meredith church
Current PhD Student
Department of Linguistics

I am a doctoral student in the Linguistics Department, with a BA from Rice University in Linguistics, Spanish, and Latin American Studies. I am interested in multilingualism and language contact, specifically involving globalization and indigeneity. I have spent time in both Cusco, Peru, and northwestern India interacting with Indigenous communities. Some of my previous research has explored the influence of the Quechua language on the variety of Andean Spanish spoken in the city of Cusco. In India, I learned about different strategies for promoting cultural and language revitalization as I worked with an NGO dedicated to advocating for the literacy and land rights of a tribal group in the state of Uttarakhand. I hope to carry these lessons forward in my future research on Indigenous cultures and languages and the social factors at play in multilingual societies where hegemonic languages meet minority/Indigenous languages.