Associate Professor

Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Curriculum Vitae

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Education

PhD, Indiana University Bloomington, 2007

MA, Indiana University Bloomington, 2007

BA, Illinois State University, 1999

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Biography

Richard J. File-Muriel (M.A., Ph.D. Indiana University Bloomington) was born in Midwestern, Illinois. While working as a light-wheel vehicle mechanic at Fort Hood, TX, Rich took several courses at Central Texas College before returning home to complete an Associate in Arts degree at Heartland Community College and BA in Spanish from Illinois State University. After taking classes with Kirk Widdison and Mark Davies, Rich realized that his path was to be found in the study of language and completed his MA and PhD at Indiana University under the direction of J. Clancy Clements. Rich's research focuses on how frequency of use impacts the production and perception of language, specifically the sound patterns that we observe in popular speech. He conducts much of his research in Colombia, for which he was awarded a Fulbright in 2013 at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. His current research models individual variation in sound patterns, which is often overlooked in sociolinguistics research. Rich and his partner help organize a UNM delegation to Colombia, which focuses on decolonization, interculturality and grassroots peace construction.

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Research Interests

• Sound patterns (phonetics, phonology, sociophonetics)
• Usage-based approaches to language change
• Intercultural and Cognitive Approaches to Language in Study Abroad Context