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Linguistics PhD student Kate Arnold-Murray recognized at "Best Should Teach" Ceremony

Katlyn Econom — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:41:06 +0000

Linguistics PhD student Kate Arnold-Murray recognized at "Best Should Teach" Ceremony Katlyn Econom Mon, 04/06/2026 - 11:41

Linguistics PhD student and Center for Teaching & Learning Lead Graduate Teacher (CTL), Kate Arnold-Murray, had a busy day on March 5th, 2026. Kate Arnold-Murray not only served as a panelist for the Spring Teaching and Learning Conference 2026, but she was also recognized at the Best Should Teach Ceremony. The penal Kate served on was titled, CTL Lead Graduate Teaching Fellow Panel: From Where Have We Seen Teaching Come, and Where are We Going?

The Department of Linguistics congratulates Kate Arnold-Murray in receipt of this award!

About the role of Lead Graduate Teacher
Departments in the Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities annually select one outstanding graduate instructor to serve as a Lead Graduate Teacher. Each Lead has received extensive training on college pedagogy, academic leadership, management, and professional development and then train peer graduate instructors on these topics. They perform videotape observations, micro-teaching sessions, lead workshops on teaching that are specific to their discipline and help other graduate instructors complete the requirements for the Certificate in College Teaching.

Kate Arnold-Murray on the panel titled, CTL Lead Graduate Teaching Fellow Panel: From Where Have We Seen Teaching Come, and Where are We Going?, at the Spring Teaching and Learning Conference 2026.

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Dr. Bhuvana Narasimhan recipient of this year's "The Best Should Teach" Gold Award at ��ӽ紫ý

Katlyn Econom — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 16:50:40 +0000

Dr. Bhuvana Narasimhan recipient of this year's "The Best Should Teach" Gold Award at ��ӽ紫ý Katlyn Econom Mon, 04/06/2026 - 10:50

Dr. Bhuvana Narasimhan was selected as a recipient of this year's "The Best Should Teach" Gold Award at ��ӽ紫ý.

The Best Should Teach Initiative strives to acknowledge excellence in teaching and academic leadership. The initiative is managed by the Center for Teaching & Learning in coordination with the School of Education, and the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Lindley and Marguerite Stiles established the initiative in 1996 to promulgate the message that “The Best Should Teach.”

Dr. Bhuvana Narasimhan joins an elite group of dedicated scholars who demonstrate exceptional teaching and academic leadership, exemplifying award founders Lindley and Marguerite Stiles’ message, “The Best Should Teach.” Dr. Bhuvana Narasimhan is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics and the Director of the Language, Development, and Cognition Lab, and Fellow of the Institute of Cognitive Science.

A student nominated Dr. Naraimhan with the following words:

As a mentor for my Honor's Thesis, Bhuvana was with me every step of the way -- through the long IRB process, editing my UROP grant proposal, giving her insights on study design, helping me to analyze my data and polish my final thesis, and giving me access to peers and time to run through my presentation before the actual defense. While there were points in the process in which I fell behind, Bhuvana always granted me grace and patience that I am eternally grateful for. Meanwhile, her guidance was consistent and kind, but still allowed me to feel like I had agency within the process.
Overall, my CU experience would have been dramatically worse without Bhuvana's mentorship. She has taught me the power of critical thinking, iteration, collaboration, and patience -- and has done it all with a box of cookies and words of encouragement in hand. I truly cannot over emphasize how much more equipped I feel to handle the world as a direct result of working with Bhuvana, and I cannot thank her enough.

The Department of Linguistics congratulates Dr. Narasimhan in receipt of this student nominated and faculty committee selected award!

About "The Best Should Teach"

The Best Should Teach Initiative celebrates excellence in teaching at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. It supports the preparation of college and university faculty, as well as public school teachers, in their disciplinary fields. Best Should Teach Gold and Silver Awards are presented at the event each year. The Best Should Teach event and awards are co-funded by the Ira and Ineva Baldwin Fund in the CU Foundation and Brian Good's private Best Should Teach Fund, with additional support from the Center for Teaching & Learning, the School of Education, and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Bhuvana Narasimhan has been selected as a recipient of this year's "The Best Should Teach" Gold Award at ��ӽ紫ý. The Best Should Teach Initiative strives to acknowledge excellence in teaching and academic leadership.

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LING Club Welcomes Adam Aleksic, the "Etymology Nerd,” as 2026 Undergraduate Distinguished Speaker

Katlyn Econom — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 22:25:13 +0000

LING Club Welcomes Adam Aleksic, the "Etymology Nerd,” as 2026 Undergraduate Distinguished Speaker Katlyn Econom Tue, 03/31/2026 - 16:25

On February 25, 2026, the LING Club welcomed the 2026 Undergraduate Distinguished Speaker, Adam Aleksic, also known as the "Etymology Nerd." He is a linguist, social media influencer, and published author.

Many guests stayed after the talk to ask Mr. Aleksic questions and request book signings of his New York Times bestselling book, Algospeak.

CU's student-run radio station, Radio 1190, featured the event in a written article and an audio magazine segment. The audio magazine segment airs from 2:47 to 10:56 in the news episode.

LING Club and faculty advisor, Dr. Chase Raymond, with the 2026 Undergraduate Distinguished Speaker, Adam Aleksic, the "Etymology Nerd."

Adam Aleksic speaking at the 2026 Undergraduate Distinguished Speaker Event

On February 25, 2026, the LING Club welcomed the 2026 Undergraduate Distinguished Speaker, Adam Aleksic, also known as the "Etymology Nerd."

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Kira Hall Receives LSA Zwicky Award for Pioneering Scholarship in Queer Linguistics

Katlyn Econom — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 18:01:28 +0000

Kira Hall Receives LSA Zwicky Award for Pioneering Scholarship in Queer Linguistics Katlyn Econom Mon, 11/17/2025 - 11:01

Dr. Kira Hall, ��ӽ紫ý Distinguished Professor of Linguistics and Anthropology, has received the Zwicky Award from the Linguistic Society of America. Named in honor of Arnold Zwicky—the first openly LGBTQ+ president of the LSA—the award recognizes LGBTQ+ scholars and those whose work in linguistics benefits LGBTQ+ communities.

In announcing the 2026 recipient, the LSA cited Dr. Hall’s foundational role in establishing queer linguistics as a field, beginning with the landmark volume Queerly Phrased (Oxford University Press, 1997). The citation further noted that her ethnographic and theoretical research on queer discourse practices in India and the United States has been consistently at the forefront of scholarship on language, gender, and sexuality.

Congratulations to Dr. Hall on this distinguished recognition.

Dr. Kira Hall, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics and Anthropology, has been awarded the prestigious Zwicky Award by the Linguistic Society of America.

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Dr. Rai Farrelly Highlights Learner Agency in Keynote at Michigan TESOL Conference

Katlyn Econom — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 23:22:52 +0000

Dr. Rai Farrelly Highlights Learner Agency in Keynote at Michigan TESOL Conference Katlyn Econom Tue, 11/11/2025 - 16:22

On November 8, 2025, Dr. Raichle (Rai) Farrelly, Associate Teaching Professor in CU Linguistics and Director of the TESOL Program, gave a keynote address at the Michigan TESOL Conference, hosted this year by Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

The 2025 conference centered on the theme Elevate, Motivate, Unite, foregrounding the role of English language educators as advocates, collaborators, and community leaders. Dr. Farrelly’s keynote, titled “Mapping Knowledge and Language for a Change Agent Mindset,” aligned closely with this theme by examining how TESOL educators can support learner agency and position students as active participants in social change.

Drawing on social-emotional, inquiry-based, and experiential pedagogical frameworks, Dr. Farrelly emphasized classroom practices that foster curiosity, deepen knowledge-building, and encourage meaningful action. Her address highlighted the potential of English language classrooms to function not only as sites of language development, but also as spaces for equity, connection, and global engagement.

On November 8th, 2025, Dr. Raichle ‘Rai’ Farrelly, CU Linguistics Associate Teaching Professor and Director of the TESOL Program, spoke as a keynote speaker at the 2025 Michigan TESOL Conference.

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Dr. Andrew Cowell’s work to build databases for the Arapaho language featured in Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

Katlyn Econom — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 15:56:15 +0000

Dr. Andrew Cowell’s work to build databases for the Arapaho language featured in Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine Katlyn Econom Mon, 11/03/2025 - 08:56

Dr. Andrew Cowell, a professor of linguistics and faculty director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies (CNAIS), has spent years building databases cataloging the Arapaho language. His work is featured in the Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine. The article, "Building a digital home for Arapaho, one sentence at a time," shares how the databases were built and are currently being used to develop a curriculum to teach Arapaho.

Read the article in A&S Magazine

Dr. Andrew Cowell’s work to build databases for the Arapaho language featured in Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

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Dr. Bhuvana Narasimhan co-edits newly published Oxford Handbook of Dravidian Languages

Katlyn Econom — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 18:48:41 +0000

Dr. Bhuvana Narasimhan co-edits newly published Oxford Handbook of Dravidian Languages Katlyn Econom Fri, 10/31/2025 - 12:48

The Oxford Handbook of Dravidian Languages, co-edited by Dr. Bhuvana Narasimhan and R. Amritavalli, is now available online and will soon be available in print. The Dravidian languages of South India, spoken by approximately 222 million speakers across South Asia, was first recognized as a distinct group in the 19th century. One of the largest language families in the world, it has inspired research from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, offering unique insights into the nature of human language, mind, history, and society. The Oxford Handbook of Dravidian Languages represents some of the field's most influential current scholarship exploring the origins of the Dravidian peoples, their languages, and the history of script in the Indian subcontinent. The volume aims to provide readers with an accessible introduction to this area of study.

Bhuvana Narasimhan and R.Amritavalli publish co-edited volume, The Oxford Handbook of Dravidian Languages.

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$2.9 Million NIH Grant Awarded to Professor Chase Raymond and Colleagues

Katlyn Econom — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 15:26:56 +0000

$2.9 Million NIH Grant Awarded to Professor Chase Raymond and Colleagues Katlyn Econom Mon, 10/06/2025 - 09:26

Professor Chase Raymond, who shares a secondary appointment with the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado, Anshutz School of Medicine, and his colleagues from Colombia University’s School of Nursing, Dr. Veronica Barcelona and Dr. Maxim Topaz, have been awarded a $2.9 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant.

Funded by the NIH’s Healthcare and Health Disparities Study Section, the study is titled, “Identifying Stigmatizing Language in Hospital Birthing Care: The ID-STIGMA study.” Dr. Raymond and his colleagues will be researching how stigmatizing language impacts the birthing experience. Using natural language processing (NLP), a data science approach, to identify and analyze documentation patterns, the study will be used to influence institutional change and improve patient outcomes.

First, the study will expand and refine an existing NLP system to identify documentation patterns in obstetric clinical notes. The expanded NLP system will then be applied to examine documentation patterns by patient demographic characteristics. Associations between these patterns and morbidity outcomes for pregnant women and newborns will be used to inform various interventions surrounding documentation practices, policies, and trainings.

Congratulations, Dr. Raymond and fellow researchers!

A figure from the study demonstrating how data increases awareness of stigmatizing language.

In collaboration with colleagues from Colombia University’s School of Nursing, Professor Raymond will research how stigmatizing language impacts the birthing experience. Using natural language processing to identify and analyze documentation patterns, the study will be used to influence institutional change and improve patient outcomes.

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Profs. Farrelly and Gutiérrez Lorenzo Featured in Coloradan

Ethan McGinnis — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 20:37:22 +0000

Profs. Farrelly and Gutiérrez Lorenzo Featured in Coloradan Ethan McGinnis Wed, 07/30/2025 - 14:37

The language reclamation and revitalization work of CU Linguistics professors Rai Farrelly and Ambrocio Gutiérrez Lorenzo were recently highlighted in the CU's alumni magazine, the Coloradan.

Farrelly and Gutiérrez Lorenzo just wrapped up their second summer conducting community-centered education abroad programs in Teotitlán del Valle, where Prof. Gutiérrez Lorenzo grew up speaking TdV Zapotec. Participating students get hands on experience partnering with community members and heritage speakers of that language, and help create pedagogical materials that will contribute to the intergenerational flourishing of TdV Zapotec.

We are excited to see these efforts of Profs. Farrelly and Gutiérrez Lorenzo continuing to grow, as they help us reimagine what it means to preserve so-called endangered languages!

Photo courtesy of Dr. Rai Farrelly.

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Patrick Das Wins 2025 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship

Ethan McGinnis — Thu, 29 May 2025 14:39:45 +0000

Patrick Das Wins 2025 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship Ethan McGinnis Thu, 05/29/2025 - 08:39

Our own Patrick Das is one of two ��ӽ紫ý PhD students to be awarded a 2025 Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Dissertation Innovation Fellowship!

Just 45 PhD students from across the country were awarded the prestigious fellowship, in recognition of their innovative approaches to their dissertation research in the humanities or social sciences.

The fellowships, made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation, recognize doctoral students “who show promise of leading their fields in important new directions,” according to the ACLS. “The fellowships are designed to intervene at the formative stage of dissertation development, before writing is advanced, and provide time and support for emerging scholars’ innovative approaches to dissertation research—practical, trans- or interdisciplinary, collaborative, critical or methodological.

Das is researching how geography and multilingualism shape language change in Tikhir, an endangered language of eastern Nagaland, India, near the border with Myanmar. Through spatial analysis, the project maps patterns of interaction between Tikhir and neighboring indigenous languages. Das’ findings offer new insights into how small languages evolve within complex multilingual ecologies.

You can read more about CU's awardees here: /asmagazine/2025/05/05/cu-boulder-scholars-recognized-innovation-phd-research

Congratulations, Patrick!

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News

Linguistics PhD student Kate Arnold-Murray recognized at "Best Should Teach" Ceremony

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Dr. Bhuvana Narasimhan recipient of this year's "The Best Should Teach" Gold Award at ���ӽ紫ý

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LING Club Welcomes Adam Aleksic, the "Etymology Nerd,” as 2026 Undergraduate Distinguished Speaker

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Kira Hall Receives LSA Zwicky Award for Pioneering Scholarship in Queer Linguistics

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Dr. Rai Farrelly Highlights Learner Agency in Keynote at Michigan TESOL Conference

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Dr. Andrew Cowell’s work to build databases for the Arapaho language featured in Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

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Dr. Bhuvana Narasimhan co-edits newly published Oxford Handbook of Dravidian Languages

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$2.9 Million NIH Grant Awarded to Professor Chase Raymond and Colleagues

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Profs. Farrelly and Gutiérrez Lorenzo Featured in Coloradan

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Patrick Das Wins 2025 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship

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Dr. Bhuvana Narasimhan recipient of this year's "The Best Should Teach" Gold Award at ��ӽ紫ý