Core MLC Faculty

Alexandra Johnston

MLC Director

Interests: Discourse analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, intercultural (mis)communication, gender and workplace discourse, gatekeeping encounters, using applied sociolinguistics in career paths in business, government, academia

Cynthia Gordon

Associate Professor

Vice-Chair, Department of Linguistics
Director, Sociolinguistics Concentration

Interests: Discourse analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, theories of framing and intertextuality, linguistic construction of relationships and identities, digital/online discourse.

Marissa Fond

Assistant Teaching Professor

Interests: Discourse analysis; management of knowledge, beliefs, and emotions in language and interaction; metaphor and frame analysis; research interviewing and other qualitative research methods.

Heidi E. Hamilton

Professor

Interests: Discourse analysis, intertextuality, institutional discourse, health discourse, language and Alzheimer’s disease

Jennifer Nycz

Associate Professor

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Interests: Phonological variation, sociolinguistics, (socio)phonetics, phonological theory, dialect contact, change over the lifespan, vowel systems, accommodation & style-shifting, individual differences in language variation, research methods in phonetics

Natalie Schilling

Professor

Interests: Language variation and change, stylistic variation, sociolinguistic field methods, forensic linguistics

Deborah Tannen

University Professor

Interests: Discourse analysis; analyzing everyday conversation, including conversations over social media; family interaction; cross-cultural communication; language and gender