John Baugh
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- Academic
- linguist
- professor
John Baugh | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 10, 1949 |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Developing theory of linguistic profiling |
| Academic background | |
| Education | |
| Doctoral advisor | William Labov |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Linguistics |
| Sub-discipline | |
| Institutions | |
| Website | profiles |
John Gordon Baugh V (born December 10, 1949)[1] is an American academic and linguist. His main areas of study are sociolinguistics, forensic linguistics, education, and African American language studies. He is currently the Barbara Jordan Distinguished Professor of Linguistics at Rice University,[2] Professor Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis, professor emeritus at Stanford University,[3] and a former President of the Linguistic Society of America.[4] In 2020 Baugh was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in the section on Linguistics and Language Sciences,[5] and in 2021 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[6]
Baugh was previously a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and of the Rockefeller Foundation. He served as president of the American Dialect Society from 1992 to 1994 and as the Edward Sapir Professor during the 2019 Linguistic Society of America Summer Institute.
Baugh is best known for developing the theory of linguistic profiling, which occurs when someone's speech triggers discriminatory bias against them, such as when they are seeking employment or housing.[7] As a result of this work, Baugh has served as an expert witness and consultant in various legal cases, frequently working with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Fair Housing Alliance, and the United States Department of Justice, among other organizations.
Baugh is the author or co-editor of twelve books, including Black Street Speech: Its History, Structure, and Survival; Out of the Mouths of Slaves: African American Language and Educational Malpractice; Beyond Ebonics: Linguistic Pride and Racial Prejudice; and Linguistics in Pursuit of Justice. He has advised and appeared in several linguistic documentaries such as Do You Speak American?[8] and Talking Black in America,[9] and he has been featured in publications including Business Insider,[10] The Washington Post,[11][12] The Economist,[13] and The Atlantic.[14]
Baugh began his undergraduate studies at Taft College before transferring to Temple University, where he completed his B.A. in Speech, Rhetoric, and Communication. He then earned both an M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania, under the doctoral supervision of sociologist William Labov.[1] In addition to Labov, Baugh studied extensively under anthropological linguist Dell Hymes and sociologist Erving Goffman.
Professional career
Baugh's first academic appointment was as lecturer in Black Studies and Linguistics at Swarthmore College in 1975. In 1978, he was appointed assistant professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Black Studies, and Linguistics at Swarthmore. The following year, he began teaching at the University of Texas at Austin as an assistant professor of Linguistics and Foreign Language Education. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 1984.[1]
In 1990, Baugh became a professor of Education and Linguistics at Stanford University, where he remained until 2005. During this time, Baugh served as director of the Stanford Teacher Education Program. He became professor emeritus at Stanford upon his departure in 2005.[15]
Baugh joined the teaching faculty of Washington University in St. Louis in 2005 as the Margaret Bush Wilson Professor in Arts and Sciences. He served a term as director of African and African American Studies from 2005 to 2010, and held appointments in the departments of Anthropology, Education, English, Linguistics, Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology, Psychological and Brain Sciences, and Urban Studies.[15]
In 2024, Baugh joined the faculty of Rice University as the Barbara Jordan Distinguished Professor of Linguistics.[16]
