Hill, Frances Jane

This interview covers the following themes:

  • Her early career in linguistics and anthropology, beginning in 1960 at UCLA. Studying Cupeño. Being a female academic in the 1960s.

  • Work at Wayne State University. Burgeoning interest in Nawat, field research in Mexico, and the publication of Speaking Mexicano in 1986.

  • Jane’s move to the University of Arizona and her work with Ofelia Zepeda on Tohono O’odham.

  • Intellectual trends in UA linguistics from the early 1960s to the earl 2010s. Increasing distance between linguistics and anthropology and the challenges of being a generalist.

  • Interest in racism and writing The Everyday Language of White Racism.

  • Current work on comparative grammar of Takic languages.

  • Changes in academia over the past 50 years and the role of the professor in society.

The interview was recorded at Jane Hill’s house in Tucson, Arizona on May 1st, 2017.

Aengus Anderson