Lauren Hall-Lew

Professor

Biography

Background

​I'm Professor and Personal Chair of Sociolinguistics, in Linguistics and English Language (LEL), at the University of Edinburgh. For the 2023-2024 Academic Year I am also the MSc Coordinator and Co-Deputy Head for LEL.

I am a variationist sociolinguist with an interest in phonetics, social meaning, and language change. I've described my academic journey in an interview on this episode of the Undersong podcast, produced by Race.Ed.

I'm a 5th-generation mixed-race Chinese American with ancestors who immigrated to San Francisco, California, in the late 1800s. I'm also of German descent, with family from Düsseldorf. Most of my family is Californian, but I was raised in snowy Flagstaff, Arizona.

Qualifications

Undergraduate: University of Arizona (BA in Linguistics, minor in Psychology, 2002, summa cum laude)

Postgraduate: Stanford University (MA & PhD in Linguistics, 2009)

Previous post: Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Oxford

Responsibilities & affiliations

I am one of the representatives of the UoE's Staff BAME Network and the UoE's Womxn of Colour Collective. Between 2019-2021, I founded the Mentoring Programme for the Staff BAME Nework, and my work was recognised by being short-listed for the CAHSS Staff Award for Advancing Inclusion (2021) and a Principal's Medal. I'm also involved in EDI (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion) work and work in Research Ethics.

Undergraduate teaching

I have previously taught on various prehonours, honours, and MSc courses. In 2023-2024 I was:

  • Seminar Leader for the Guided Research Seminar (A), Sociophonetics and Phonetic Cues to Mental Illness (Semester 1, UG/PG)
  • Course Organiser and Co-instructor for Language Variation and Change (Semester 2, UG/PG)

Previous teaching awards include:

  • Winner, EUSA Award for Teaching in CHSS (2013)
  • Joint Runner-Up, CAHSS Outstanding Contribution to the Student Experience (2016)

Postgraduate teaching

I have previously taught on various prehonours, honours, and MSc courses. In 2023-2024 I was:

  • Seminar Leader for the Guided Research Seminar (A), Sociophonetics and Phonetic Cues to Mental Illness (Semester 1, UG/PG)
  • Course Organiser and Instructor for the advanced MSc course, Sociolinguistic Research Design (Semester 2, PG only)
  • Course Organiser and Co-instructor for Language Variation and Change (Semester 2, UG/PG)

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Areas of interest for supervision

Potential applicants should be aware that I am applying to be on sabbatical for the 2024-2025 Academic Year.

Current PhD students supervised

PhD

  • Stephen McNulty
  • Alice Marikan

Past PhD students supervised

PhD

  • Nina Markl (2023)
  • Tsung-Lun Alan Wan (2022)
  • Elizabeth Adelou (2021)
  • Miriam Eiswirth (2019)
  • Zac Boyd (2018)
  • Zuzana Elliott (2017)
  • Daniel Lawrence (2017)
  • Ruth Friskney (2015)
  • Ifigenia Papageorgiou (2011)

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