The Language Sciences Institute is thrilled to announce Dr. Carla Hudson Kam as Interim Co-director in place of Dr. Bryan Gick who is on study leave. Joining Dr. Guofang Li, Dr. Hudson Kam will be overseeing LangSci's research, initiatives, and strategies. Her term will be in effect until December 31, 2025.
Dr. Hudson Kam studies language acquisition in children and adults. Her work focuses on the role of input and how it interacts with what the learner brings to the table. She has worked on these topics in a variety of areas, including child/adult differences in learning, children’s books, gesture, disfluencies like uh and um, and how learners change languages as they learn them. Currently, she is also Head of the Linguistics Department at UBC.
We spoke to Dr. Hudson Kam about her appointment.
- How did you first become involved with Language Sciences?
I remember when Bryan and Janet first started talking about this new initiative they were working on called Language Sciences, so I’ve been involved pretty much since the beginning, It’s been really interesting to watch it take shape over the years, thanks to a lot of hard work and vision (by other people! I’ve mostly just gotten to benefit from others’ efforts up to this point).
2. What goals do you have for your time with Language Sciences?
I feel like my job as Interim Co-Director is mostly to have a steady hand and help Guofang keep things going in the right direction while Bryan has a bit of a well-deserved break. This is more challenging than it sounds though, because LangSci already had plans for some exciting new things in the works, so it’s more than just keeping things that are working working, I will also get a chance to help bring some new things to fruition. I am personally invested in outreach and public communication efforts, and if I can find ways to support others members to do more of that, I would love to. But my primary goal is to just not screw things up!
3. What unique perspectives do you bring to Language Sciences?
I am a more interdisciplinary researcher by nature than many people who often grow into that kind of research space over time: my PhD is in Brain and Cognitive Sciences with a minor (yes, I had a minor in my PhD) in Linguistics. I’ve been a faculty member in a Psychology Department and am now in a Linguistics Department. I’ve done a bit of work in cog neuro, a lot of theoretically oriented lab experiments with adults and children using a variety of methods, and more recently I’ve been analyzing natural language use in context. I’ve always considered myself a Cognitive Scientist who works on language, which means that I have a pretty broad personal view of what constitutes language sciences, and that translates into how I see UBC Language Sciences. I’m also someone who’s been very much influenced by the people around me, and so have gained a great deal from my disciplinary ‘wanderings’. LangSci has this potential for influence built into it, and I hope that others can find it as enriching as I have.