About Me
| My research and teaching have been profoundly shaped by my personal journey across many linguistic, cultural, and geographic boundaries.
I grew up between Western Kansas and Southern Colorado in a working class family that moved around a lot due to economic instability. I was the first in my family to go to college, thanks to great sacrifices that my parents made for my sister and me. My education has been in no small part a quest to understand who I am, and studying language and linguistics has been central to that endeavor. |
Wheat fields near Logan, Kansas |
Preparing ch’uñu (traditional freeze-dried potatoes) with study abroad students near Ccorcca, Peru |
My interest in language learning and study abroad is ultimately tied to my own study abroad experiences in Russia, Mexico, Quebec, Bolivia, and Peru. In addition to Spanish, I have formally studied Portuguese, Quechua, French, and Catalan. The critical orientation of my research stems from my time learning Quechua in Cuzco and working with Quechua speakers during fieldwork in Southern Peru. These experiences opened my eyes to the ways that second language learning can reproduce systems of oppression and forced me to grapple with my own positionally as a cis-gendered White man from the U.S. who has benefitted enormously from these systems. Through my research and teaching, I strive to create awareness of these issues and to identify ways that we can begin to imagine and create a more equitable and just future in post-secondary language education.
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| Work-life balance can be hard to achieve while on the tenure-track. In my experience, it takes work and a lot of intentionality. For this reason, I prioritize outdoor recreation and spending time with my family when I’m not at my desk or in the classroom. Some of my favorite weekend activities include hiking, cycling, and forest bathing in Oregon’s old-growth temperate rainforest.
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Lake Waldo Wilderness, Oregon Cascades |