Victoria L. Bergvall

                                                          Brief CV, updated August 2011

 

Associate Professor of Linguistics                                                                                                 phone: 906-487-3243

Department of Humanities                                                                                                                          fax: 906-487-3559

Michigan Technological University                                                                                                    vbergval@mtu.edu

Houghton, MI 49931 USA                                                                                                  www.hu.mtu.edu/~vbergval

___________________________________________________________________________________       

Education                                   

     Ph.D., Harvard University, Linguistics, 1987                                                                                      

              Cross-registered for Ph.D. coursework at MIT, 1981-83                                                 

     M.A., Harvard University, Linguistics, 1982

     B.A., Whitman College, English, B.A., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1978

Professional Experience                                                                       

       1996-present, Associate Professor, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI (MTU)

     1999-2002, Director of Graduate Programs in Rhetoric & Technical Communication, MTU

     1989-1996, Assistant Professor, MTU

     1986-1989, Assistant Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

     1985, Instructor, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, spring quarter

     1981-83, 1984-86, Teaching Fellow, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Research & Teaching Interests

Language and gender: neurological variation and its causes and representation; nature, nurture, & ideology;

 new media & the multimodal (linguistic and visual) portrayal of gender variation, from scientific reports to

popular press

Sociolinguistics, Multimodal Analysis, Discourse Analysis (especially Critical Discourse Analysis)

Language and mind; cognitive variation, its causes and linguistic manifestations

Diversity & identity: Local dialect variation; recovery of endangered languages (especially Ojibwe)

Selected National and International Professional Activities and Awards

Grants

     2010             National Science Foundation grant, $20,000, to support 10 graduate students to travel to the

                      IGALA conference in Tokyo, Japan, September, 2010.

     1983-84    Fulbright Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Nairobi, Kenya

 

Offices held

     2008-10    President, International Gender and Language Association (IGALA);

                                  Vice President 2006-08. Past President (serving on Executive Committee) 2010-2012.

     1993-94     Chair, Committee on the Status of Women in Linguistics, Linguistic Society of America;

                       Conference Organizer, Summer 1993.

 

Other Awards, Invited Plenaries and Addresses                                                                                                    

     2011             Invited speaker, Elon University, NC (public address & teaching development workshop)

     2005             Invited plenary address at the Poznań Linguistics Meeting, Poznań, Poland, April 24.

     2005             Invited seminars in Poland, Germany, Sweden

     2004             Recipient of ÒBest Conference Paper AwardÓ from the Organization for the Study of

                         Communication, Language, and Gender.

 

Selected Publications

Edited Book             

     Rethinking Language and Gender Research: Theory and Practice. Bergvall, Victoria L., Bing, Janet M.,

                    & Freed, Alice F., eds. London and New York: Longman Press, 1996.

 

Edited Journal

     Special Fall 2008 issue of the journal Women and Language on Interdisciplinarity, co-edited with Patty Sotirin.

 

Work in Progress

Language and Gender Beyond Nature and Nurture, singly authored book on the language and gender ideologies

underlying nature~nurture discussions among scientists and in the public media; uses Critical Discourse Analysis to

study the reporting of sex differences and gender variation.

 

Selected Journal Articles

ÒInterdisciplinarity in Communication, Language, and Gender Studies: Whence, why, whither?Ó Sotirin,

        Patricia J. & Victoria L. Bergvall (2008), Women & Language 31.2: 1-7.

     ÒToward a Comprehensive Theory of Language and GenderÓ Language in Society (1999) 28.2:273-293.

     ÒAn Agenda for Language and Gender Research for the Start of the New Millennium.Ó Linguistik

           Online. (1999) http://viadrina.euv-frankfurt-o.de/~wjournal/heft1_99/ (~14 pages)

     ÒPower, Resistance, and Gender in Educational Discourse: Beyond Counts to Contexts.Ó Bergvall, Victoria L.

            & Remlinger, Kathryn A. Discourse & Society (1996) 7(4): 453-479.

     ÒJoining in Academic Conversation: Gender, Power, and the Apportionment of Turns at Talk,Ó Studies in the

             Linguistic Sciences (1995) 25(2): 105-129.

 ÒThawing the Freezing Climate for Women: Views from Both Sides of the Desk,Ó Bergvall, Victoria L., Sorby,

          Sheryl A., & Worthen, James B. (1994) Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering

          1(4): 323-346.      

 

Selected Book Chapters            

     ÒThe Question of Questions,Ó reprint of Bing & Bergvall (1996); the final chapter in Coates, Jennifer, ed.

           Language and Gender: A Reader. Oxford: Blackwell. (1998) pp. 495-510.

    ÒThe Question of Questions: Beyond Binary Thinking.Ó Bing, Janet M. and Bergvall, Victoria L. In Bergvall,

            Bing, and Freed, (1996) pp. 1-30.                                      

     ÒConstructing and Enacting Gender Through Discourse: Negotiating Multiple Roles as Female Engineering

             Students.Ó In Bergvall, Bing, and Freed (1996) pp. 173-201.

     ÒDivided Minds: Gender Polarization in Brain and Language Research,Ó in Natasha Warner, et al., eds., Gender

             and Belief Systems: Proceedings of the Fourth Berkeley Women and Language Conference. (1996)

             pp. 11-23. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Women & Language Group.   

Selected Recent Presentations

ÒÔBut words will never hurt me?Õ: Critiquing media messages about sex, gender, & brain differences,Ó invited

           presentation at the Elon University Togetherness in Difference Lecture Series, funded by the Elon College

           of Arts and Sciences Fund for Excellence, April 7, 2011

ÒO Brave New Minds: Engaging iBrains in Critical Media Literacy Practices,Ó Elon University Teaching

           Development Workshop, April 8, 2011

ÒBrain Scams: The Real Story about Sex, Brains, & Engineering,Ó Michigan Tech WomenÕs History Month

           presentation, March 23, 2011

ÒIf a pictureÕs worth a thousand words: Imag(in)ing sex/gender determinism and plasticity,Ó at the International

           Gender & Language Association (IGALA6), Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 19, 2010.

ÒFor the Voxels Tell Me So: Sex/Gender and Determinism in the Rhetoric of Neuroimaging,Ó at the International

           Feminisms & Rhetorics Conference, E. Lansing, MI, Oct. 9, 2009.

 ÒHow Repetitive Discourse Trains the Brain: On Gender, Language, & Neuroplasticity,Ó at the International

           Gender & Language Association (IGALA5), Wellington, New Zealand, July 5, 2008.

ÒGenes, Gender, & Language: Challenging ÔManly MenÕ & ÔGirly Girls,ÕÓ at the International Gender &

           Language Association (IGALA4), Valencia, Spain, Nov. 10, 2006.

ÒAnalyzing Gender Representations in Public Media: Matching Tools to Tasks,Ó at the 14th AILA (International

           Applied Linguistics Association) World Congress, Jul. 25, 2005.

ÒBridging Discursive Chasms in Debates about Sex/Gender: Beyond Nature and Nurture,Ó invited plenary address

        at the Poznań Linguistics Meeting, Poznań, Poland, Apr. 24, 2005. 

             Also presented related invited seminars at:      

                      ¥ Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznań, Poland)  (April 21)

                      ¥ Johann Wolfgang Goethe University (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) (April 25)

                      ¥ Uppsala University (Uppsala, Sweden) (May 2)                                                                      

ÒIdeologies of Nature and Nurture in Language and Gender Research,Ó in a panel I organized, Perspectives

        on Ideologies of Language and Gender, presented at the Third Biennial International Gender & Language

        Association (IGALA3), Cornell University, Jun. 7, 2004.

 ÒPicture This: Realizing Language and Gender in Theory and Image,Ó poster for the joint COSWL/IGALA

        conference, E. Lansing, MI, July 2003. Received 2004 ÒBest Conference Paper AwardÓ from

        the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender.

ÒFrom Dichotomies to Continua (and Back?): Theorizing and Representing Gender.Ó Paper presented at

        the 25th Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender (OSCLG) meeting,

        Minneapolis, MN, Oct. 4, 2002.

ÒMaking a Difference: Science, the Media, and the Construction of Gender Ideologies.Ó Paper presented

        at the International Gender and Language Association (IGALA2) meeting, Lancaster, England,

        Apr. 12, 2002.

 ÒPride and Parody: The Upper Peninsula (UP/ÔYooperÕ) Dialect of Michigan.Ó Paper presented at the

        American Dialect Association/Linguistic Society of America meeting, Washington, DC, Jan. 4, 2001.

ÒThe Continuum of Gender Construction in On-Line Discourse: Communicating in a Technical

        Environment.Ó Paper presented at the International Gender & Language Association (IGALA1),

        Stanford University, CA, May 6, 2000.

ÒRethinking Gender in Cyberia: Where Does Gender Go in the Computer-Mediated Construction of

        Technical Communication?Ó  Paper presented at the Challenging Rhetorics: Feminisms and

        Rhetorics Conference, Minneapolis, MN, Oct. 7, in a panel I organized, entitled Gender in

        Cyberia: How Gender (Still Really) Matters in Electronic Discourse, 1999.

 ÒMoving from Face-to-Face to New Electronic Discourse Traditions: The Contributions of Linguistic

        Analysis of Computer-Mediated Discourse,Ó part of panel that I organized, Finding Our Voices:

        Using Close Analysis of Electronic Discourse to Study and Create New Traditions. Computers

        and Writing Conference, Rapid City, SD; May 26, 1999.

ÒTheory into Practice: Why Theory Matters in Language and Gender Research.Ó Paper presented at

         the Fifth Berkeley Women and Language Conference, Berkeley, CA, Apr. 25, 1998.

Teaching (Selected Recent Courses)

HU6111 Special Topics in Gender Studies: Language, Gender, and Sexuality

HU5030 Linguistic Analysis: sociolinguistics, discourse theory & multimodal analysis

HU5100 Qualitative Research Methods                                                 

HU5004 Communication in Cultural Contexts

HU3940 Language and Identity

HU3910 Global Language Issues: the rise of English and the decline of minority languages

HU2920 Language in Society        

HU2910 Language and Mind         

UN1001 Perspectives on Inquiry: Brave New Minds: Do you have a 21st century brain?

UN1001 Perspectives on Inquiry: What is Intelligence?

Graduate Advising          

Ph.D.           Chaired 3 completed dissertations (K. Remlinger; G. Savage; T. Henry)              

                         Chaired 9 other doctoral comprehensives committees

                         Member of 19+ others doctoral committees

                         Member of 2 dissertation committees at Rensselaer

MasterÕs    Chaired 10 masterÕs committees (5 theses; 2 projects; 4 coursework papers),

               plus 1 MS thesis at Renesselaer

                         Member of 16+ other masterÕs committees,

                         plus 2 Social Sciences & 1 in Computer Science.