Dr. Julia Swan

Dr. Julia Swan
Assistant Professor
julia.swan@sjsu.edu

Julia Swan received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2016 and her scholarship focuses on sociolinguistics and phonetics/phonology. She has taught courses in language, culture and society, sociolinguistics, and bilingualism. These courses in sociolinguistics involve understanding the relationship of language to gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and social class.

Her research explores how sociophonetic variation is related to social identity for speakers of African American English, Pacific Northwest English, and Canadian English. She has previously presented on phonetic, syntactic and semantic features of various English dialects and has also collaborated with researchers in education to address institutional discrimination against students from stigmatized language backgrounds. Prior to joining the faculty at San José State, Dr. Swan was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Reed College. She has also taught Academic Writing for International Students at Seattle University and Seattle Colleges.