Ep 15: Dr. Geoff Pullum on Theoretical Research

Published: July 11, 2016, 3:29 p.m.

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On this episode, I am joined by Dr. Geoff Pullum, Professor of General Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh where he has been since 2007. Previously, Dr. Pullum was a faculty member at University College London and at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and a fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Dr. Pullum has previously served as Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, as Distinguished Professor of Humanities, and as Head of Linguistics and English Language. Dr. Pullum was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003, a Fellow of the Linguistic Society of American in 2007, and a Fellow of the British Academy in 2009. He is the winner (with Mark Liberman) of the Linguistics, Language, and the Public Award from the Linguistic Society of America in 2009 for work on the group linguistic science blog Language Log. He is also the co-author (with Rodney Huddleston) of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (2002), which won the Leonard Bloomfield Book Award from the Linguistic Society of America in 2004. Dr. Pullum also blogs at Lingua Franca for the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Segment 1: What is theoretical research? [00:00-11:52]

In this first segment, Geoff defines theoretical research and shares some examples from his own work.

Segment 2: Explaining theoretical research to the public [11:53-22:12]

In segment two, Geoff shares some of the ways he approaches sharing theoretical research with the public and how he employs humor.

Segment 3: Co-authorship [22:13-33:39]

In segment three, Geoff talks about a few of his many collaborations and how some of these experiences come to be.

Bonus Clip: Being an Academic Blogger [00:00-5:18]

In this bonus clip, Geoff shares how he began blogging as an academic and the insights he\\u2019s gained along the way.

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