Lugo is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Humanities (2020) Faculty Award and currently conducts research on bilingualism, ideologies, and identities of Latinx in Puerto Rico and the United States. She is currently working on a monograph under contract by Multilingualism Matters. A recent core committee member of the Language and Social Justice Group for the Society of Linguistic Anthropology and American Anthropological Association, Lugo has taught English sociolinguistics in United States, Europe, and Puerto Rico and most recently held full-time faculty positions at Teachers College, Columbia University and University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez (2019–2022). Her research uses qualitative methods from anthropology and sociolinguistics to examine the language practices of second-language speakers of English in the United States. She is specifically interested in documenting the linguistic outcome of language planning and instructional policies (in education) in the lives, identities, attitudes, and social practices of bilingual and multilingual speakers. By documenting language use, she aima to answer larger questions of best practice in language education and policy and the role of learner identities and ideologies in language use and socialization, as well as to partake in the legitimatization of bilingual and non-native English practices from a Global English perspective. SLC, 2024–
Undergraduate Courses 2024-2025
Anthropology
Speaking of Race: Language Ideologies, Identities, and Multicultural Realities
Open, Small Lecture—Fall
ANTH 2024
In this course, we will investigate the concept of language ideologies—beliefs and attitudes about language—and their impact on the lived experiences of racial and ethnic groups and other minoritized communities within the United States. Through a series of lectures, discussions, and hands-on projects, students will gain an understanding of how language practices reflect and reinforce social hierarchies, cultural norms, and power dynamics. Special attention will be paid to the meaning accomplished through language use and the informative role of ideologies of language and people in understanding these dynamics. We will delve into diverse language contexts, with a primary focus on the United States, examining case studies to understand how language serves as a site of struggle and resistance. Key linguistic topics will include language attitudes and linguistic discrimination, the politics of race and language, standard language ideologies, the role of language in shaping social and racial identities, language use and its social meaning, and multilingualism and multiculturalism in the United States. Specific examples will include ethnographic case studies of race and language, such as H. Samy Alim’s examination of his own experiences as a Black man or person of color under white gaze (“the white listening subject”); political persona and discourse of US presidential candidates; racialization of Asian-American, Black, and Latinx students in US classroom contexts; language revitalization efforts and identification of the Chickasaw Nation; race, gender, and sexuality performances in RuPaul’s Drag Race; identification practices and language use in indigenous communities such as the “Taino” identity in Puerto Rico. Assessments for this class will involve regular written reflections, a midterm paper, a research proposal, and a final research paper on a topic of the student’s interest related to language use, race, and identity. Core readings for our class will be drawn primarily from US-based, peer-reviewed linguistic journals and foundational texts. All readings will be provided beforehand.