People

faculty

The Lab of Linguistics (LoL) is inhabited by students, faculty members, and staff members affiliated with the Linguistics Department.

Lab Manager

Ian Smith '24 (he/him) is the LoL manager for the 2023-2024 academic year.

He is a big fan of all areas of linguistics, but especially typology, optimality theory, and historical linguistics. He also enjoys conlanging, playing Geoguessr, and, like all linguists, making weird noises and trying to transcribe them. He is hoping to return the LoL to vigorous use post-covid and is hoping that ling students will stop by to borrow equipment, use the recording booth, or just hang out.

All equipment requests and questions should be sent to the Lab Manager, as well as requests to use the lab space for recording or experiments. To pick up or drop off equipment, or just to drop in to ask about the LoL, contact the Lab Manager during their office hours (Wednesdays 3:00-4:00, Thurdsays 4:30-5:30). Lab equipment must be returned to the Lab Manager in person, in the LoL. If you'd like to reserve the LoL for recording or running an experiment outside of those office hours, please contact directly to set up a time (iansmith@reed.edu).

Faculty and staff

The faculty and staff who you might see hanging around the LoL include the following:

	Kara Becker is an associate professor of linguistics. She particularly enjoys taking formant measurements in Praat, especially when you have to adjust the formant settings for each vowel. Here we see her with the LoL's youngest participant. His neck was unfortunately too narrow to strap the electroglottograph on.
	Sameer ud Dowla Khan is an associate professor of linguistics. As such, he is responsible for overseeing the procurement and maintenance of equipment. He enjoys reading spectrograms and drawing them by hand as secret messages. Here he is demonstrating the movement of the vocal folds during voicing.
	Matt Pearson is a professor of linguistics. He enjoys listening to recordings of Field Methods consultants and trying to work out if they’re producing a low tone or a downstepped tone. He doesn’t use the equipment in the LoL very much, but he sleeps better at night knowing it’s there.
	Emily Hebbron (picutred on the right) is the faculty administrative coordinator for the Linguistics Department. She's our go-to for ordering supplies and navigating college policies. She also knows one linguistics joke.

Research Assistants

The following students worked as research assistants (RAs) for faculty-led research projects:

Manamaya Peterson '19 is a recent Reed graduate, and worked as a Post-Bacc Research Assistant with Kara Becker on the Reed Linguistic Diversity Project which was funded by a Spencer Foundation grant. She loves to travel and enjoys music, singing, dancing, and doing creative projects!

Tiffany Chang '20 is a recent Reed graduate and was a Research Assistant with Kara Becker and Manamaya Peterson on the Reed Linguistic Diversity Project (Hear Me Hoot!), funded by a Spencer Foundation grant. She loves to do insensible DIY, cook her cultural dishes, draw, and watch movies in her spare time.

Sophia Kongshaug '20 is a recent Reed graduate and research assistant for Sameer ud Dowla Khan. She enjoys reading spectrograms, taking notes in IPA, and participating in the cot-caught merger.

M Stoddard '19 (he/she/they) is a recent alum working as a research assistant for Sameer ud Dowla Khan to investigate the relationship between creaky voice and sex, gender, and sexuality. They particularly like finding creaky voice on a spectrogram and writing scripts in Praat.

Cecilia Bahls '20 is a recent Reed graduate and research assistant for Sameer ud Dowla Khan. She is from Washington state, and she likes vowels, variation, and napping.