Chris Kennedy

Chris Kennedy is the William H. Colvin Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Chicago. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz (1997). His research focuses on semantics, pragmatics, syntax, and philosophy of language, with a specialization in the study of comparison, gradable adjectives, and the syntax-semantics interface. He has authored influential works like Projecting the Adjective: The Syntax and Semantics of Gradability and Comparison (1999) and co-edited Adjectives and Adverbs: Syntax, Semantics and Discourse (2008). His recent work explores pragmatic reasoning, subjective meaning, and the cognitive foundations of linguistic structure.

Teaching includes courses like Mind, Brain and Meaning (COGS/LING 20001) and Philosophical Perspectives 1. Research interests span vagueness, comparative constructions, and experimental semantics. His articles address topics such as gradable adjectives, numerals as degree quantifiers, and the Sorites paradox in linguistic contexts.

Professional roles include Faculty Director of the Undergraduate Major in Cognitive Science. Publications reflect interdisciplinary engagement with cognitive science and philosophy, emphasizing formal semantics and pragmatic theory.