Kostas Kanakis

Kostas Kanakis is a Professor of Sociolinguistics at the University of the Aegean, serving as Director of the Laboratory of Ethnographic Approaches to Language (LEAL) and the Postgraduate Program in 'Gender, Culture and Society'. He holds a PhD from the University of Chicago (1995) and has taught at institutions including Princeton University and the National University of Athens. His research focuses on sociolinguistics, pragmatics, and anthropological linguistics, particularly in Balkan contexts, with an emphasis on language, gender, sexuality, and ethnic identity.

Education:

• Bachelor's in English Language and Literature, National University of Athens (1990)
• PhD in Linguistics, University of Chicago (1995)

Research interests include:

• Language and society in the Balkans
• Gender and sexuality in linguistic discourse
• Linguistic landscape analysis
• Pragmatics and discourse analysis
• Ethnographic methods in language studies

His recent work explores language use during the pandemic, Balkan sociopolitical dynamics, and the intersection of language with citizenship and nationalism. He has collaborated with the Center for the Greek Language and held fellowships at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (2015–2016).

He edits the Aegean Working Papers in Ethnographic Linguistics and serves on editorial boards for journals like Journal of Sociolinguistics and Gender and Language. His publications span monographs, edited volumes, and over 30 peer-reviewed articles.