Hannah Gibson

Professor Hannah Gibson holds a Professorship in the Department of Language and Linguistics at the University of Essex. Her research focuses on linguistic variation, Bantu languages, and the intersection of multilingualism with education and conflict resolution. She has held roles including Lecturer (2018–2020), Senior Lecturer (2020–2023), and currently serves as a Professor. She earned her PhD, MA, and BA in Linguistics from SOAS, University of London.

Her educational background includes advanced studies in Swahili and Law, complementing her linguistic research. Key research areas include syntax-semantics interfaces, Bantu language morphology, and sociolinguistic aspects of multilingualism. She has led major grants such as the Leverhulme Trust-funded 'Grammatical variation in Swahili' (2021–2025) and ESRC's 'Multilingualism, Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Africa' (2023–2027).

Publications highlight her work on Sheng (Kenyan youth language), Swahili variation, and Bantu syntax. Awards include the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship and JSPS postdoctoral research positions. Her teaching spans undergraduate and postgraduate modules on syntax, semantics, and linguistic research methods.

Supervises doctoral students in areas like language contact, African linguistics, and sociolinguistics. Collaborates internationally with institutions in Kenya, Tanzania, and Botswana. Current projects address translanguaging in education and language policy in multilingual contexts.