Jamie A. Thomas
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Stories of language, inequality, and culture fascinate me. 

Ninavutiwa na hadithi za lugha, upendeleo, na utamaduni.

Hello! ​Karibu! It's wonderful to connect with you.

As Dean of Social Sciences at Cypress College, I support students, faculty, and staff in our collective mission to make higher education affordable, accessible, and engaging. I'm a proud community college educator and advocate for Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC), Open Educational Resources (OER), and culturally responsive teaching. I have previously taught at a multiple institutions, including Santa Monica College, Swarthmore College, and Middlebury College. I love online teaching and learning!

​📌 I collaborate and lead with a focus on equity, justice, and local community engagement. I am an 
award-winning specialist in online teaching and in designing and delivering workplace professional development. 

​📌 
Currently, in additional to my full-time responsibilities, I contribute as a professional development facilitator with CVC @ONE -- the California Virtual Campus - Online Network of Educators, and as an Adjunct Lecturer in Linguistics at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH).
Welcome to Prof. Thomas' linguistics classroom!
November 2023: "The Gift of Reading" - Celebrating a local community partnership and book donation at Cypress College with Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. Sorority, Orange County Alumni Chapter and the Legacy Umoja Program.
I'm a linguistic anthropologist and applied linguist by training, with a focus on language, race, pedagogy, and popular culture. I have expertise in workplace diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), change management, multi-sited ethnography, intercultural communication, classroom observation, and stakeholder engagement. ​
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In 2021, I was awarded a Verilogue research grant on racial equity in healthcare with co-author Debi Thomas, MD.
View My Portfolio
In my research, I use methods of observation, description, and analysis, I join with people in real life and on the Internet--in their homes, and places of work and learning--to understand who they are and how they see the world.

📌  Languages I research and study: Swahili, Spanish, Arabic, African American Language (AAL), Pohnpeian. 
Zombies, the Other, and the spread of modern day fearClick for more!
My forthcoming book is an ode to the politics of viral Black language and identity: Zombies Speak Swahili: Race, Horror, and Sci-Fi from Mexico to Tanzania and Hollywood (Oxford University Press). ​

Book cover, Embodied Difference.
I'm also lead editor of the 2019 multi-disciplinary anthology on race and the body, Embodied Difference: Divergent Bodies in Public Discourse (Lexington).

#LanguageStory is a video series and blog I created to discuss people-centered perspectives on communication, intercultural learning, and the impact of anthropological research.

​Thank you for visiting! More project photos and video: https://linktr.ee/jamieisjames​