Eric Louis Russell

Eric Louis Russell is a Professor of French and affiliated faculty in the Humanities Program, Linguistics, and Gender, Sexualities & Women's Studies at the University of California, Davis. He serves as Chair of the Humanities Program and Faculty Advisor for Italian. His primary research focuses on linguistic analysis of discourse practices, particularly in social media, exploring how language forms shape cultural ideas about gender, sexualities (especially masculinities), and taboos. He interrogates the interplay between language and power structures, including hegemonies and anti-LGBTQ discourses in far-right contexts. His forthcoming book, The Discursive Ecology of Homophobia, examines homophobic language across French, Italian, and Flemish corpora.

• Education: PhD in French from the University of Texas, Austin

Dr. Russell’s research interests include the 'enlanguaging' process—how linguistic practices both reflect and construct cultural knowledge—focusing on transgressive masculinities in Italian Mezzogiorno subcultures (femminelli, arrusi, 'ndragni) and 'Alpha Male' discourses in American English. He critiques neoliberalism’s role in shaping masculinity through socio-commercial groups and media narratives, such as 'Be Alpha' movements and 'Gay-Alpha' erotica.

His publications span journals like Journal of Language and Sexuality and Journal of French Language Studies, with recent work addressing the linguistic underpinnings of hegemonic masculinity and queer discourse ecologies. He has served as an External Grant Reviewer for the National Science Foundation and on the Vice Provost’s Peer Review Committee and UCD’s LSA Summer Institute Steering Committee.

• Teaching: Courses include Bad Language and Social Identity (HUM 15), which analyzes taboo language’s societal impacts, and A Critical History of French (FRE 201), exploring French’s socio-cultural evolution and exclusionary language practices.

Current projects investigate the Alpha Male phenomenon in America and transgressive masculinities in Southern Italy. These projects employ intersectional and theoretically grounded methods to uncover how language constructs and reinforces social hierarchies.