Students grapple with new documentary, linguistic inequality alongside visiting sociolinguist

UMSL Daily

For Associate Professor of Linguistics Benjamin Torbert (at right), introducing Walt Wolfram to UMSL students last week was a special treat. Wolfram, the William C. Friday Distinguished University Professor at North Carolina State University, had a critical impact on Torbert’s own life and scholarship years ago. (Photo by Evie Hemphill)
Liz Miller and her classmates in English 5800 have been digging into the intersections of dialect, stigma and discrimination all semester. But that focus impacted her in a new way last week when one of the authors they’d been reading – Walt Wolfram – showed up in person.
“It was great to put a face and a voice to everything we’ve been studying,” said Miller, who is wrapping up her master’s degree with emphases in rhetoric and gender studies at the University of Missouri­–St. Louis this spring. “I really appreciate that he showed us concrete examples of what [linguistic diversity] has looked like at his university. It gives me hope that we can all do better.”
Although Wolfram, who leads the Language and Life Project at North Carolina State University and has devoted about 50 years to researching social and ethnic dialects, was only in St. Louis for one day, Miller and fellow campus community members had ample opportunity to interact with him during the April 6 visit.
“One reason that I invited Dr. Wolfram is that this is the first semester I’ve taught a graduate course and an undergraduate course in my specialty at the same time,” said UMSL linguist Benjamin Torbert, a Department of English faculty member and former student of Wolfram’s. “So I thought we could get him in front of the undergrads in the afternoon and the grads in the evening.”
Torbert also opened the educational events up to the public, and the afternoon showing of the Life and Language Project’s brand ...

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