Oliver Northrup

Teaching experience

Below is a list of topics that I've taught in formal academic settings. You can skip to the bottom to see a timeline of specific classes.

Computational Methods

I was the sole teaching assistant for a "practical tour of computational methods [...] useful for practicing linguists" lead by Pranav Anand. We taught the basics of how to manipulate text using Python and regular expressions, plus introduced the tools and metrics used for annotation in modern computational linguistics.

Semantics and Pragmatics

I've worked on the course staff for a bevy of classes on formal approaches to literal and non-literal meaning in natural language. Topics included propositional and predicate logic, Gricean reasoning, centering theory, and more.

Sociolinguistics

I was the primary instructor for a course on Language and Social Identity in the United States. In this course we focused on perceptions of standard and non-standard dialects of American English, which involved characterizing the major dialects, studying how they've changed over time, and asking what "standard" even means in the context of language policy.

General linguistics

Other courses I've TAed include Introduction to Linguistics, Linguistic Typology, and an elective called Language, Society, & Culture.

English language

In 2006, I worked as an English Language Instructor for the SPENG (SPecial ENGlish) program at Bryn Mawr College, where I conducted English drill classes for a group of Japanese Fulbright Scholars who had been selected to brush up their English before traveling to their host institutions across the US.


Timeline

When What Primary instructor
Winter 2014 Semantics I Adrian Brasoveanu
Fall 2013 Computational Methods for Linguists Pranav Anand
Spring 2013 Linguistic Typology Sandra Chung
Winter 2013 Language and Social Identity me, Supervisor: Grant McGuire
Fall 2012 Introduction to Linguistics Armin Mester
Spring 2012 Pragmatics Pranav Anand
Winter 2012 Semantics II Donka Farkas
Spring 2011 Introduction to Linguistics Grant McGuire
Winter 2011 Language, Culture, and Society Jaye Padgett
Fall 2010 Semantics I Pranav Anand
Summer 2006 SPENG Program Eleanor Jorden and James-Henry Holland