JANET COWAL M.A.
Janet Tom Cowal is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. She teaches courses in linguistics, phonetics, and language and society and engages in community-engaged transdisciplinary research. Her focuses are Critical Community-based Learning and Activist Applied Linguistics, i.e., doing applied linguistics together with communities to amplify marginalized voices and increase social equity. She and her students are partnering with communities such as the Oregon Judicial Department and Street Roots to co-research language and water justice, houselessness, and access to legal information. Professor Cowal also finds great joy in projects combining visual / performing arts and language. She is currently assisting with an art installation representing the sounds of the world’s languages for a children’s library in Washington state. Professor Cowal brings her passion for linguistics and her lived experiences as a 1st generation college student and 4th generation Asian-American to her research, teaching, mentoring, and presenting.