News
2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
11-03-2023
Linguistics Department Newsletter 2023 is released
Congratulations to Thomas Sostarics on winning the award for Best Student Paper in Speech Communication at the recent Acoustical Society Meeting in Chicago! Thomas was recognized for his poster "Tonal center of gravity predicts various in the interpretation of rising and falling intonation in American English.”
Thomas takes science communication seriously, and has shared great ideas and tips for making compelling visual presentations of linguistics research with many members of our department. Well done, Thomas!
We are pleased to announce that Joy Fu is the winner of 2023 Demoz Prize, which honors outstanding undergraduate achievement in linguistics. Joy demonstrated active participation in Linguistics courses and faculty-led research, independent research in syntax and sociolinguistics and innovative project examining cultural and historical influences on film dialogue through the lens of linguistics. Outside of coursework and research, we also recognize Joy's efforts to promote the study of Linguistics through engagement with high school students and at Northwestern. Congratulations, Joy!
11-07-2022
Linguistics Department Newsletter 2022 is released
Congratulations to Caroline Berg-Love, the winner of 2022 Demoz Prize for active participation in Linguistics courses, faculty-led research, independent work on ambiguity resolution, and many contributions to Northwestern University Linguistics Student Association (NULSA).
Linguistics Department Newsletter 2021 is released
06-03-2021
A great tribute to Masaya Yoshida the recipient of a 2019-2020 Weinberg College Distinguished Teaching Award in the Weinberg College Teaching Awards virtual ceremony!
05-27-2021
Linguists in the media! Annette D'Onofrio's and Jaime Benheim’s work is featured in Chicago magazine!
05-21-2021
Masaya Yoshida is the recipient of the Provost Grants for Research in Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts.
Masaya Yoshida, linguistics, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, for “Grammatical Structure and Language Understanding,” a research project on the role of grammatical structures in language understanding. The project explores whether the act of building the abstract and complex grammatical structure of sentences itself results in the speed and accuracy of language processing.
04-27-2021
We are happy to announce the winner of this year's Demoz Prize, which honors outstanding undergraduate achievement in linguistics. Congratulations to Michael Senko!
Congratulations to Linguistics major Mackenzie Gentz on winning the 2020-2021 Circumnavigators Travel-Study Grant for her project on Global Adult ESL Accent Training. Mackenzie will travel to Perú, Portugal, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Japan to study ESL teaching models around the world.
Congratulations to these Linguistics students who have won fellowship awards for international study!
- Daniel Shuffield (Theater and Linguistics, 2018) Fulbright US Student Program Teaching - Spain
- Abigail Everding (Linguistics, 2022) Weinberg Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Study - Turkey
And Summer Fellowships for Advanced Turkish Language Study at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul - Gabrielle Olson (Psychology and Linguistics, 2022) Weinberg Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Study - France
12-03-2020
Masaya Yoshida is receiving a 2019-2020 Distinguished Teaching Award from Weinberg College! (The announcement was delayed due to pandemic-related disruptions.)
This comes on top of his 2016-2017 Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research from the College.
04-13-2020
Congratulations to grad student Jaime Benheim, who has been accepted to participate in the Summer 2020 Dissertation Proposal Development (DPD) Program!
04-02-2020
Grad student Lisa Cox was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (one of roughly 2,000 awarded nationwide). This fellowship provides external funding to support her PhD studies. Congratulations, Lisa!
03-27-2020
Rob Voigt is quoted in Science magazine article on respectful language (and its absence) in police language during traffic stops as part of the joint work with Psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt.
03-20-2020
Essential Faculty, Staff and Students Only on Site
As of 5 p.m. Friday, March 20, and for the two-week period through Friday, April 3, 2020, only individuals who are essential to Northwestern’s ongoing operations can remain physically on site. Even for individuals who are considered essential, do not come to campus if you are experiencing symptoms. All non-essential research will be paused on site on our campuses for the two-week period.
02-14-2020
Congratulations to Robert Gundlach who has been announced the 2019-2020 recipient of the Provost Award for Exemplary Faculty Service! The Exemplary Faculty Service Award recognizes faculty members who engage with, build and support the Northwestern University community.
Gundlach is recognized for his service in leadership and mentorship roles at the University. He served as the founding director of Northwestern’s Cook Family Writing Program for 42 years and also has held faculty leadership positions in the Linguistics Department, at the Northwestern University Press and in the residential college system. Gundlach also has been the faculty Athletics representative since 2002, representing the University in the Big Ten Conference and the NCAA.
Congratulations to our Jennifer Cole, who has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)! This prestigious honor recognizes Jennifer’s "distinguished contributions to the understanding of prosody and intonation, standing out for her theoretical and methodological innovation and for outstanding service to the field.”
06-22-2019
Congratulations to the Class of 2019! You can see some pictures from the Convocation Ceremony at this link.
05-17-2019
Congratulations to Annette D'Onofrio, who is featured in the latest Institute for Policy Research Faculty Spotlight!
05-17-2019
Yunyan Duan's paper "A rational model of word skipping in reading: Ideal integration of the visual and linguistic information" won 'Best Modeling Paper' in Perception/Action at the CogSci 2019 Conference!
05-06-2019
Congratulations to Janet Pierrehumbert, Adjunct Professor and founding member of the Association for Laboratory Phonology, who has been elected as a Member of the National Academy of Sciences. She joins a small number of linguists in the Academy, including Noam Chomsky, Paul Kay, Bill Labov, and Barbara Partee.
05-06-2019
The 2019 Abraham Demoz Prize will be awarded to Alaina Arthurs and June Choe, two outstanding students with high achievements in Linguistics coursework and research! Congratulations to Alaina and June.
05-01-2019
The International Speech Communication Association (ISCA) annually recognizes members that have made significant contributions to the field of speech science and technology. This year, our very own Jennifer Cole has been elevated to Fellow of the ISCA for her theoretical and experimental descriptions of the sources of phonological and prosodic variability in spontaneous speech!
Congratulations, Jennifer!
Each year, Northwestern’s Associated Student Government (ASG) collected nominations for the Faculty and Administrator Honor Roll from the student body. Nearly 200 students participated in 2017-2018, writing thorough and complex portraits of the professors and staff members who make Northwestern the institution that it is. ASG wishes to honor the work of the faculty and administrators whose dedication and care for students led to their inclusion on this list.
Four Linguistics Department Faculty members made the ASG Honor Roll for 2018-2019:
- Annette D’Onofrio
Prof. D’Onofrio received her PhD in Linguistics from Stanford University, and is currently an Assistant
Professor in the Department of Linguistics. According to one student, “Annette is one of those wonderful teachers who lets every student speak from their own experience but also forces them to engage critically with any claim they make [...] She is fabulous.” She was nominated for her work in Linguistics 300: Experimental Sociolinguistics and 220: Language and Society. - Robert Gundlach
Prof. Robert Gundlach received his PhD from Northwestern University, and is currently Director of the Cook Family Writing Program, as well as a Professor in the Department of Linguistics. He was nominated for his work in two Freshman Seminars, Linguistics 101-6-20: Language and Childhood, and 101-6-21: The Human Voice, Spoken and Written. - Gregory Ward
Prof. Gregory Ward received his PhD in Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania, and is currently a Professor in the departments of Linguistics, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Philosophy. According to one student, Prof. Ward “[m]ade me both question the very nature of reality, but also very much helped me find my place in it.” He was nominated for his work in Linguistics 372: Pragmatics. - Masaya Yoshida
Prof. Masaya Yoshida received his PhD in Linguistics from the University of Maryland, and is currently an Associate Professor in the department of Linguistics. According to a student, “Masaya made me question whether I even understood my own native language, and I feel all the better for it.” He was nominated for his work in Linguistics 360: Fundamentals of Syntax and Linguistics 342: Structure of Various Languages.
Please join the department in congratulating our professors!
09-24-2018
The Linguistics Department participated in annual Academic Directions Fair organized by Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
06-06-2018
2018 Abraham Demoz Prize awarded to Anelia Kudin and Alex Krauska. This was an exceptional year, as the Demoz Prize was awarded to two outstanding students for their achievements in Linguistics coursework and research, and volunteer contributions to building community among the student body through leadership in the Linguistic Student Association.
05-01-2018
Congratulations to Erin Leddon who has received the 2017-18 Council on Language Instruction's Excellence in Foreign Language Teaching Award!
The Council on Language Instruction supports language faculty as they pursue excellence in language instruction and curriculum development and prepare Northwestern students to engage with the world as global citizens.
04-23-2018
The Linguistics Department had the 10th Annual Linguistics Department Affiliated Faculty Honoree Lunch with Molly Losh (CSD). Photos of event.
04-04-2018
Grad student Nicole Mirea awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Nicole received one of 2,000 awards (out of over 12,000 applicants). This fellowship provides external funding to support her PhD studies. Congratulations, Nicole!
Adam Goodkind and Prof. Bicknell have received the Best Paper Award at the Cognitive Modeling and Computational Linguistics (CMCL) 2018 workshop
Bilingualism expert Judith Kroll, Distinguished Lecturer presentation at Northwestern.
10-26-2017
Congratulations to Linguistics Department alum Kristen Syrett for winning the Linguistics Society of America Early Career Award!
09-13-2017
The Linguistics Department had a strong and exciting presence at the Academic Directions (Major/Minor) Fair, held this morning. Our student volunteers did a great job attracting students to our table and sharing information. Thanks to Ethan Myers, Adam Goodkind, Nayoun Kim, Christine Schlaug, Isabella Rose Reynal - and especially to Alex Krauska, Jiayi Lu and Jeremy Needle who participated enthusiastically in the entire event. Jeremy and Ethan are also recognized and appreciated as repeat volunteers for this Fair! Event Photos
05-08-2017
Linguistics seniors Elizabeth Dunn and Rita Hirami have been elected to ФВК. Thanks to those of you who wrote letters for them!
05-04-2017
Masaya Yoshida has received the Weinberg College Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research! This award recognizes a faculty member who has exhibited particular skill in and dedication to mentoring undergraduate students engaged in research and other intellectually creative endeavors.
04-26-2017
2017 Abraham Demoz Prize awarded. Jiayi Lu is the recipient of the 2017 Demoz Prize. Jiayi is a junior and a Linguistics major who has done research on neurolinguistics and sentence processing in Mandarin Chinese, and has received a Northwestern University Academic Year Undergraduate Research Grant for his independent research. Jiayi is an active participant in Syntax Club, and is a charter member of the newly formed Northwestern University Linguistics Student Association.
04-26-2017
Eleanor Chodroff has accepted a postdoc position working with Jennifer Cole in the Prosody & Speech Dynamics Lab. Eleanor is completing her PhD in Cognitive Science at Johns Hopkins University, with a thesis on Structured Variation in Obstruent Production and Perception.
The new Prosody & Speech Dynamics Lab in the Department of Linguistics at Northwestern University seeks to fill a postdoctoral position. Applications are invited from individuals with a Ph.D. and research expertise in any field related to the analysis of spoken language, including Linguistics, Psychology, Speech & Hearing Science, and Computer Science/Computer Engineering.
Annette D'Onofrio discusses the "words of the year" on WTTW's Chicago Tonight. "Adulting," along with "chatbot," "woke" and "coulrophobia" are some of the candidates for the 2016 Word of the Year.
11-30-2016
Different language, different decision? - Boaz Keysar presented his attention-grabbing research as the inaugural Distinguished Lecturer in Multilingualism and Language Learning at Northwestern.
10-24-2016
Each year, undergraduate students nominate faculty for the Associated Student Government (ASG) Faculty Honor Roll. This year both Dr. Erin Leddon and Prof. Robert Gundlach have received this honor! (The full list can be found here.) Faculty on the Honor Roll are selected by the ASG based on student nominations. Thanks to Erin and Bob for their dedication to our students!
09-29-2016
50 Year Past and 50 Forward - The Department of Linguistics celebrates its 50th year with a look into the future
09-20-2016
The Future of Language Science. Linguistics Symposium abstracts are available.
05-13-2016
English Language Programs celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Linguistics Department. Event photos.
05-09-2016
New Ph.D. cohort finalized
Adam Goodkind, Hyosik Kim, and Nicole Mirea will be joining the department as new graduate students in our Ph.D. program this Fall.
04-28-2016
Jennifer Cole has accepted Northwestern's offer of a faculty position and will be joining the Linguistics Department as Professor of Linguistics in Fall 2016.
04-15-2016
Rebecca Way wins Northwestern's Student Employee of the Year Award!
Rebecca Way has been working as a research assistant to Alexis Wellwood in the Child Language Development Laboratory since Fall 2015. On April 13, 2016, Rebecca was awarded the Northwestern On-Campus Student Employee of the Year Award (SEOTY).
04-12-2016
We are pleased to announce that senior Rebecca Way is the winner of this year's Demoz Prize, which honors outstanding undergraduate achievement in linguistics. Rebecca's contributions to the ChiLD Lab, especially in the areas of introducing new technology and analyses, has had a significant impact on departmental research this year. Likewise, their performance in linguistics coursework has consistently been at the highest level, and they have done much to support the life of the department both inside and outside of the classroom. Congratulations, Rebecca!
03-21-2016
Annette D'Onofrio has decided to accept Northwestern's offer of a faculty position and will be joining the Linguistics Department next academic year. For her first year 2016-2017, Annette will be taking advantage of the WCAS College Fellows program. She will take up her position as Assistant Professor of Linguistics in AY 2017-2018. Please feel free to send Annette a welcome message!
03-08-2016
Thank you to everyone who came to The Graduate School's Awards & Recognition Ceremony.
This award recognizes Irene Sakk for her outstanding contributions to the graduate community at Northwestern.
Dr Jen Hay (Ph.D. 2000) elected as Fellow of the Royal Society
University of Canterbury Professor in Linguistics and Northwestern University graduate alumna Dr Jennifer Hay has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
10-17-2015
The linguistics department has jointed Twitter! Follow us for the latest updates on department events, publications, and presentations. Linguistics department students and faculty, if you are interested in being added as a team member that can tweet from the department account, get in touch with Alexis Wellwood.
09-24-2015
The Linguistics Department kicked off its year of 50th-anniversary events with a champagne toast and a cake! Event photos.
09-11-2015
50th Anniversary issue of the Department Newsletter.
09-01-2015
Faculty Search - Fall 2015: The Department of Linguistics at Northwestern University seeks to fill a tenure-line position (open rank) with a start date of September 1, 2016.
06-05-2015
Matt Goldrick has been promoted to the Professor rank and appointed the Chair of the Linguistics Department.
05-07-2015
Ann Bradlow has joined WCAS administrative team and adopted a new role: Associate Dean for Academic Initiatives.