Teaching at MSU Grandparents University
I’ve been teaching Harry Potter and the Secrets of British English since 2014 for MSU Grandparents University. This is a summer program for grandparents and their 8-12 year-old grandchildren to hang out together on the Michigan State campus, sleep and eat in a dorm, meet our mascot Sparty, play games, and go to faculty-led sessions ranging from Lego robotics to geocaching to making theatrical costumes. In our session, participants learn about sociolinguistic variation and language change through activities with a Harry Potter theme. It’s an absolute blast, and a great opportunity for students and for my faculty friends to get involved in educating the public. This year I was asked by the MSU Alumni Office to talk about my experiences for this promotional video, which I hope will recruit new faculty instructors to Grandparents University this year!
Audio diary collection brings relief, therapy to those impacted by MSU shooting
With Dr. Betsy Sneller, PI of the MI Diaries project, I was interviewed by Fox 17 news for this April 21, 2023 story.
Tracking the Changing Ways We Talk in the COVID-19 Era
The MI Diaries project was featured in this March 3, 2021 story by Pia Araneta for LitHub.
The voice notes are intimate, as diaries naturally are. One person describes having to celebrate Pride week online rather than at their friend’s drag show, as in previous years. Some people express anxiety in advance of the U.S. election. For others, you can hear heavy-hearted sighs as they speak about racial injustice and protests. The diary entries, as a whole, accomplish a purpose beyond language documentation, tracking historical social changes that have coincided with the pandemic.
Pia Areneta