LAURA MCGARRITY:
Congratulations, class of 2020.
This is Laura McGarrity.
This has been a memorable
year for many, but for you
especially because you did it.
You graduated.
You finished.
And I know that I alongside
all of the linguistics faculty
and staff were so proud of you.
I feel lucky and honored
to have-- for some of you
played a small role in
your linguistics journeys
here at UW.
Kara, Sasha, Kaleo, Bryn, Sean,
Annalise, Dominique, Emma,
Ellen, J, Heather, Rose,
Sarah, Colette, Madeline, Ofek,
and that's just to name a few.
I'm sure I've
forgotten some of you.
I wish I could be there
to give all of you
a congratulatory handshake.
As it is, I think we should
stick with a virtual high five.
But really, for all
of you graduates,
we're so proud of you, and
I wish you all the best
in your future endeavors.
Congratulations, class of 2020.
SHARON HARGUS: Hello, graduates.
Let me just say that I
think I had over half
of you in one or two
of my three classes
that I regularly
teach undergrads--
450, 451, and/or 481.
And let me just say,
let me congratulate you,
first of all, for getting
through those classes.
They're all a lot of
work, and this bodes well
for you doing well in life.
You just gotta show
up and do the work
even when you don't
feel like it sometimes,
although I hope
you found something
enjoyable about those classes.
Anyway, congratulations
again, and I wish you
well in your future endeavors.
ISABEL BARTHOLOMEW: Hello.
My name is Isabel
Bartholomew, and I'll
be graduating this spring
with a double major
in linguistics and
Korean language
from the University
of Washington.
I would have to say that my
favorite memories of studying
linguistics have to do with
all the amazing people and all
the amazing research
I see going on at UW.
Especially this
past year I've been
involved in departmental
research in UW
sociolinguistics laboratory.
We're doing a lot of
really cool research
right now on dialects of
the Pacific Northwest,
and particularly, I was
involved in a project
having to do with the success
of automatic speech recognition
systems with particular
dialects of Pacific Northwest.
So that was a really exciting
learning opportunity for me,
and I feel so grateful for
all the UW faculty and staff
and students that helped make
research like that happen.
My future plans were
to teach English
abroad for a couple of
years before continuing
my graduate studies
in translation studies
and localization management.
However, due to COVID-19, a
lot of things are in flux,
but we'll see.
And as always, go
dogs, and hope you all
are staying safe and healthy.
ELAINE: Hi.
This is Elaine.
I just wanted to
thank everyone who's
helped me get to this point.
It's really exciting to
finally be graduating,
though I've learned a lot
through my years that UW.
When I first
started linguistics,
I really thought I'd
be a syntax person,
but I actually ended up
enjoying phonology quite a bit,
even if I did spend three months
learning to write rules only
to have to learn a
completely new system
with optimality theory
in Phonology II.
I don't think this
is going to be
the end of my
linguistics journey.
In a couple of years, I'm hoping
to return to Aarhus University
where I studied
abroad for a year
to get a master's
in linguistics,
but until then, goodbye for now.
KSENIIA: Hey, everyone.
My name name's Kseniia,
and I had a lot of fun
being a linguistics
major, and I've
taken so many really
cool classes that's it's
really hard to find the one
that was the most interesting
and the most exciting.
But saying that, the
couple of classes
that I took that were
about language acquisition
development and second
language learning,
those were probably
particularly exciting for me
just because this is
something I find fascinating,
and the classes were
really, really good
and really, really interesting.
And actually, one of
the coolest projects
that I got to do for a class
was a group project where
the second language
acquisition class
that I took this past winter.
And our group, we had
to design an experiment.
And we decided to study, didn't
have to actually study for it,
but we decided that we would be
interested in looking into how
using of music in a foreign or
secondary language classroom
would influence the
outcomes, whether there would
be any effects on the rates
of learning just like language
acquisition, in general.
And it's something
that I've always
been very excited about
and very interested in,
and that project was
a great opportunity
to not just learn more about
the relationship between music
and language, but also, actually
think for the whole study.
So that was very fun.
And regarding my future plans,
those are still pretty unclear.
I am looking for a job, and I'm
hoping to take some time off
from school and just get
some hands-on experience,
hopefully on localization,
translation, maybe competition
linguistics.
But then yeah,
hopefully, grad school
will be somewhere on
the horizon pretty soon.
So congratulations to you all.
I wish you all the
best, and yeah,
have a great summer at least.
SUBJECT 1: Hey everybody.
It's really cool to
be here on this day,
graduating with a
degree in linguistics.
My journey in
linguistics has been
sort of an interesting one.
I came to UW expecting
to study neurobiology
until I heard about internal
linguistics, the course.
And I thought that sounds
kind of interesting.
I had a natural inclination
towards languages,
so I thought I'd try it out.
And I found that it was the
first course I'd ever had to--
or I never had to make
myself studied for, rather,
that I was always
curious to learn more,
and it just sort of
naturally happened
that I wanted more
information about it.
And I think that's a really
important thing, to prioritize.
So I'm really glad
I found this degree,
and I'm really glad to be
able to be graduating today.
I'd like to thank Dr. Ferjan
Ramirez for all her support
as well as Jiahui
Huang for his support.
And I'd like to leave
you guys with a joke.
It's not specifically
a linguistics joke,
but really, any joke
that involves words
is a linguistics joke.
So what kind of bagel can fly?
A plain bagel.
SUBJECT 2: One of
my favorite classes
that I took as a
linguistics major at UW
was definitely sociolinguistics
with Betsy Evans.
Sociolinguistics
not only combined
two of my favorite things,
sociology and language,
but it also brought
me down a path
towards studying
phonetics in more detail
and creating my own
research projects.
Another great thing about
the linguistics major at UW
is that it required me to start
studying a third language.
I picked Japanese, which was
really great because I ended up
going on a study
abroad to Tokyo.
I had some incredible
experiences there
and met some lifelong friends.
Another cool thing
about studying Japanese
is that this brought me towards
studying foreign language
teaching, which very well may be
a big part of my future career.
But in the meantime,
will I decide
when I'm going to
go to grad school
and where I'm going
to go, I'm trying
to stay like a schwa in
English, never stressed.
ELLEN PERLEBERG: Hi.
I'm Ellen Perleberg.
I'm thrilled and
proud and terrified
to be graduating this
year from UW linguistics.
In addition to minors in
Spanish and Jewish studies,
I supplemented my
core coursework
studying phonetic linguistics,
digital humanities, heritage
language learner issues,
language conflict, education,
and system law.
And of course, I found that
eventually [INAUDIBLE]..
And thus had the
incredible opportunity
to pursue research at UW, for
applied Spanish linguistics
to digital humanities with the
[INAUDIBLE] diaries project.
I've been able to
share my work and learn
from others at conferences
across the country
and an online publication.
Of course, everything
right now is
a bit of a question
mark looking ahead,
but I'm planning to pursue
a library science masters,
and I hope to one day help
make libraries more just
spaces in a multilingual world.
In a strange, strange time,
I'm graduating with the highest
gratitude for all
the wonderful faculty
and staff of every department
that have shaped my linguistics
education and I leave you all
with my sincerest thank you.
ERICA: Hi.
I'm Erica, and I
just want to say
thanks to my friends
and family for always
supporting me and my passions.
I would have to say my
favorite linguistics
course at UW was LING
200 with Laura McGarrity.
Special shout out to you.
In that course, we
were just able to delve
into so many different
topics under linguistics,
and it just really inspired me
to just keep studying and keep
going further with a new major.
And I just wanted
to say if there
are any linguists
watching this, if you
made me choose between
a barred i and a schwa,
I would pick a schwa.
RICHARD WRIGHT: Congratulations
to the class of 2020.
I'm Richard Wright, chair of
the linguistics department.
And on behalf of the
staff and faculty,
I would like to express
to our BA, our MA our MS,
our PhC and our PhD students
how deeply honored we
are to participate
in the greatest
ritual of transformation
and renewal in academia.
Every year I look
forward to this time.
It's a time when I can
reminisce with the students
about the challenges
they overcame,
the classes that they loved.
I get to meet parents.
I get to meet siblings.
I get to meet
friends and partners.
Who could have known nine months
ago, when we began planning
for the celebration that
things would have changed
so much in such a short time?
The COVID-19 pandemic
has overturned
so many plans it seems almost
selfish to bemoan not being
able to celebrate, but I
think it's important for you
to look back and appreciate
everything you have achieved.
In the best of
years, an education
is a challenging
task full of hurdles.
Many of you are working to
put yourselves through school.
Many of you overcame all kinds
of linguistic and cultural
barriers to be able
to get to this point.
Many of you are
supporting your families,
supporting loved ones, taking
care of family and loved ones
who are ill or old.
This time is a time to
look at your achievements.
While I understand that it's
fun to talk about taking classes
in your pajamas, working from
bed, wearing cargo shorts,
and a button-down
shirt, I also understand
how deeply challenging
this has been for you.
No one could have anticipated
how many different ways
our lives would change.
It's easy to despair in
this current environment,
but I don't despair.
I have hope, and my
hope comes from looking
at you, our students.
The future is in your hands,
and I have been really impressed
with the integrity, creativity,
and tenacity that you have
brought in overcoming
all of the challenges,
but especially the challenges
posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
I don't think my
hope is misplaced.
I know that this
generation of students
will remake the world
in their own ways.
It will be a more compassionate,
a more inclusive, and a more
equitable world.
It will be a world where new
things that we can't even
imagine will take place,
and it's because of you.
So take a deep breath.
Think about everything
you've achieved
in this time in your school.
Think about what that will
bring to your challenges ahead
and how it will help
you overcome them.
And then celebrate.
Celebrate with your friends and
family in whatever way you can.
To the class of 2020,
congratulations and thank you.
It's the tradition of the
linguistics department
at the University of
Washington to read
the names of our graduating
students, mention their honors,
and other majors.
The list this year
is a bit abbreviated
because not everyone
felt comfortable having
their names recorded and posted
online, and we appreciate that.
We will begin by
reading the names
of our undergraduate
students who are graduating
with a bachelor of arts.
Isabel Bartholomew, with a
second major in Asian languages
and culture, a third
major in Korean, and is
graduating magna cum laude.
Madeline Bonner, with a
second major in Germanics.
Kyrian Brichoux, with a
second major in psychology
and is graduating magna cum
laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
Matias Cardinale, who has
a second major in drama
performance and is graduating
with interdisciplinary honors,
magna cum laude
and Phi Beta Kappa.
Bryan Chacon.
Sujin Cho.
Sasha Cordier, who has a
second major in Spanish
and is graduating
summa cum laude.
Casey Devenecia, who
has a second major
in anthropology,
medical anthropology,
and global health.
Dominique Dunn, who has
a second major in Korean.
Colleen Gibler, who has a
second major in Asian languages
and culture.
Xinning Gu, who's
graduating magna cum laude.
Yasmine Hejazi, who has a second
major in informatics and data
science and is graduating
magna cum laude.
Min Huang, who has a second
major in communication.
Nathan Johnson.
Reidar Kelstrup, who
has a second major
in American Indian studies
and is graduating cum laude.
Madelyn Kinzer.
Andrew Kominek, who is
graduating summa cum laude.
Andrew Lai, who has a second
major in Asian languages
and culture, a third
major in Japanese,
and a fourth major in
international studies,
Asian studies.
Carl Lindstrom.
Annalise Lineman, who has a
second major in Korean and who
is graduating magna cum
laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
Jake McManus, who is
graduating cum laude.
William McQueen.
Lillian Moriarty.
Reta Nemesszeghy who has a
second major in communication.
Annalise Parnello, who is
graduating magna cum laude.
Ellen Rachel, who has a second
major in near eastern studies,
languages, and culture and is
graduating summa cum laude.
Kelly Pigott, who has a second
major in speech and hearing
sciences and is
graduating cum laude.
Nicholas Poldruhi, who
is graduating cum laude.
Derrick Reese.
Tiffany Rodriguez
De Almeida, who
has departmental
honors in linguistics
specializing in syntax.
Elaine Rohrbough, who has a
second major in Scandinavia
area studies and is
graduating cum laude.
Cameron Seibel, who is
graduating summa cum laude.
Yanghao Shen.
Larkspur Skov.
Erica Solid.
Tong Su, who has a second
major in computer science.
Kseniia Temkina.
Isabella Tinte, who has a
second major in Japanese.
J Vogel, Jordan Wayner,
and Maighenn West.
Congratulations to
the class of 2020.
Now we move on to
our masters students.
Jiahui Huang was awarded a
master of arts in linguistics.
The following students were
awarded master of science
in computational linguistics.
Aidan Babb.
Abdelrahman Baligh.
Andrew Barker.
Emma Bateman.
Sophie Chan.
Jiani Chen.
Elizabeth Conrad.
Kim Dodds.
Abby Emrey.
Cady Gansen.
Jesse Gioannini.
Mikaela Guerrero.
Michael Henderson.
Kevin Henner.
Jacob Hoffman.
Einar A. Horn.
Martin Horst.
Mingfei Lau.
Haley Lepp.
Shengshuo Lin.
Lu Liu.
Suiliang Ma.
Alexandra Loessberg Zahl.
Alfredo Menendez Sancho.
Genevieve Peasley.
Graham Still.
Lonnie Struck.
Eric Tomasic.
Xinyi Wu.
Youyun Zhang.
Xuhui Zhu.
And Haotian Zhu.
Haotian is transferring
into our PhD program.
Congratulations to
our master's students.
Now, we move on to our PhC's.
These are students who have
passed their general exams,
have been admitted to
candidacy, but have not yet
filed their dissertations.
Benjamin Jones and
Amandalynne Paullada.
Congratulations to both of you.
Finally, we move on
to our PhD students.
It is our tradition to have
a hooding ceremony where
the student's advisor places
a robe like the one you see
me wearing, places this hood
over the heads of the students,
and this represents the
color of the university
you graduated from.
Unfortunately, we can't do that.
So I hope at home all
of our PhD students
have someone help them
do a hooding ceremony.
The students who
wanted their names read
are, Nicole Chartier, Kristen
Howell, Nathan Loggins, Leanne
Rolston, and Michael Scanlon.
Congratulations to
our PhD students.
