CUNY Graduate Center linguistic anthropology virtual open house info session OCTOBER 17 (Fri) 2:30~3:30

[Miki Makihara]

Dear NYLAWGers,

We are hosting a virtual open house on Friday, October 17th, at 2:30~3:30 PM for prospective applicants to learn about the linguistic anthropology section and meet its faculty and current students at the Ph.D. Program in Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center.

Please register for the event at this Zoom Registration Link.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

We hope to see some of you!

Best,

Miki Makihara

Professor

Anthropology Department, Queens College, CUNY

Doctoral Faculty

Ph.D. Programs in Anthropology, Linguistics, and Latin American, Iberian, and Latino Cultures, CUNY Graduate Center

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The PhD Program in Anthropology at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, invites applications for Fall 2026. We are seeking candidates with a strong interest in Linguistic Anthropology. Successful applicants typically receive a five-year funding package that includes a full tuition waiver and stipend. 

Program Highlights

• Vibrant Scholarly Community: Our program is a dynamic hub for linguistic anthropology, with a robust faculty, extensive mentorship, and a critical mass of scholarly engagement.
• Student-Led Groups: We have monthly Graduate Linguistic Anthropology Meetings (GLAM) and sociolinguistics lunches that foster a strong cohort and opportunities for collaboration.
• Cross-Subfield Training: We train students to integrate linguistic anthropological perspectives with archaeology, biological anthropology, and in particular cultural anthropology.
• Location: Our campus is in the heart of New York City, offering unparalleled academic and cultural resources.

Our Approach to Linguistic Anthropology

Our ethnographic and historically informed approach examines language in social life, focusing on power and inequality. We explore how language entangles with social categories (race, class, gender), other meaning-making systems (food, money, landscapes), and emergent technologies.

Recent Ph.D. students have conducted research on postcolonial poetics in Algeria, racialization and bilingual education in Texas, childhood language socialization in American Samoa, and the intersection of cryptocurrency and the adult industry in the U.S. Our graduates find employment both within and beyond academia.

Linguistic Anthropology Faculty

• Jillian Cavanaugh: Language ideology, language shift, gender, materiality, heritage food production; Italy, Europe
• Miki Makihara: Language revitalization and activism, political economy of language, indigeneity and democracy; Rapa Nui, the Pacific, Chile, Latin America
• Sarah Muir: Semiotic ideologies and moral economies, narrative genres, investment and finance, social inequality; Argentina, Latin America
• Angela Reyes: Race, register, semiotics, discourse; US, Philippines
• Diane Riskedahl: Language and politics, semiotic landscapes, protest rhetoric, 
• solidarity activism, migration and displacement; Lebanon, the Middle East
• Juan L. Rodríguez: Discourse-centered approaches, state formation, diasporic identities, populism; Venezuela, Chile, Latin America

We encourage applicants to review the diverse interests of our faculty in other subfields for potential cross-disciplinary work: Faculty Directory Link

Learn More & Apply

• Virtual Open House: Friday, October 17, 2025, 2:30 – 3:30 PM (Eastern Time). Meet faculty and students to learn more about the program. Register Here: Zoom Registration Link
• Application Deadline: December 1, 2025
• Online Application: Apply Here
• Anthropology Admissions Info: Learn More
• University Fellowship Info: Learn More
• Contact: Miki Makihara, Linguistic Anthropology Subfield Coordinator (miki.m...@QC.CUNY.EDU)

Miki Makihara

Professor

Anthropology Department, Queens College, CUNY

Doctoral Faculty

Ph.D. Programs in Anthropology, Linguistics, and Latin American, Iberian, and Latino Cultures, CUNY Graduate Center