Gregory Thompson

Gregory Thompson is an Associate Professor of Linguistic Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology within the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences at Brigham Young University. His academic work bridges anthropology, education, linguistics, and healthcare communication, with a particular focus on how language and interaction shape human experience in diverse contexts.

Thompson's research interests center on linguistic anthropology, semiotics, education, and discourse analysis. He examines the processes of being and becoming as they happen in human pedagogical interactions, with particular attention to social actions that promote learning in small-scale human interactions such as tutoring or classroom settings. His ethnographic research spans diverse settings including tutoring programs for low-income African-American high schoolers in Chicago, elementary schools with Latino students in Provo, Utah, and elementary schools in Seoul, South Korea. He regularly teaches the ethnographic research methods sequence (courses 442 and 443) as well as a course in Linguistic Anthropology.

Analysis of Thompson's publication record reveals consistent engagement with interactional dynamics across multiple contexts. His work demonstrates a progression from classroom settings to healthcare interactions, always maintaining a focus on how language, culture, and power dynamics shape human experience. A notable pattern in his research is the application of linguistic anthropological methods to practical problems in education and healthcare, particularly regarding cultural differences and communication patterns. His recent work increasingly addresses questions of equity and cultural competence, especially in educational and medical settings serving minority populations.

Thompson's advising work, while not explicitly detailed in available sources, appears to focus on students interested in linguistic anthropology, ethnographic methods, and cross-cultural communication. His research collaborations span multiple institutions, suggesting an active mentoring role for graduate students and junior researchers.

His laboratory and research team work appears to focus on ethnographic documentation of interactional practices, with particular attention to video ethnography methods. His publications suggest ongoing projects examining language use in educational settings, cultural differences in healthcare communication, and the semiotic dimensions of everyday interactions.