She earned her B.A. in English and Philosophy from Salem College in North Carolina, an M.A. in English from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and her Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Georgia. Dr. Burkette teaches courses in American English, sociolinguistics, and language & gender. Her research interests include language variation and Appalachian English. Dr. Burkette is the Associate Editor for Book Reviews of the journal American Speech and also serves as the Assistant Editor of the Linguistic Atlas Project.