About me

I am a Lecturer of Linguistics at the University of California, Riverside. I completed my Ph.D. at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign about morphosyntactic typology and theory. I am also the webmaster for the Association for Linguistic Typology.

I study theoretical linguistics while maintaining a strong base in typology, and work toward a general understanding of how language works, or more specifically how language can work. My research centers around the relationship between Morphosyntax and Semantics. I have research interests in Syntax, Semantics, Morphology, Typology, Historical Linguistics, Psycholinguistics, Language Acquisition and Machine Translation. Please see the research page for a list of my publications and presentations. My interest in Linguistics comes from an interest in learning languages. With any extra time, I enjoy studying languages, and I often include references written in languages other than English in my own work.

When I can, I enjoy traveling. I have spent time in Europe and South America, among other places. I like to take photos while I travel (including the pictures on this page from the Faroe Islands). I also enjoy scuba diving or snorkeling anywhere from Ecuador to Iceland. When I’m on campus but taking time away from academia, I enjoy playing Ultimate Frisbee. I am originally from the Bay Area in California.

Background

Education

• 2021: Ph.D., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Linguistics.
• 2013: M.A., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Linguistics.
• 2010: B.A., University of California, Davis. Double major in Linguistics and Film Studies with minors in Italian and German.
• Summer 2013: LSA Summer Institute at the University of Michigan.
• Summer 2014: Faroese Summer Institute, University of the Faroe Islands.
• Graduate Teacher Certificate through the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, UIUC, April 2015.

Work experience

• Lecturer of Linguistics, UC Riverside. Courses taught: Syntax, Semantics, Morphology, and Language and the Brain (Recurring: 2016, 2019 to present).
• Lecturer in Spanish program, CSU Fullerton. Course taught: SPAN 530, Graduate Seminar: Historical Linguistics (Spring 2021)
• Graduate Student Assistantships at UIUC:
• Primary Instructor: LING 210 Language History (Fall 2013 - Spring 2015)
• Teaching Assistant: LING 301 Syntax (Spring 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) & LING 307 Semantics (Fall 2012, 2013)
• Editor, Studies in the Linguistic Sciences: Illinois Working Papers (Fall 2011 - Spring 2015)
• Research Assistant with Dr. Abbas Benmamoun (academic year 2012-2013)
• Linguistics Department Weekly Seminar coordinator (academic year 2011-2012)
• Linguistics Department webpage editor (academic year 2011-2012)

Languages

• Courses taken in: Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, Arabic, Japanese, Portuguese, Hindi, French, Swahili, Catalan, Swedish, Russian, Faroese, Basque, Modern Greek, Turkish, Mandarin Chinese, Quechua, Cahuilla and American Sign Language
• Fieldwork: Faroese, Faroe Islands (Summer 2014; specific feature: pseudocoordination)
• Field Methods: Malayalam, LSA Summer Institute (Summer 2013)
• Functional proficiency: Spanish
• Linguistic research reading ability: Spanish, Italian, German, Swedish, French, Portuguese, and other Germanic and Romance languages with a dictionary, and other languages as needed
• Typological research: a wide variety of languages around the world, including in particular a 325-language balanced sample for my dissertation and related research

Contact

Email: djross3@gmail.com

I always welcome questions/discussions from students and researchers about Linguistics and other topics. I am also open to the possibility of collaboration with other researchers working in related areas.