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Global Lab publishes 2024-2025 Annual Report

dfarmer — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Global Lab Annual Report 24-25

Humanities & Arts Professor Erica Brozovsky Shares the Backstory of Internet Terms and Discusses Her Sociolinguistics Research in WPI podcast

jcain — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 12:00:00 +0000

In a new WPI podcast, Erica Brozovsky, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Humanities & Arts, helps listeners explore the history of words and the unique factors that determine how people speak the way they do. Brozovsky is a sociolinguist who teaches writing and rhetoric. Listen to hear the conversation. You may also read a transcript below.

Jon Cain:

Words. They鈥檙e written, spoken, heard, and read. But how often do you think about them? Here鈥檚 your chance to take some time to do just that. Today, you鈥檒l learn about the history of some of them. And we鈥檒l explore why you might pronounce your words differently than someone else. Think accents.

Hi. I鈥檓 Jon Cain from the marketing communications division at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. That鈥檚 WPI. This podcast brings you news and expertise from our classrooms and labs. Today鈥檚 episode we鈥檙e calling 鈥淎cross Words.鈥?lt;/span>

I鈥檓 excited to be here at the WPI Global Lab in the Innovation Studio. And I鈥檓 thrilled to be here with someone who鈥檚 going to launch us on a language journey today.

Erica Brozovsky is an assistant professor in the Department of Humanities and Arts at WPI. She鈥檚 a sociolinguist, a lover of words, and the host of Otherwords. It鈥檚 a fun and informative PBS web series that explores language, linguistics, and what it means to be human.

Hi Erica.

Erica, A lot of us fly through our lives not thinking about words and how we say them and what that says about us - why did you decide to research and teach about these topics?

Erica Brozovsky:

I鈥檝e always been a big fan of words and language in general鈥擨 was a voracious reader as a child, and still enjoy reading in my limited free time. I applied to college as a linguistics major and ended up sticking with it. It gave me a way to explain and understand the differences in the way people talk, and when the opportunity came to go to grad school, I jumped on it. I have always loved learning鈥攊t鈥檚 my favorite activity鈥攁nd the chance to spend another six years just focused on learning stuff? Priceless. And in my experience, the best way to learn something thoroughly is through teaching it. Students will ask questions that make you, as the instructor, really think critically and that will challenge your views or interpretations, and it鈥檚 such a fun and intellectually engaging way to get deeper. I鈥檓 also really excited about language and linguistics and want to share that with everyone.

Cain:

You鈥檙e the perfect person to help us with this, today, then. I figured since WPI鈥檚 a STEM school, I thought you could tell us about the backstory on some common tech terms. For instance 鈥?let鈥檚 talk about some internet terms today. Chances are somebody鈥檚 asked you what web browser you like to use. Where did that term 鈥榖rowser鈥?come from?

Brozovsky:

I might not answer which web browser I prefer. So people can have their own answers to that. It's a hot topic. A lot of hot takes on that. But the word browser in the computational internet context goes back to the 1960s which seems pretty early, given that the first actual web browser wasn't written until 1990. The internet was around at that time, just not accessible to the general public. But the term itself originated as an acronym, so all caps BROWSER. It stands for BRowsing On-Line With SElective Retrieval

Cain:

An acronym, I should have known. What about surfing the web, how did surfing become the activity of choice to best describe what we do using our favorite browser?

Brozovsky:

That one dates back to the early 90s. It鈥檚 usually attributed to a librarian: Jean Armour Polly. She wrote an article in 1992 for fellow librarians, kind of explaining the internet and how to use it, and she wanted a pithy metaphor for the fun and the chaos of navigating the online world. As it turns out, actually, her mousepad happened to have a surfer with the words 鈥渋nformation surfer鈥?on it. It sparked an idea, and 鈥淪urfing the Internet鈥?was born. Around the same time, a comic book called 鈥淭he Adventures of Captain Internet and CERF Boy鈥?came out, CERF is an acronym for the California Education and Research Federation. So, C,E, R, F. In it, Captain Internet and her sidekick CERF Boy surf around, on an actual surfboard, answering internet cries for help.

Cain:

Heroes to the rescue. Surfing gives that fun vibe. But there鈥檚 a flip side that can knock you right off your board. You鈥檝e probably heard of phishing scams, right? Erica, how did these deceptive online attacks come to be known by that word?

Brozovsky:

Yes, let鈥檚 keep it oceanic: Phishing with a PH is allegedly based on the homophone fishing (with an f). So, think, trawling for sensitive information from a sea of internet users. It鈥檚 attributed to hacker Khan C. Smith sometime in the mid 1990s. The alternative spelling is a nod to phreaking, which was a way of hacking telephones, hence the 鈥減h,鈥?to avoid paying long-distance phone charges.

Cain:

Are there any other internet terms that have sort of fun back stories to them that you can share with us?

Brozovsky:

Oh yeah, we're all familiar with spam, too. It's one of those annoying, ubiquitous things part of internet life, right? So spam, the word comes from an iconic Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch where a horde of Vikings enter a cafe and they repeat the menu item, Spam, capital S, Spam, right? Repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, over and over, drowning out any other sound in the cafe. So just spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, much like spam pops up in our inboxes.

Cain:

Sure does. Some interesting backstory there on those words. What about when we put all those words together and verbalize them? We may each say them a little differently. I鈥檝e always heard of people having a dialect, but you say there鈥檚 also something called an idiolect 鈥?what is that?

Brozovsky:

An idiolect is essentially all the properties that make up how an individual specific person talks. It鈥檚 each of our unique ways of speaking and how we each use language and patterns, words, pronunciations, even references, in a way that鈥檚 different from anyone else.

Cain:

How do we develop our own idiolect?

Brozovsky:

That鈥檚 just by being a person, right. So, much like how every person is unique, our fingerprints are different, our dental records are different, so are our ways that we speak. Your idiolect is built and molded by countless factors: the language or languages you speak, the society you were born into, the schools you went to, the TV you watched, the friends you made, the inside jokes you created, the places you visited, countless things. We communicate to express ourselves, so your lived experiences will inform what you say and how you say it, shaping your idiolect.

Cain:

Makes a lot of sense. So, we hear a lot about new words introduced each year into the Merriam Webster dictionary. I鈥檓 assuming the way our collective society talks is changing as well. Why is it that regional dialects change over time 鈥?is it a generational thing?

Brozovsky:

Language is always changing. I love language variation and change. It鈥檚 my pet interest. So, it鈥檚 constantly changing. But yes, regional dialect change over time tends to be generational. In the American South, for example, there鈥檚 the Southern Vowel Shift: think older folks saying prahs [price] and younger folks saying price, and there鈥檚 drey-is and dress. A lot of the change is based on migration patterns, where people from different areas came together. When two or more dialects meet, there鈥檚 a phenomenon known as dialect leveling, where the variation between the two decreases over time, and over generations will standardize into something that鈥檚 kind of in the middle of the two. However, it doesn鈥檛 mean we鈥檙e losing all those fun, unique regionalisms鈥攏ew features might get adopted, and older ones, like the y鈥檃ll, for example, might get shared.

Cain:

Ever changing and traveling across the country and the world. Is there any way to visualize these differences in how we speak?

Brozovsky:

Absolutely. I think this is so cool. So our mouths can be mapped and we can show where all the sounds come from and where they鈥檙e articulated in the mouth.

So, consonant sounds are caused by closing parts of your mouth. A B sound comes from your lips closing together, like a buh. Or for the T sound, tuh, is the tongue and the space just behind the teeth, called the alveolar ridge causing a closure. Vowels are produced with open shapes. Ah, oh, ee. The placement of vowel sounds are a lot less exact, which makes them easier to change. So, we can think of the mouth as a trapezoid, and all the vowels fall somewhere in that trapezoid. Sounds like eee and ih are at the top front of the mouth. Ahh and aww are further down and back in the mouth. If you make the sounds yourself, you might be able to feel the space where they鈥檙e actually happening in your mouth. Or at least you can tell that eee and aww are happening at different places in your mouth.

Of course, everyone鈥檚 idiolects are different, but there鈥檚 generally a range of where vowels fall in a particular regional accent, and those ranges can change. The sounds you might think of as the southern drawl, for example, are a collection of changes to where and how southerners produce vowel sounds inside of their mouths. The a [e瑟] sound in 鈥渇ace鈥?that I make toward the front of my mouth drops down and moves farther back to sound more like fuh-eece in Georgia. In the Midwest, instead of how I pronounce bag, they might say bayg, which is higher in the mouth and more towards the front.

Cain:

You've done some of this mapping for your dissertation and research, right?

Brozovsky:

Absolutely, yeah. I researched Taiwanese Americans in Texas, and I looked at them in terms of linguistic identity, both what they were saying about their identity and also how they were speaking, both literally in the mouth and also conceptually the words that they were saying. So I wanted to compare these Taiwanese Americans in Texas, Taiwanese Texans, I called them. I wanted to compare them to other people in Texas, and to see if they had that, you know, stereotypical Texas accent. I interviewed 50 people. I hand transcribed 50 people's interviews, their hour and a half long sociolinguistic interviews, and I was able to map using linguistic software where each of those vowels fell in their mouths, and each person's vowel placement is totally unique. There are similarities, of course, because they're from similar areas, but it's fun to see how they fall in the mouth and how different they are based on their identity themselves.

Cain:

What did you find in terms of comparing to that traditional Texas accent?

Brozovsky:

I did find that most of them did not have that strong Texas twang or drawl that people think of because that accent is not as apparent generally in a lot of the bigger cities where the Taiwanese populations were. That鈥檚 more, you鈥檙e going to get in East Texas and West Texas, but not so much in Dallas, or Austin, or Houston where a lot of people live in general.

Cain:

How do you incorporate some of these sociolinguistic concepts, and your research experience into the writing and rhetoric courses you teach here at WPI?

Brozovsky:

I think it鈥檚 impossible for any instructor not to include their pet interests and research areas in their teaching. When I come up with off-the-cuff examples, they鈥檒l be based on what I know and what I am interested in. Also, a lot of effective research lies in observing, so I like to let my students do a lot of the talking and we as a class get to analyze what comes next.

Specifically in my courses at WPI, I鈥檓 focused on letting the students鈥?voices come through in their writing, which is a very descriptivist choice (as opposed to prescriptivism where there鈥檚 one right way to do something). So, while yes, I need to make sure they know the so-called rules or standards per se when it comes to formal academic writing, I encourage them to speak from their own experience and worldview, because, as we鈥檝e established, it鈥檚 unique. I don鈥檛 want to read the same essay written the same way twenty times. I want twenty unique essays that only each of those specific students could have written.

Also once you learn the rules, I mean, you get to break them. That鈥檚 paraphrasing Picasso. He said something like: Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.

Cain:

Words to live by. What do you hope students take away from your classes?

Brozovsky:

Well, we can never have too many writers. But really, I want them to feel empowered and confident in their ability to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences.

I also want them to come away with an appreciation for the humanities. Yes, WPI is a STEM school, but the humanities are also incredibly important. If you look at the word humanities, you鈥檒l see that the first part is the word human. Studying and engaging with the humanities is an exercise in both experiencing and understanding what it means to be human, and I want them to realize what a beautiful and critical thing that is.

Cain:

Erica Brozovsky is a sociolinguist and assistant professor in the Department of Humanities and Arts at WPI. Thanks so much for sharing your work with us.

You can learn more about Erica鈥檚 work on WPI鈥檚 expert database. It鈥檚 at wpi.edu/experts.

Erica hosts the PBS web series Otherwords. It鈥檚 now in season four of explaining all things linguistic. New episodes come out monthly. You can find a link to episodes at wpi.edu/listen.

There, you can also find audio versions of stories about our students, faculty, and staff. everything from events to research.

You can also check out the latest WPI News on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Youtube Podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to 鈥淥pen WPI.鈥?amp;nbsp;

Thanks for listening.

Tinkerbox Cohort 6

lbaghsarian — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Tinkerbox Program:

The Tinkerbox Program provides seed funding for WPI student-initiated innovation and entrepreneurship ideas/projects.

Grant recipients gain access to

accomplished entrepreneurial mentors who provide guidance on projects
workshops aimed at developing and honing student鈥檚 entrepreneurial skills
community networking events

Building the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Community:

The main driver for the Tinkerbox Program is a deep desire to build an I&E Community by fostering partnerships with students who wish to work on their ideas/projects. In the spirit of building a 鈥楾inkering Community鈥? participants engage in Group Mentoring/Goal Setting sessions which allow teams the opportunity to learn about other student projects, suggest improvements as well as brainstorm - all aimed at building a diverse and inclusive I&E Community.

Program Commitments:

Each Tinkerbox participant is required to sign the Tinkerbox Student Agreement and commits to the following:

Attend Kick-off Meeting
Submit monthly status reports through Tinkerbox Canvas course site
Participate in virtual meetings with mentor at least twice a month
Participate in at least two virtual monthly Group Mentoring/Goal Setting sessions
Submit five-minute reflection video at the conclusion of the cohort documenting their Tinkerbox experience
Follow proper reimbursement policies and procedures

Honest Broker:

WPI鈥檚 Tinkerbox does not take equity in student companies.
Students and teams do not give up any rights to intellectual property through participation in Tinkerbox.
Funding for WPI Tinkerbox is possible because of the deep commitment of alumni and friends to WPI鈥檚 mission.

Apply today!

Tinkerbox Cohort 6 - Application Link

The application deadline for Tinkerbox Cohort 6 is Wednesday, September 15 at 11:59 pm.

For additional information/questions contact Kristie Dejesus, kldejesus@wpi.edu

Reminder: Call for Applications - Global Fellows for AY21/22

slringer — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 12:00:00 +0000

The Global Lab is delighted to announce the Global Lab鈥檚 Global Fellows Program for academic year 2021-22. The program allows any TRT/TT faculty from all departments and programs across campus to spend a term in residence at the Global Lab in the Foisie Innovation Studio, completing a research, academic or creative project that advances the goals of the Lab and the fellow's own professional goals as they relate to global engagement, broadly defined. There are no limits to the shapes of these projects. We encourage you to pursue topics about which you are most passionate, and we offer support to help you bring these projects to fruition.

We welcome projects that:

Address compelling, timely themes that are of importance to a faculty member鈥檚 disciplinary pursuits, partnerships and communities around the world, or that advance the capacities of the WPI community to engage meaningfully with stakeholders, local and global.

Have generative potential. Is the project likely to stimulate further activity supporting the fellow's professional goals and the mission of the Lab beyond the fellowship term? This might include a re-imagined course, interdisciplinary grant work, or the advancement of social justice, climate, Grand Challenges or other initiatives on campus.

Explore modalities for communicating academic work. Whether through a peer-reviewed publication, an immersive reality experience, a performance piece, a project documentary or anything in between, could the project's products (and process) help advance thinking about how academic work is communicated and disseminated?

Fellows spend one term in residence in the Lab, with the Program providing for course release. We will work with Fellows and department heads to coordinate terms and course releases, but we ask that applicants secure approval from their department heads prior to applying for the Fellowship.

To learn more about the program or to apply, please visit the Global Fellows page. The application deadline is November 2, 2020. The Global Lab steering committee will identify finalists who will be invited to discuss their project ideas further.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We are happy to discuss the opportunity in advance. We look forward to hearing from you!

Leslie Dodson(lldodson@wpi.edu) and Steve McCauley(mccauley@wpi.edu) (co-directors)
Global Lab

Climate Storytelling Workshop Runs April 22 to May 8: The Global Lab

adill — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 12:00:00 +0000

What始s your climate story?

From April 22 to May 8, in this asynchronous activity, we invite you to submit your personal stories about climate change, using whatever form of storytelling you始d like: art, text, sound, photos, video, designs, etc.!

Click here to join or email questions.

Story Worlds: Artist-In-Residence Series starting

adill — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 12:00:00 +0000

The Global Lab announces Fellows in Residence for Academic Year 2018-19

admin — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:00:00 +0000

Fellows In Residence for 2018-19

Congratulations, and thank you for sharing your innovative scholarship and creativity.

And thank you to department heads for supporting the participation of their faculty.

	Ingrid Shockey (A term and B term) Associate Teaching Professor, IGSD Director, India Project Center Co-Director, New Zealand Project Center 鈥淐limate Stories: Using transmedia storytelling to connect ethnographies of climate change across WPI project center sites鈥?lt;/strong>
	Andy Trapp (B term) Associate Professor, Foisie Business School "New Frontiers in Global Humanitarian Decision-Making: Increasing Awareness and Societal Impacts"
	Soroush Farzin-Moghadam (C term) Assistant Teaching Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering 鈥淭he Epistemic Wall: An interactive art installation exploring the interface of physical reality and the digital word, with an application showcasing global projects鈥?amp;nbsp;
	Bob Hersh (D term) Assistant Teaching Professor, IGSD Director, Greece Project Center Co-Director, Albania Project Center 鈥淯sing public art events to link project partners in Albania with the Albanian diaspora community in Worcester around the theme of cultural memory"
	Seth Tuler (D term) Associate Teaching Professor, IGSD Co-Director, Bangkok Project Center Co-Director, Boston Project Center 鈥淒eveloping transmedia strategies for representing and sharing information about climate hazards, their impacts, and opportunities to mitigate impacts, in collaboration with the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA)鈥?amp;nbsp;

WPI Announcements RSS Feed

Global Lab publishes 2024-2025 Annual Report

Global Lab Annual Report 24-25

Humanities & Arts Professor Erica Brozovsky Shares the Backstory of Internet Terms and Discusses Her Sociolinguistics Research in WPI podcast

Tinkerbox Cohort 6

Reminder: Call for Applications - Global Fellows for AY21/22

Climate Storytelling Workshop Runs April 22 to May 8: The Global Lab

Story Worlds: Artist-In-Residence Series starting

The Global Lab announces Fellows in Residence for Academic Year 2018-19

Congratulations, and thank you for sharing your innovative scholarship and creativity.

Ingrid Shockey (A term and B term)

Andy Trapp (B term)

Soroush Farzin-Moghadam (C term)

Bob Hersh (D term)

Seth Tuler (D term)