Rate My Professor Racquel-María Sapien

Racquel-María Sapién is an Associate Professor in Linguistic Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma, College of Arts and Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, earned in 2010. Her research centers on community-collaborative field research, language documentation, analysis, description, and reclamation, with a focus on Cariban languages such as Kari'nja and Arawakan languages including Lokono, in collaboration with communities in Suriname. Sapién examines synchronic patterns of morphosyntax through functionalist and diachronic perspectives. She works with speakers and heritage learners of languages displaced by voluntary and involuntary shifts, supporting efforts to reclaim spaces for minoritized languages. In addition to her faculty role, she serves as the editor of Language Documentation & Conservation (LD&C), contributing to the dissemination of research in language documentation and revitalization.

Sapién has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Scholar grant for 2023-2024, enabling her to conduct lecturing and research in Suriname on anthropological linguistics, hosted by the National Language Council of Suriname. She mentors University of Oklahoma students engaged with their heritage languages and has taught at specialized institutes including the Northwest Indian Language Institute at the University of Oregon, the Institute on Collaborative Language Research (CoLang), and the Oklahoma Breath of Life, all aimed at advancing language work. At OU, she teaches a range of courses in linguistics and linguistic anthropology, such as ANTH/LING 1203 Language Across Cultures, ANTH/LING 2303 General Linguistics, ANTH 3833 Language & Power, ANTH/LING 4/5053 Morphology, ANTH 4/5063 Language Contact, Loss, & Revitalization, and ANTH 5623/33 Descriptive Linguistic Methods I & II. Key publications include 'Using existing documentation for teaching and learning endangered languages' (Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2019), 'Losing a Vital Voice: Grief and Language Work' with Tim Thornes (Language Documentation & Conservation, 2017), a chapter on 'Antipassive in the Cariban family' (2021), and 'Nonverbal predication in Kari'nja' in Nonverbal Predication in Amazonian Languages. Her contributions foster inclusive methodologies and empower communities in language reclamation efforts.