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Assistant Professor of French Linguistics – University of Alabama

The Department of Modern Languages and Classics at the University of Alabama invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor of French Linguistics beginning August 16, 2022. The successful applicant will have an active and rigorous research agenda focusing on one or more of the following areas: sociolinguistics and variation in French, language and identity, theoretical linguistics; and demonstrated experience teaching linguistics courses in French at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The successful candidate will maintain a productive research agenda, teach undergraduate and graduate linguistics courses as well as other French courses in the undergraduate curriculum, direct M.A. theses and doctoral dissertations, and provide service to the French program and the Modern Languages and Classics department, as appropriate. Native or near-native command of French and English is required. Candidate must have a Ph.D. in hand by August 16, 2022.

The Modern Languages and Classics department offers a vibrant graduate program with national and international scholars and students. The University of Alabama is home to students from 77+ countries. Our 150+ graduate programs offer both research-based and professionally focused opportunities at the master’s and doctoral level. Our 4+ square kilometer campus is not only beautiful but has facilities that are second to none-laboratories, collaborative study space, and high-tech classrooms and workspaces.

Applicants should apply online by submitting a letter of application, and curriculum vitae. Candidates should have three letters of recommendation sent directly via email to French Search Committee Chair at acsmith41@ua.edu or by mail to French Search Committee Chair, Box 870246 The University of Alabama, Modern Languages and Classics Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. At least one of the letters should address the applicant’s teaching experience. Review of applications will begin on November 15, 2021, and will continue until the position is filled. Applications received after November 15, 2021 are not guaranteed full consideration. Apply at: https://facultyjobs.ua.edu/postings/49285

Abstract submission will begin JANUARY 25 via this link:

SECOL 2021: Homepage (linguistlist.org)

The 87th Southeastern Conference on Linguistics (SECOL) was slated to be held in Oxford, Mississippi at the Inn at Ole Miss, March 26-28, 2020. The Executive Board of SECOL has decided to cancel the event.

Our concern is that the rapid spread of COVID-19 would put our traveling members at risk and put them into close proximity at the conference site [which–update–is closed now anyway]. A number of our members live in states that have already declared a health emergency, and the board certainly didn’t want to jeopardize the well-being of presenters, participants, observers, or the workers who facilitate them.

If you have paid your registration, the Outreach division of Ole Miss that processed your credit card will automatically issue a full refund within 10 business days. If you paid registration in another way, please e-mail Felice Coles and she will pass along your query to the Outreach representatives.

If you joined SECOL specifically to present at the conference, I would like to ask you to consider becoming a member anyway. You will receive the Southern Journal of Linguistics, become part of our wonderfully collegial community, and strengthen the oldest regional linguistics association in the US. Also, your membership fee would help SECOL defray costs already incurred for a conference that we now, alas, had to cancel.

All of you have proposed interesting presentations, and Justin White (the new editor) and Felice Coles would very much like to see the manuscripts that come out of your research for the Southern Journal of Linguistics!

Thank you to Felice Coles, who had the entire program and logistics already worked out, and our collective regrets to our keynote speaker John Lipski and to all registered participants now inconvenienced with undoing their travel arrangements. Canceling a conference is unprecedented in our history and was not an easy decision to make. SECOL will continue supporting and highlighting the work of linguists, and we hope to see you all at next year’s conference.

Ralf Thiede

president, SECOL

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Dr. Michael Montgomery passed away on Wednesday, July 24 at the age of 69. He leaves behind a legacy of lives touched by his scholarship and friendship. He was a giant in the field of American dialectology and sociolinguistics, and he was an authority on the Appalachian region, the American South, and the history and development of American English. He was also a noted scholar of Ulster Scots and the Scots-Irish influence on American English. His generosity, kindness, wit, and guidance touched the lives of innumerable individuals. He was quick with a smile and a joke, and also encouragement. As a longtime member and former President of SECOL, he was a champion for this organization, and will be dearly missed.

Services will be held both in Knoxville, TN (his hometown) and Columbia, SC (where he spent most of his career). The service in Knoxville, TN will be at Broadway Chapel on August 1st from 12pm-2pm with a graveside service at 3pm. A memorial will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC on August 6th starting at 2pm.

The full obituary with information about expressing condolences to the family and also about the services can be found at https://www.rosemortuary.com/obituaries/Michael-Montgomery-9/.

SECOL members beginning their terms at the 2019 conference are the following:

Vice President:  Tamara Lindner, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Executive Committee Member-at-Large:  Alicia Cipria, University of Alabama

Nominating Committee:  Jeff Reaser, North Carolina State University

The SECOL conference in 2020 will be hosted by Ole Miss (Felice Coles), and she is currently on the Executive Committee as the Journal Editor.

The Nominating Committee will work on a slate to be presented at the 2019 meeting for those who will start their terms in 2020.