Courses Taught

First-Year Writing and Rhetoric (WRTG 1150)
University of Colorado

Rhetorically informed introduction to college writing. Focuses on critical analysis, argument, inquiry, and information literacy. Taught as a writing workshop, the course places a premium on invention, drafting, and thoughtful revision.
- Fall 2008 (syllabus)

Language and Culture (ANTH 335)
Colorado State University

This course provides a foundation in linguistic anthropology, one of the four basic subfields of anthropology. Linguistic anthropologists seek to examine language as a form of social action in order to understand the way culture and society emerge through its use. Throughout the course, we will examine language ethnographically and work toward a critical awareness of the role language plays in social, cultural and political relations. Students will become familiar with several key concepts important to the study of language and culture, including indexicality, interdiscursivity and ideology. Topics to be addressed include the following: language, thought and reality; meaning and interpretation; linguistic diversity and language endangerment; language and identity; pidgins, creoles and language change; language, gender and race; and language, the nation, and politics.
- Fall 2007 (syllabus)
- Spring 2006 (syllabus)

Language in US Society (LING 1000)
University of Colorado

This course provides a non-technical exploration of the ways that language is used in America. It emphasizes language as a social institution and how values and goals of both public institutions and private groups shape, and are shaped by language and its use. Course objectives are (1) to gain a grounding in linguistics as a field of study, (2) to recognize the role of language in sociocultural interaction, and (3) to critically engage with language issues in US society.
- Spring 2007 (syllabus)
- Fall 2006 (syllabus)
- Spring 2006 (syllabus)
- Fall 2005 (syllabus)
- Spring 2005 (syllabus)
- Spring 2004
- Fall 2003

Language and Gender (LING 2400)
University of Colorado

This course familiarizes students with the effects of gender on language use; discusses popular beliefs and scholarly theories about language and communication; and provides students with tools for exploring the role of language and gender.
- Summer 2005 (syllabus)

Language, Power and Social Interaction
(LING 4100: Perspectives on Language)
University of Colorado

The objective of this course is to critically examine the role of language in articulating, maintaining, and subverting relations of power in society. We will ground our study by first looking at basic ideas on linguistic relativity, the idea that one adjusts to reality in large part through language. Then, we will explore the many dimensions of power in society and the role that language plays in this diagram of power. We will focus specifically on media language and political language; and critically analyze examples of discourse in an attempt to understand the power relations that undergird social interactions. This course will give you an opportunity to engage in critical thinking about the role of language in society, and leave you with important analytical tools as you move into the world beyond college.
- Fall 2004 (syllabus)

Study of Words (LING / CLAS 1010)
University of Colorado

This course examines English words of Latin and Greek origin, focusing on etymological meaning by analysis of component parts (prefixes, bases, suffixes) and on the ways in which words have changed and developed semantically.
- Spring 2004 (syllabus)