Jamie A. Thomas
  • About
  • Portfolio
    • Digital Storytelling
    • Ethnography + Language
  • Teaching
    • AfroLatinx Podcast
    • [ZOMBIES REIMAGINED]
  • Blog
  • Connect With Me


Stories of language, inequality, and culture fascinate me. 

Ninavutiwa na hadithi za lugha, upendeleo, na utamaduni.

Welcome to Prof. Thomas' linguistics classroom!
Click for video: Hi! I enjoy teaching linguistics as an introduction to the study of language, communication, and meaning. Welcome to my classroom at Santa Monica College!
I'm a linguistic anthropologist and applied linguist with a focus on language, race, and popular culture in Africa and the African Diaspora. I have expertise in multi-sited ethnography, intercultural communication, classroom observation, and stakeholder engagement. 

📌 Languages I research and study: Swahili, Spanish, Arabic, African American Language (AAL), Pohnpeian. 
Using methods of observation, description, and critical discourse 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.

📌I teach with a focus on equity, justice, and local community engagement.
 
My 2022 forthcoming book is an ode to viral Black language: 
Zombies Speak Swahili: Race, Horror, and Sci-Fi from Mexico to Tanzania and Hollywood (Oxford University Press). 
Book cover, Embodied Difference.
I'm also co-editor of the 2019 multi-disciplinary anthology on race and the body, Embodied Difference: Divergent Bodies in Public Discourse (Lexington Press).
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📌 Now available in paperback!


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

Zombies, the Other, and the spread of modern day fear
Click for more about my previous seminar's digital exhibit on the ZOMBIE.
Picture
In 2021, I was awarded a Verilogue research grant on racial equity in healthcare, with co-author Debi Thomas, MD.
Portfolio
​More teaching & research photos and video on Instagram  @jamieisjames   
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