Research developed by individuals in our department is very broad and diverse, with faculty members and students contributing to new areas of inquiry. Research doesn’t take place in a vacuum—it coalesces around reading groups and labs. Labs are collections of research activity around particular technical facilities. They may be shared or individual to particular faculty members.
Groups & Labs
Labs
All Ph.D. students are required to engage in research, and master’s students are encouraged to do the same. This work is often facilitated by research labs. The labs below involve active participants from our department:
- Phonetics and Phonology Lab
- Computational Linguistics Lab
- Linguistics Speech Lab
- Natural Language Processing Lab
There are also many language-related research communities at IU, including:
- Auditory Perception Lab
- Baby Language Lab
- Cognitive Development Lab
- Second Language Psycholinguistics Lab
- Speech Research Lab
If you are interested in a research area that does not appear to be covered by a research lab, explore your options directly with specific professors.
Reading groups
Reading groups are fluid research clusters of students and faculty from our own and other departments. Participants get together to look at original research, ask questions, share current thinking, and work through problems. There are a number of these groups at the present time.
ClingDings
Computational Linguistics Reading Group. Meets Tuesdays, 4:00-5:00 pm in Ballantine 314. Led by Dr. Shuju Shi, Dr. Luke Gessler, and Dr. Sandra Kübler. If interested, contact Dr. Shi at shi16@iu.edu.
Natural Language Processing Reading Group
Meets Wednesdays, 5:00-6:30 pm in Luddy 0002. Led by Dr. Damir Cavar. If interested, contact Dr. Damir Cavar dcavar@iu.edu. More information: nlp-lab.org.
Quantum Natural Processing Study Group
Meets Thursdays, 5:00-6:30 pm in Luddy 0002. Led by Dr. Damir Cavar. Contact Dr. Damir Cavar at dcavar@iu.edu if interested. More information: nlp-lab.org/quantumnlp.
Sociolinguistics Reading Group
Meets Wednesdays, 1:30-2:30 pm in Ballantine 603. Led by Dr. Monica Nesbitt. Contact Dr. Nesbitt nesbittm@iu.edu or Natalie Povilonis napovil@iu.edu to be added to the Canvas site.Syntax-Semantics Reading Group
Meets Fridays, 9:00-10:00 am in Ballantine 503. Led by Dr. Tom Grano and Dr. Emily Hanink.Contact Dr. Grano tgrano@iu.edu or Dr. Hanink emhanink@iu.edu to be added to the Canvas site.
Phlegme
Phonetics and Phonology Reading Group. Meets Wednesdays, 2:45-4:00 pm in Ballantine 603. Led by Dr. Kelly Berkson, Dr. Ken de Jong, and Dr. Stuart Davis. Contact Dr. Berkson kberkso@iu.edu or Dr. de Jong kdejong@iu.edu to be added to the Canvas site.
Old Occitan Reading Group
Led by Dr. Barbara Vance and Dr. Elizabeth Hubbard. If interested, contact Dr. Vance at bvance@iu.edu or Dr. Hebbard at ehebbard@iu.edu. The group is working its way through Flamenca, a 13th-century romance in verse. Knowledge of any Romance language is useful as a tool for reading this medieval language from the south of France. This group is on hiatus for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Phonology Reading Group
Meets Friday, 9/12, 10/3, 10/24, 11/7, 11/21, 12/5, 4:00-5:00 pm, in Ballantine 803. Led by Dr. Malgorzata Cavar mcavar@iu.edu.
Technologies on Language Documentation
Meets Fridays, 10:00-11:00 am in Ballantine 664. Led by Dr. Shobhana Chelliah schellia@iu.edu, Dr. Luke Gessler lgessler@iu.edu, Dr. Shuju Shi shi16@iu.edu, Victor Shi wencshi@iu.edu, and Melissa Lieffers mealieff@iu.edu. This group leans heavily towards Computational Linguistics.
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