Randall Craig Meister and Dr. David Eddington, Department of Linguistics and English Language “Pero Salonik no kanta mas1,” said an elderly speaker of Judeo-‐Spanish in Thessaloniki, as she reflected with me during a discussion concerning her life as a Sephardic Jew after World War II. This expression embodies the historical and cultural awareness of the […]
Leadership in the Humanities A Look at Practical Applications of Humanities Education
Susanne McGann and Dr. Gregory Clark, Department of Humanities The initial aim of my project was 1) to evaluate the transferable skills of a Humanities education in the job market and 2) to help Humanities students recognize, articulate, and apply their knowledge and skills to future careers. In order to reach the first aim, I […]
Study Abroad and Rounded Vowels
Kelley Manning and Dr. Laura Smith, Department of German and Slavic Languages “Simply phonetics. The science of speech. Thats my profession: also my hobby. Happy is the man who can make a living by his hobby!” –Professor Henry Higgins (pg. 8)1 My favorite subject to study is linguistics, particularly phonetics and how people produce certain […]
Collecting Folklore
Trent Leinenbach and Dr. Stephen Tuttle, Department of Humanities Our purpose in collecting folklore was to examine what happens to a society when the people can no longer identify themselves by nationality. Transylvania is a particularly good case study, because the borders have been disputed between Hungarians and Romanians essentially for as long as both […]
Discovering Quotidian Kiev in Three Social Classes
Danielle Leavitt and Dr. Patrick Madden, Department of English Because anti-Soviet sentiments dominated the western stage for roughly the past century, very little literature exists in regards to post-Soviet daily life in former Soviet countries and cities. Specifically interesting are the socio-economic differences that emerged in former Soviet communities following the fall of the Soviet Union. Our project […]
Perception and Production of /l/-/r/ Sounds by Korean Learners of English and German
Hyuna Kim and Dr. Laura Smith, Department of German and Slavic Languages Numerous articles have examined the difficulties Korean speakers have learning the English /l/ and /r/ sounds (e.g., Borden et al 1983; Smith, 2001; Han, 2002). Most Korean learners of English hear and produce no distinction between English /l/ and /r/, because no surface […]
Self-Shaping and National Identity in Transylvania
Nick Jones and Dr. Lance Larsen, Department of English My project involved researching and observing Romania’s Székely population and their efforts to maintain cultural autonomy despite their minority status in Romania. The Székely people are a Hungarian-speaking group of disputed origin that has lived in Transylvania for at least 1,000 years, and currently they comprise […]
Don’t Judge a Voice By Its Color: The Influence of Visual and Linguistic Cues on Racial Profiling
Alex Jennings and Dr. Wendy Baker-Smemoe, Department of Linguistics and English Language Linguistic profiling1 has emerged as an area of research only within the last decade. Several researchers have shown that people who speak non-standard, ethnically-tied dialects are treated less favorably than their Standard American English (SAE)-speaking counterparts. However, no known studies have shown the […]
How Performative are Ideophones in Pastaza Quechua?
Roseanna Hopper and Dr. Janis Nuckolls, Department of Linguistics and English Language With my ORCA grant, I set out to investigate the performance qualities of ideophones, a category of words marked by a specific speaking style in Ecuadorean Pastaza Quechua. I planned to use software to determine phonetic properties of the words and compare to […]
Hope Rises in the Leprosy Colonies of India: Examining the Mission and Success of Rising Star Outreach
Kelsey Elayne Holloway Murdoch and Dr. Francesca Lawson, Department of Humanities I began my quest to graduate with University Honors during my freshman year at Brigham Young University. I was encouraged by friends, family, and professors, and I loved the challenge of the Honors Courses and the cultural exploration stimulated by the Great Works requirements. […]