SIL-UND Faculty Members

The SIL-UND faculty consists of active scholars who spend most of the year engaged in linguistic research and service to language communities in many countries around the world. Some return to Grand Forks every summer to teach, others rotate in on a more occasional basis.

Linguistics graduate faculty

The core of SIL’s faculty are also adjunct members of the University’s graduate faculty, and as such are available to supervise graduate students in UND’s M.A. in linguistics.

Jan Allen

Jan Allen (Ph.D. 2011 Heinrich Heine Universität): morphosyntax, Role and Reference Grammar, Philippine languages, Kankanaey

Joan Baart

Joan L.G. Baart (Ph.D. 1987 University of Leiden): descriptive linguistics, prosody, acoustic phonetics, languages of Pakistan.

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Adam Baker

Adam Baker (Ph.D. 2008 University of Arizona): phonology, articulatory and acoustic phonetics, Iranian languages, language documentation.

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Albert Bickford

J. Albert Bickford (Ph.D. 1987 University of California, San Diego): morphology, signed languages, indigenous languages of Mexico, computer-assisted linguistic analysis, annotation of interlinear text materials.

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John Clifton

John M. Clifton (Ph.D. 1980 Indiana University): phonology, orthography, sociolinguistics, language documentation, languages of Papua New Guinea, bilingualism and language patterns in the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Doug Fraiser

Douglas Fraiser (Ph.D. 2007 University of Florida): social and political organization; economic anthropology; culture change; religious movements; land tenure, land use, and livelihood systems; farming systems, hillside agriculture, agroforestry, and deforestation; worldview.

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Robb Fried

Robert Fried (Ph.D. 2010 State University of New York, Buffalo): descriptive linguistics, linguistic typology, grammar writing, discourse, Bao'an Tu (Bonan, Tongren Tu), Mangghuer (Minhe Monguor), Mongolic languages.

Mark Karan

Mark E. Karan (Ph.D. 1996 University of Pennsylvania): sociolinguistics, language shift, language vitality.

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Steve Marlett

Stephen A. Marlett (Ph.D. 1981 University of California, San Diego): theoretical linguistics, phonology, syntax, Otomanguean languages, Seri, Koine Greek.

Jim Roberts

James S. Roberts (Ph.D. 1980 Georgetown University): phonology, orthography, tone analysis, morphosyntax, African linguistics, Chadic and Chadian languages, French.

Keith Slater

Keith W. Slater (Ph.D. 1998 University of California, Santa Barbara): Mangghuer (Minhe Monguor), descriptive linguistics, grammar and grammar writing, discourse, historical linguistics, language contact, Mongolic comparative studies, satirical linguistics.

Kristine Trammell

Kristine M. Trammell (Ph.D. 2006 Biola University): Mother-tongue-based multilingual education, Minority language literacy, Language acquisition, Education research, Curriculum development, Primary school education.

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Jim Watters

James Watters (Ph.D. 1988, University of California, Berkeley): descriptive linguistics, morphology and syntax, semantics, pragmatics, discourse, Totonac-Tepehua language family

Other regular instructors

In addition to the graduate faculty, the SIL summer program is enriched by the presence of other instructors who teach courses regularly. In recent years these have included the following:

  • John Berthelette (M.A. 2004 University of North Dakota): field methods
  • Anita C. Bickford (M.A. 1989 University of North Dakota, M.F.A. 1978 University of Minnesota): articulatory phonetics, second language acquisition.
  • Kevin Cline (M.A. 2013 University of North Dakota): phonology
  • Dan Eberle (M.A. 2013 University of North Dakota): sign languages, media technology
  • M. Heather Fried (Ph.D. 2009 State University of New York, Buffalo): cognitive anthropology, linguistic anthropology, minority nationalities in China
  • Kathy Hansen (Ph.D. 2006 Purdue University): sign language phonology
  • Linda Humnick (Ph.D. 2009 University of Minnesota): discourse, central Asian languages
  • Elke Karan (M.A. 2006 University of North Dakota): literacy, orthography
  • Mary Morgan (Ph.D. 1980 Georgetown University): Literacy, sociolinguistics
  • Steve Parkhurst (M.A. 1989 University of Texas, Arlington): sign language phonetics, phonology, 3D animation, writing systems, literacy, sociolinguistic survey, and translation
  • Katie Tang (Ph.D. 2008 University of California, Los Angeles): phonetics, phonology, tone, Chinese languages
  • Christina Truong (M.A. 2004 Biola University): phonology, language documentation, voice and alignment, Austronesian languages
  • Stuart M. Thiessen (M.A. 2011 University of North Dakota): sign language morphosyntax
  • Juanita Watters (Ph.D. 2011 University of Arizona): literacy, language development, Tepehua
  • David J. Weber (Ph.D. 1983 Univeristy of California, Los Angeles): Quechua, Amerindian languages, syntax
  • Diana D. Weber (Ph.D. 2003, Syracuse University): reading education, teacher education, Quechua.