Dr. Stephen Fafulas is Associate Professor of Spanish and Linguistics in the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Mississippi. He serves as Director of the Study of Communities, Involvement & Outreach and Linguistics (SoCIOLing) Lab, which collaborates with scholars, trains students, and raises awareness about cultural and linguistic diversity across bilingual zones of the Americas. Dr. Fafulas holds a PhD in Hispanic Linguistics from Indiana University with a specialization in the intersection of Second Language Acquisition and Sociolinguistics. His educational background has prepared him for extensive research in language variation, contact linguistics, and bilingual communities. Dr. Fafulas's research incorporates current theories and methodologies in Sociolinguistics and Second Language Acquisition to examine morpho-syntactic and phonetic variation in native, learner, and contact varieties of language. He employs quantitative methods to uncover the social, linguistic, and cognitive factors that shape languages at individual and societal levels. His fieldwork spans various speech communities throughout the Americas and Europe, with particular focus on language shift and bilingualism in distinct settings, including investigations of the ethnolinguistic vitality of minority languages in the Amazon (Bora, Yagua and Ocaina) as well as Spanish in the USA. Dr. Fafulas's scholarly work demonstrates a consistent focus on language variation in contact situations, with particular attention to Amazonian Spanish varieties, Southern US Spanish dialects, and second language acquisition phenomena. His research bridges theoretical linguistics with community engagement, documenting emerging language varieties while addressing practical needs of bilingual communities. Dr. Fafulas has received notable recognition for his work, including: University of Mississippi's inaugural Faculty Laureate program Fulbright award to Spain (2022) Graduation from the Engagement and Outreach Scholars Academy at East Carolina University Dr. Fafulas is dedicated to cross-disciplinary scholarship that integrates community stakeholders in project design. He has secured funding from prestigious agencies including the National Science Foundation, Fulbright, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. As Director of the SoCIOLing Lab, he mentors undergraduate and graduate students, leading research initiatives with bilingual communities globally. He also co-founded the SEC Spanish Consortium, which promotes cross-disciplinary scholarship and cross-institutional collaborations aimed at documenting diversity among Latinx communities in the U.S. South. Through the SoCIOLing Lab, Dr. Fafulas collaborates with scholars across disciplines and institutions to document linguistic diversity in bilingual communities. His lab provides research opportunities for students and serves as a hub for community engagement, particularly focused on Latinx populations in the U.S. South. Current initiatives include documenting Latinx populations in Mississippi through oral histories, student mentoring, and bilingual education initiatives.
