About 

With a PhD in linguistics, Valerie is Professor and former Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of English at the University of Nevada in Reno.  An expert on the relationship between language and society, her work has appeared in numerous academic journals and she is co-author of the book Sociophonetics.

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Valerie also speaks and writes widely for a popular audience. Her language blog, Language in the Wild, appears in Psychology Today and her lecture series, Language and Society, is featured with The Great Courses.  Her first book for a popular audience, Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English, is available for pre-order with Viking/Penguin Press.  She has appeared as a language expert on a variety of media outlets such as CBS News, NPR and Newsy’s The Why and is regularly featured on podcasts and radio.   

 

Valerie lives with her husband and two teenagers in the beautiful Reno/Tahoe area.