Kevin B. McGowan

Kevin B. McGowan is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Kentucky, affiliated with the UK Phonetics Lab and the Lewis Honors College. His research focuses on phonetics, speech perception, sociophonetics, and sound change, with a particular interest in how linguistic variation intersects with social and cognitive factors.

He co-authored the third edition of English with an Accent, a seminal work on linguistic discrimination and sociolinguistic awareness. His work bridges experimental phonetics with sociolinguistic theory, emphasizing the role of listener expectations and language ideology in shaping perception.

McGowan's contributions include studies on coarticulation timing, non-native speech perception, and the impact of socioindexical cues in noisy environments. He actively promotes open-access methodologies, as seen in projects like Wildcat Voices. His research highlights the interplay between linguistic structure and social meaning, advancing both theoretical and applied linguistics.