Congratulations to Kirby Conrod (B.A. ‘11)

Congratulations to Kirby Conrod, who is the inaugural recipient of the Arnold Zwicky award, with the following citation:

 

For their contributions to linguistic research and pedagogy on the changing use of pronouns; for fostering inclusivity and belongingness within and beyond the LSA for people whose pronouns have changed or are novel; and for their far-reaching public educational efforts about gender diversity, pronouns, and inclusive LGBTQ+ language practices.

 

Kirby received the BA in Linguistics and Literature from Santa Cruz in 2011 and the Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 2019. They are currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Swarthmore.

Welcome to James Funk

WHASC extends a warm editorial welcome to James Funk, our new graduate advisor and graduate program coordinator. Per Department Manager Sarah Amador:

 

James earned his PhD in English at UC Irvine, and joins us at UC Santa Cruz after working as an adjunct professor at UC Riverside and Clemson University. He brings a wealth of experience in teaching and mentoring students to his new role, and I know that his multi-faceted and nuanced understanding of graduate student advising and program management will serve us all well in Linguistics.

 

We’re very glad to have you join us, James.

Ch-ch-changes

Fall 2021 marks a season of unprecedented change not only in the wider world, but here in the halls of Stevenson College. Some of our colleagues, like Junko Ito and Ashley Hardisty, have moved into different roles. But we’ve welcomed many new denizens, like Professor Rachel Walker, new Department Manager Sarah Amador, Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Scholar Jaime Perez Gonzalez, and new Graduate Coordinator James Funk (q.v. sup.). And the Cave once again teems with life with our large incoming class of Ph.D., M.A., and B.A./M.A. students (and can we rightly call it a cave anymore, after the pre-pandemic reno? The Grotto, anyone?).

 

In view of all this, WHASC is pleased to announce its series “New Faces in Stevenson,” featuring a few capsule interviews each issue to better get to know our new colleagues. Keep your eyes peeled for the first instal(l)ment in the next issue!

As the cockroach flies

Jake Vincent, who graduated with the Ph.D. in June 2021, writes with the following update and photo:
“Since graduating, I’ve moved to the San Fernando Valley (“The Valley”) and have been adjusting to all things SoCal: heat, being tailgated, and the occasional flying cockroach, to name a few. I miss the Santa Cruz redwoods, but I’m appreciating the natural beauty of the area down here, too (see photo). Work wise, I’m currently teaching Language & Mind remotely, which I’m enjoying since I never had the opportunity to TA for the class. While I patiently look for my next career move, I’m working on small projects here and there, including writing a text editor plugin for navigating markdown notebooks.”
Pictured below: the Garden of the Gods, in the Northwest corner of the valley.

MORIMOTO RECEIVES JSPS POSTDOC

Dr. Maho Morimoto (Ph.D. 2020) was recently awarded a 3 year post doctoral position by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to study the articulation and acoustic properties of geminate consonants in Japanese. Congratulations to Maho!

KUDOS TO MORWENNA HOEKS

Fourth-year graduate student Morwenna Hoeks advanced to candidacy in September with a Qualifying Exam defense on a paper entitled “Decomposing the focus effect: Evidence from reading”. Congratulations, Morwenna!

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