“Dean Gary Olson’s leadership of the College and the outstanding quality of the faculty and staff of the Department of Foreign Languages has convinced me that ISU has a unique opportunity to develop an exemplary program in teaching and research on languages, linguistics, and cultures. I am honored to participate in this opportunity and look forward to working with my new colleagues in the Department, the College, and the University.” “Dr. Everett is an accomplished and respected scholar who is conducting groundbreaking research in linguistics that is challenging the norms of the discipline,” said Dean Olson. "I think it speaks to the quality of the Department, the College, and ISU that we are able to attract a scholar and administrator of Dr. Everett’s caliber.”
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Everett with Kuiusi, Chief of the Suya
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Everett has spent seven years living with the Pirahã in the Amazon rainforest. He is one of only three outsiders fluent in their language. His research on the connection between language and culture as it relates to the Pirahã is currently receiving widespread scholarly attention. His recent Current Anthropology article challenges some of the most influential ideas in linguistics, including Noam Chomsky’s concept of universal grammar. Instead, Everett argues that the Pirahã’s language is shaped by their unique culture and not by some innate language instinct universal to all cultures. Everett’s controversial thesis is the subject of an upcoming article in the New Scientist, and he is has also begun research on the Kiseji (Suya), a tribe inhabiting Xingu Indian Park, Brazil.
Dr. Everett earned a doctorate in Linguistics from the State University of Campinas, Brazil in 1983 and served there as an Assistant Professor for three years. He then accepted a position as Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh where he was tenured and elected Chair in 1989. He was reelected Chair in 1994 and served another five years. During this time he also served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of North Dakota and as a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT. He is currently Chair of Phonetics and Phonology in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Manchester and also a Visiting Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in the Department of Linguistics. Dr. Everett’s research interests include descriptive and theoretical syntax, morphology, descriptive and theoretical phonology, phonetics of endangered languages, American Indian languages, cultural survival, and general issues in cognition. He has garnered over $2 million in support of his research and has trained numerous undergraduate and graduate students as well as post-doctoral fellows. He has significant experience in field research and an impressive listing of more than 75 publications of various types, 19 invited plenary lectures, 11 invited courses and 33 other invited talks. Additionally, Dr. Everett has a strong record of administrative and teaching responsibilities and is a member of numerous professional societies and editorial boards.