Her teaching and research interests include topics of theoretical linguistics and applied linguistics, with a specialization in Hispanic sociolinguistics and anthropological linguistics. She has presented papers at national and international conferences and published on Hispanic sociolinguistics and Quechua (the indigenous language of the South American Andes, spoken today by over ten million descendants of the Incan Empire). She has lived and studied in the United States, Spain, Mexico, and Peru and has carried out linguistic research with speakers of English, Spanish, Quechua, and Juchit�n Zapotec. Education