Robin Sudanan Turner

I am a linguist-activist and educator who specializes in multilingual news media analysis.

In other words (ha!), I investigate how communication works between different communities, cultures, and languages.

I use she/her pronouns.

I am a PhD candidate in French Linguistics with a concentration in Romance Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where I design, coordinate, and teach courses on French, culture studies, linguistics, queer studies, communication, and feminist studies.

My dissertation investigated divisive narratives in French and English news media published in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal) and how they changed between 1969 and 1977. I built a transdisciplinary framework to analyze how news narratives about (homo)sexuality were impacted by the interwoven political, economic, and social consequences of the Quiet Revolution.

My work showed that news discourses about (homo)sexuality responded to changing cultural attitudes, language ideologies, identity politics, and community values. These influences depended on a set of larger historical narratives and the political stakes of a sovereign, independent Québec nation.

This project gave way to my larger research agenda which bridges the role of language research across traditional disciplinary divides. You can check out my current work and ongoing projects here.

I am indebted to the unwavering generosity, kindness, and guidance of Daniel Nabil Maroun, Michèle Koven, Jean-Philippe Warren, and the Department of Gender & Women’s Studies at UIUC who encouraged my growth as a scholar-activist and supported my ambitions to become a transdisciplinary language researcher.

I am grateful for the external financial support from the American Council for Quebec Studies, l’Association internationale des études québécoises, and the International Council for Canadian Studies/Conseil internationale des études canadiennes.