About
I am an undergraduate student at Tulane University pursuing a B.S. in Linguistics & Anthropology (Honors) and a B.A. in Philosophy with a concentration in Language, Mind, and Knowledge (Honors), alongside a minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies.
My academic work lies at the intersection of historical linguistics, language documentation, philosophy of language, archives, and public-facing scholarship. Across these fields, I am especially interested in how language carries cultural, historical, religious, and political meaning across time, and how communities negotiate identity, memory, and power through linguistic practices.
My current linguistics honors thesis examines how Christian theological concepts were translated into Kaqchikel, a Mayan language of Guatemala, in Tomás de Coto’s Thesaurus verborum (1656). The project explores questions of borrowing, invention, semantic adaptation, and colonial translation, particularly how Indigenous and European epistemologies met and transformed one another through language.
Alongside this work, my joint linguistics-philosophy thesis investigates gendered profanity and how language can constitute gender bias and gender-based oppression. More broadly, I am interested in the relationship between language and social meaning, especially in questions concerning identity, morality, gender, and power.
Beyond my thesis work, I have conducted research and language study involving Biloxi, Choctaw, Akuzipik, Spanish, medieval Vietnamese writing systems, and colonial linguistic history. I have also worked in archival and digital humanities projects, including research through Tulane University Special Collections and community-oriented public scholarship initiatives.
My interests extend beyond academia into journalism, visual storytelling, documentary media, literature, and creative practice. I have written and edited for several student publications, including The Oxford Student, The Oxford Blue, and the Tulane Undergraduate Research Journal, where my work has ranged from opinion writing and cultural criticism to research communication and editorial work.
In parallel with my academic research, I also develop creative and interdisciplinary projects through film, photography, literary magazines, essays, and digital media. These projects often explore memory, language, migration, identity, education, and the relationship between scholarship and public life.
Research Interests
- Historical linguistics and colonial translation
- Mayan linguistics, especially Kaqchikel
- Language documentation and revitalisation
- Indigenous language research and archives
- Philosophy of language and social meaning
- Gender, profanity, and linguistic identity
- Archives, digital humanities, and public scholarship
- Language, religion, and cultural memory
Languages
Vietnamese (native), English (bilingual), Spanish, French, Portuguese, Mandarin, Kaqchikel, Choctaw, Biloxi, and Akuzipik.