Linguistics Careercast

“Linguistics has given me frameworks to build my career on, and to get wildly creative within those frameworks”

Alexandra Botti is a radio and podcast producer, sociolinguist, ballet dancer and ballet teacher. She is a dual citizen of the United States and France, and grew up primarily in the Boston area; she holds a Master’s degree in Language and Communication from Georgetown University. After embarking on a career in journalism, she worked for multiple media outlets including WAMU, WNYC Radio, and NPR. She is currently employed as a supervising producer at Axios.

Alex Botti on LinkedIn

Alex Botti’s website

Topics include

– bilingualism

The post Episode #48: Alexandra Botti first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.

“There are many pathways to the solution to climate change, and that means more jobs for linguists”

Jackson Kuzmik was born and raised in Hong Kong and received his Master’s in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics from the University of Cambridge in England. Alongside various research positions, he has worked in outreach for an environmental research center, as a product management intern at a language-technology startup, and as the Head Mentor for his undergraduate department. He is currently working in the cleantech/climate space at Carbon Limiting Technologies in London, a specialist consultancy for scaling key climate innovations.

Jackson Kuzmik on LinkedIn

Topics include

– working abroad

The post Episode #47: Jackson Kuzmik first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.

“Language is the code that cracks open access to people in the world”

Emily Sabo is a writer and data analyst who specializes in scientific communication, applied research, and digital content creation. While she was earning her PhD at University of Michigan, she traveled around South America, Europe & Asia researching how languages are processed in the bilingual brain. In her industry career, she’s written and produced YouTube videos and podcasts for a language learning app. She’s also had experience in standup comedy, and gave a TEDx talk on the power of language.

Emily Sabo on LinkedIn

Emily Sabo’s website

Emily Sabo’s TEDx talk, “Where Humor Hides in Language”

Critical Language Scholarship program

Topics include

– public relations

The post Episode #46: Emily Sabo first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.

“Passion doesn’t always have to be the thing that pays you”

Emily Gref has been a bookseller, copy editor, literary agent, and, most recently, an exhibit content manager for the Planet Word museum in Washington, DC. She received her BA in linguistics from McGill University and an MA in Language Documentation and Description from SOAS, University of London, where she began creating books and resources for minority language communities. Her current position is as a Project Manager at Dragonfly Editorial.

Emily Gref on LinkedIn

Emily Gref’s website

Planet Word in Washington DC

ACES: American Copy Editors Society

Endangered Language Alliance

Topics include

– editing

The post Episode #45: Emily Gref first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.

“We all end up training ourselves throughout our careers”

Brad Davidson is a linguist and medical anthropologist with extensive experience in marketing, positioning, branding, and overall customer and patient provider experience. He received his PhD in Linguistics from Stanford University and worked as a professional namer, before moving into life sciences and healthcare marketing. He’s currently employed as the SVP of Medical Anthropology at Havas Health, and hosts the podcast Breaking the Code.

Content warning – there are some swears, and discussions of medical conditions and treatments.

Brad Davidson on LinkedIn

Breaking the Code podcast

Topics include

– applied linguistics

The post Episode #44: Brad Davidson first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.

“It feels weird to say I’ve ‘just’ been working”

Dmitry Tereshenko is a neurodivergent, first-generation college graduate who earned his Master’s degree in the MLC program at Georgetown. His work has explored human-human and human-computer interaction (HCI), specializing in the intersection of how digital technologies mediate our communication in virtual spaces. In his employment, Dmitry has variously labelled himsels as a language specialist, discourse analyst, language engineer, and language technologist. He is currently employed as a Generative AI Strategist and Conversational Interface Developer at Deloitte Consulting.

Dmitry Tereshenko on LinkedIn

Dmitry Tereshenko’s website

Topics include

– cancel culture

The post Episode #43: Dmitry Tereshenko first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.

“Networking is mutual aid.”

Daniel Ginsberg is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the American Anthropological Association, where they bring their knowledge of association management and organizational anthropology to help association leaders understand the culture of the AAA community and create new pathways into active, engaged membership. For the previous four years as Director of Education and Professional Practice, they oversaw the AAA’s professional development and public outreach efforts, including nonformal education such as internships, workshops and mentoring, as well as informal education such as career development resources, youth outreach and webinars. They have taught as an adjunct professor in the American University departments of anthropology and world languages & cultures, and as a public high school ESL teacher. They also serve on the Program Committee at the LSA.

Daniel Ginsberg on LinkedIn

Annals of Anthropological Practice, vol 47 #1

American Association of Applied Linguistics

World on the Move: 250,000 Years of Human Migration

Topics include

– anthropology

The post Episode #42: Daniel Ginsberg first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.

“Where in your body do you feel a ‘yes’?”

Aubrie Amstutz is a cognitive linguist & researcher working towards AI Fairness. She earned a Master’s in Linguistics and Cognitive Science at University of Siena in Italy. She is interested in using empirical linguistic research to dispel language myths. This has taken the form of promoting anti-accent stigma in second language development at Duolingo, exploring the downfalls of prescriptive grammar rules in foreign language learning guides, conducting research into anti-bias and discrimination in AI-powered language systems at Microsoft Research, and most recently in guiding product policy decisions and developing safety strategies for TikTok’s text-based features.

Aubrie Amstutz on LinkedIn

Aubrie Amstutz’ website

The Linguist List

Amanda Montell’s book Cultish

Topics include

– creative writing

The post Episode #41: Aubrie Amstutz first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.

“The jump to industry means recognizing transferable skills, industry prep, and interview prep”

This episode is an audio presentation of a talk called “Alexa, how can I transition to industry positions with a background in (mostly qualitative) critical discourse analysis?” The presenter is Alfonso Sánchez-Moya, who previously appeared as a guest on this podcast. It was given in October 2023 at Georgetown University, as part of the Linguistics Career Series, a monthly talk series held by the Linguistics Department. In this series, Linguists who work outside academia speak to students about their personal career path, as well as introduce opportunities for linguists in different sectors of employment.

Alfonso Sánchez-Moya is a discourse analyst currently employed at Amazon.

The video recording of this talk is available on our YouTube channel, Linguistics Career Launch.

Alfonso Sánchez-Moya on LinkedIn

Alfonso’s website

Topics include

– discourse analysis

The post Episode #40: Alfonso Sánchez-Moya at Georgetown University first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.

“Naming isn’t an academic exercise – it’s more about your gut feeling about a name”

Eric Jackson is a linguist, namer, and brand strategist. He earned his master’s degree in linguistics from Boston University, where his thesis was called “A linguistic introduction to brand naming”. His employment as a namer has spanned top-tier companies like Lexicon Branding, Salt Branding (now Material), and Northbound, and he’s created names for companies like Philips, New Balance, Verizon, Gillette and Nestlé. He’s also a fan of Dungeons and Dragons.

Eric Jackson on LinkedIn

Sketch Engine (corpus analysis tool)

Corpus of Contemporary American English

Catchword soda names

Topics include

– networking

The post Episode #39: Eric Jackson first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.