, senior

“Wednesday was our off-day in the middle of the week. I loved going to the local beach and swimming in the warm Mediterranean on this day, having some time to enjoy the sun and think about ideas I learned in class the previous few days.” – Eli Sharf, 2nd year PhD

UCSC MA student Delaney Gomez-Jackson enjoying the bus ride back to downtown Rethymno after a long day of classes

UCSC students celebrating at the dinner and dance party hosted on the final night of the program. From left clockwise: Sadie Lewis (senior), Sophia Stremel (PhD), Matthew Kogan (MA), Jackson Confer (alum), Owen O’Brien (senior), Elifnur Ulusoy (MA), Niko Webster (PhD), and Eli Sharf (PhD).

A collage of film photos of the Rethymno campus taken by Delaney Gomez-Jackson.

Niko Webster (left), Owen O’Brien (right, back), and Sadie Lewis (right, front) hang out and drink coffee in front of the common room during a class break.

John Rickford to give Stevenson College Distinguished Alumni Lecture

September 29, 2022

Professor John R. Rickford

John R. Rickford, who is J. E. Wallace Sterling Professor of Linguistics and the Humanities at Stanford University, will give a Stevenson College Distinguished Alumni Lecture on Wednesday, October 19 at 3:00-4:30 pm in the Fireside Lounge. He will be speaking about his autobiography Speaking My Soul: Race, Life and Language. The lecture, which is co-sponsored by the Department of Linguistics, will be followed by a reception and book signing outside on the patio.

The Department of Linguistics maintains the John Rickford Undergraduate Development Fund to recognize his “distinguished intellectual achievements and for his unstinting commitment to marginalized communities and the languages that they speak.” The Fund provides new academic opportunities for distinguished undergraduates by supporting research projects, travel to conferences, and undergraduate linguistics club activities.

Contributions to the Rickford Fund can be made directly online or by mail.

Welcome back!

September 25, 2022

Linguistics graduate students and faculty reconnecting after a busy summer of research

The Department gathered for its annual fall welcome event this past Friday (September 23) at the Cowell Provost House. The warm, sunny weather and spectacular views of the Monterey Bay provided the perfect setting for returning faculty and graduate students to catch up — and for them to welcome the department’s newest members to campus.

This fall, five new graduate students joined the Department: Ian Carpick, Yağmur Kiper, and Richard Wang started on the PhD track, and Duygu Demiray and Larry Lyu on the MA track. In addition, the Department officially welcomed Delaney Gomez-Jackson, Matthew Kogan, and David Tuffs to the MA program, after their completion of the graduate coursework as BA students.

The Department also welcomed two new faculty members: Mia Gong, who started as Assistant Professor this fall, and Haoze Li, who is serving as Visiting Assistant Professor this academic year.

Students and faculty had a lot to share with each other, after what sounded like some busy summers of research. In the coming weeks, we will be sharing updates about what they were up to with you. Stay tuned!

Events

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