Category: Interviews

Continuing the trend, the WHASC Editor has interviewed another of the newer members of the department: this time, Delaney Gomez-Jackson, a student in the BA/MA program.

WHASC Editor:  So you’re from the South Bay. How would you define that identity? Do you specifically identify as someone from San Jose, or as more of a general Bay Area Native?

Delaney: I would define the South Bay area identity as very tech-oriented — Santa Clara County, in particular. Depending on who I’m talking with, I’ll tell people I’m from Silicon Valley (which I think registers more with people than saying San Jose/Santa Clara) or from “near San Francisco.” Ultimately, I think my identity aligns more with a sort of general Bay Area identity.

WHASC Editor: During our interview, you mentioned a sort of “South Bay English.” Could you tell us a bit more about that? Is it a distinct thing? And what’s the place of “hella” in that variety?

Delaney: Aside from maybe tech-related terms, I think South Bay Area English is part of a general Bay Area English, which has unique lexical items compared to other California Englishes. One of the more well-known Bay Area words is “hella,” which has become pretty integrated into most California Englishes.

WHASC Editor: So you mentioned during our interview that you started off as a literature major. Could you tell us a bit more about how you came to linguistics? Was there a particular moment, or set of moments, that led you down this path?

Delaney: While I was applying to undergrad here as a Literature major, I was taking an advanced literature class in high school and realized the major wouldn’t be a good fit for me. I changed my major to Linguistics before starting my first quarter as an undergrad without really knowing what linguistics entailed besides “studying languages.” After I took Intro to Linguistics, I was intrigued by the different areas of study I could explore within the major. I really started enjoying linguistics when I took Semantics I the following quarter; I was taking it concurrently with a logic class, so maybe I was especially drawn to a concentration in semantics! My decision to declare Linguistics as my major was solidified after I survived Syntax I, and since those pivotal quarters, I’ve been interested in the syntax-semantics interface.

WHASC Editor: Finally, the quintessential closer: with the first year of classes under your belt, what’s the advice that you’d give to the incoming class of graduate students?

Delaney: The workload of your first year is intense, and it’s easy to feel burnt out by being so preoccupied with it. Do everything you can to dedicate one full, weekend day to yourself. Get to know Santa Cruz and the other folks in your cohort!

Last August, Sarah Arantza Amador joined Linguistics as our new Department Manager. Sarah came to us most immediately from Community Studies, but she’s brought us over a decade of experience from her career here at UCSC, with roles in Stevenson, Merrill, Politics, LALS, MCD Bio and EEB, spanning undergraduate teaching, graduate advising and program management.

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Sarah and pose to her the WHASC Questionnaire (which, the Editors aver, ranks somewhere below Andy Warhol’s but probably above James Lipton’s).

Joining Linguistics, in the Humanities Division, represents a kind of homecoming for you. (Before completing the M.A. at NYU, Sarah earned the B.A. at UCSC in 2005, in Literature and in Philosophy, with Honors). What has changed or surprised you?

In the Fall Quarter, you made a pretty special journey to Iceland. What took you there, and what did you do?

What’s on your horizon in 2022? Any more trips, special projects, or things you’d like to try?

She did go chasing waterfalls: Öxarárfoss, in Þingvellir National Park