Becky Gonzalez
Becky Gonzalez is Assistant Professor in the Departments of Spanish and Portuguese and Linguistics and Director of the Multilingual Syntax Lab. Her research examines the acquisition of sentence structure in adult multilinguals, combining theoretical and experimental approaches to consider linguistic (e.g., typological similarity) and non-linguistic (e.g., language proficiency, dominance) factors that influence language behavior and outcomes. As an Obermann Faculty Fellow, she will be conducting research on the second language acquisition (SLA) of Brazilian Portuguese by native English speakers through an empirical study of word order and subject-verb agreement patterns. This study expands a growing body of research on Brazilian Portuguese, an understudied and critical language in the United States, and has direct implications for hypotheses of SLA more broadly.
Daniel Fine
Daniel Fine is Assistant Professor of Digital Media in Performance in the Department of Theatre Arts, Associate Professor in the Department of Dance, and is a core faculty member of the Public Digital Arts Cluster. He is an artist, scholar, and technologist working in immersive, responsive, mediated environments, site-specific locations, and installations for interactive users, audiences, and live performance. By combining the simple, traditional forms of storytelling with that of new media technologies and digital video, he produces, directs, and designs large-scale and intimate experiences in order to engage the imaginations and hearts of a twenty-first century audience.