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Robin Sudanan Turner (she/elle/ella)

Profile picture for Robin Sudanan Turner  (she/elle/ella)

Contact Information

2132 Literatures, Cultures & Linguistics Building
707 S. Mathews Ave
Urbana, IL 61801

Office Hours

Fall 2024: Wednesdays 3pm-5pm & by appointment
PhD Candidate

Biography

Robin grew up in Newport News, Virginia. She completed a Bachelor's Degree in French and Spanish at George Mason University in Fairfax and her Master's in Applied French Linguistics at the University of Alabama. At UIUC, she is working towards a Ph.D. in French Linguistics with a concentration in Romance Linguistics. She has completed graduate minors in Queer Studies, Gender and Women's Studies, European Union Studies, and Linguistic Anthropology. 

Apart from her research and studies, she is also a committee member of EuroChambana, a graduate student-led initiative with the European Union Center to bring together community members with shared interests in European cultures, languages, and politics. Robin is a steering committee member for the Diversity, Decolonization, and the French Curriculum collective where she serves as co-organizer of the graduate student special interest group. She has recently joined the working group Jeunes chercheur·euses en Genre & Langage and is a Researcher-Member of the Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network at Concordia University. 

In Summer 2024, Robin conducted research in collaboration with the Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies (IGSF) at McGill University and the Just Feminist Tech and Scholarship Lab under the supervision of Dr. Alex Ketchum. This work was funded by the Graduate Student Scholarship granted by the International Council for Canadian Studies/Conseil international d'études canadiennes.   

From 2017 until 2021, Robin co-hosted the GradLings podcast, a program dedicated to the promotion of graduate students working in all branches of linguistics and language study.

Research Interests

  • Quebec Studies
  • Critical Discourse Analysis
  • Sociology of language
  • Historical sociolinguistics
  • Linguistic anthropology
  • Queer linguistics
  • Raciolinguistics
  • Linguistic Landscape
  • Feminist critical discourse analysis
  • Minoritized languages

Research Description

Robin's dissertation project, "Stigmatized trailblazers to celebrated deviants: Heteronormative Discourses of (homo)sexuality after the Québec Quiet Revolution, 1969-1977," delineates publicly circulating discourses that managed the reception of gay life and civil rights after the Québec Quiet Revolution (1960-1966) that conformed to political progressives’ heteronormative ideologies. She uses a transdisciplinary analytical lens informed by queer theory and feminist linguistic anthropology to explore language in mainstream media that imbricated (homo)sexuality within the new Québec of the 1970s, ostensibly more secular, liberal, and modern. This corpus draws on the coeval newspapers, literature, theatrical productions, and political manifestos centering cultural re/production of (homo)sexuality in both French and English, the dominant languages of Québec. This work will evince queer critical inquiry as crucial to a linguistic analysis that explicates how Montréal institutions manipulated discourses of medicalization, respectability politics, and citizenship to manage (homo)sexuality after the Quiet Revolution.

She is grateful for the financial support for her dissertation from the American Council for Quebec Studies, l’Association internationale des études québécoises, and the International Council for Canadian Studies/Conseil internationale des études canadiennes.  

Education

Ph.D. French Linguistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Concentration in Romance Linguistics

Graduate minors in Queer Studies; Gender and Women's Studies; European Union Studies; Anthropology - Linguistics track

M.A. Romance Languages, The University of Alabama

Concentration in Applied French Linguistics

B.A. Foreign Languages, George Mason University

Concentration in French

Concentration in Spanish

Minor in Linguistics

Additional Coursework & Training

NYI Global Institute of Cultural, Cognitive, and Linguistic Studies, 2024

Lavender Languages Institute. California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA, 2024

Lavender Languages Institute. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, 2023

Lavender Languages Institute. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, 2022

Lavender Languages Institute. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, 2021 

Genevan Paleography Workshop. Calvin University, Grand Rapids, MI, 2018

Linguistic Society of America Summer Institute. University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 2017

Grants

Annual Meeting Travel Grant

American Historical Association, 2025

Anthropologist Support Award

American Anthropological Association, 2024

Knudson Fellowship

Department of French and Italian, UIUC Summer 2024

Presentation Support Award

L’Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie candienne (ACUFC)

Registration Grant

Quebec English-speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCERN), Concordia University 2024

Graduate Student Scholarship

International Council for Canadian Studies/Conseil international d’études canadiennes, 2024

Bourse de recherche

L'Association internationale des études québécoises and The American Council for Quebec Studies, 2022-2023

Departmental Fellowship

Department of French and Italian, UIUC Summer 2022

Conference Presentation Award

Graduate College, UIUC Fall 2021

Foreign Language & Area Studies Fellowship

U.S. Department of Education, European Union Center, UIUC AY 2020-2021

Foreign Language & Area Studies Fellowship

U.S. Department of Education, European Union Center, UIUC Summer 2020 [declined]

Knudson & McPherson Fellowship 

Department of French and Italian, UIUC Summer 2020

Student Participation and Travel Award

North American Research Network in Historical Sociolinguistics Research incubator at KFLC, University of Kentucky 2020

H. Henry Meeter Center Genevan Paleography Fellowship

Calvin University 2018

Research & Travel Grant

The Graduate School, The University of Alabama 2018

Presentation Award

College of Arts & Sciences, The University of Alabama 2018

UA in France Graduate Assistantship

Department of Modern Languages & Classics, The University of Alabama 2017

Awards and Honors

Outstanding Graduate Student Award

Department of Gender & Women's Studies, UIUC 2023

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award

Department of Gender & Women's Studies, UIUC 2022

Outstanding Asian & Asian American Graduate Student Leader Award

Asian American Cultural Center, UIUC 2022

Student Leadership Award

Department of Linguistics, UIUC 2022

K.A. Looney Senior Award for Excellence in Teaching French

Department of French & Italian, UIUC AY 2020-2021

Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning's (CITL) Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students

  • Fall 2018 (distinction for outstanding ratings)
  • Spring 2019 (distinction for outstanding ratings)
  • Spring 2020 (distinction for outstanding ratings)
  • Fall 2020 (distinction for outstanding ratings)
  • Spring 2021 (distinction for outstanding ratings) 
  • Fall 2021 (distinction for outstanding ratings)
  • Spring 2022 (distinction for outstanding ratings)
  • Fall 2022 (distinction for outstanding ratings) 
  • Spring 2023 (distinction for outstanding ratings) 
  • Fall 2023 (distinction for outstanding ratings) 
  • Spring 2024 (distinction for outstanding ratings) 

Most Outstanding Graduate Student in French

Department of Modern Languages & Classics, UA 2018

Outstanding Service to the University of Alabama Language Conference

Department of Modern Languages & Classics, UA 2017

Courses Taught

FR 101: Elementary French I

FR 102: Elementary French II

FR 103: Intermediate French I

FR 205: Oral French

FR 207: Writing and Grammar Workshop

FR 213: French Phonetics

GWS 100/SOC 130: Introduction to Gender & Women's Studies

GWS/SOC 202: Sexualities

GWS/AAS 275: Politics of Fashion

GWS/ENGL 378: Fairy Tales & Gender Formation

Selected research presentations: 

Turner, R. (2025, June). Contemporary understandings of territory and colonization through language in Quebec. 7th International Language and Territory International Symposium, University of Ottawa. 

Turner, R. (2025, January). Critical discourses around gay rights after the Québec Quiet Revolution (1960-1966). 138th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association, New York City.

Turner, R. (2024, November). Deviance in the City: Discourses of sexuality, community, and language in Montreal during the Quiet Revolution. Flash presentation at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting. Tampa, FL.

Turner, R. (2024, August). Les langages de Rights Talk : la relation transnationale entre la langue et les droits des gais au Québec. Colloque du Réseau de la recherche sur la francophonie canadienne, University of Moncton.

Turner, R. (2024, August). “Speak white!”: Appropriation of colonization and enslavement narratives in reckoning with language conflict in Québec. Paper presentation at the 4th Annual Conference for Graduate Students in Language, Communication, and Culture, University of Alberta.

Turner, R. (2024, July) Transnational linguistic environments of (homo)sexuality. The 50th anniversary conference of the Linguistic Association of Canada and the United States, The University of Waterloo and Saint Jerome’s University.

Turner, R. (2024, May). Le progrès pour qui? : interrogation des récits sur les droits civils des homosexuels après la Révolution tranquille au Québec. Paper presentation at Women in Official Language Minority Communities Conference hosted by the Quebec English-speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCERN) and the Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities (CIRLM), 91st meeting of Acfas, University of Ottawa.

Turner, R. (2024, April). A ‘new’ multilingualism: The case of neofalantes in Galicia. Multilingual European Cities Symposium, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Turner, R. (2024, April). The realities and tensions of Francisation in Québec. French Studies Annual Graduate Conference, Louisiana State University.

Turner, R. (2024, April). What is next for Queer Linguistics?. Transdisciplinary Colloquium of Gender and Queer Studies: New Directions in Queer, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Loyola University Chicago.

Turner, R. (2023, May). Linguistic pasts and ideological futures. Paper presentation at Women’s and Gender Studies et Recherches Féministes Annual Conference, York University, Toronto.

Turner, R. (2023, April). Intimacies of recent past and identity of empire: Linguistic anthropological considerations. Paper presentation at Medusa Graduate Conference, University of Toronto. 

Turner, R. (2022, July). A critical exploration of scale and chronotope in shifting discourses of oppression. Paper presentation at Sociolinguistics Symposium 24, Universiteit Ghent. [Accepted] 

Turner, R. (2022, May). Power dynamics of migrant linguistic strategies in Montreal. Paper presentation at the 18th annual International Congress for Qualitative Inquiry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Turner, R. (2022, May). Thinking with the past through discourse. Paper presentation at the 23rd annual Michicagoan graduate student conference in linguistic anthropology, University of Michigan and University of Chicago. [Accepted]

Turner, R. (2022, May). “Violent enforcement of a category violently constructed”: The power of language as an agent of violence. Paper presentation at Language, Literature, Power, University of Niš. [Accepted]

Turner, R. (2022, April). The Queer Archive as a Site of Intervention and Resistance. Paper presentation at the 2022 meeting of the Society for Linguistic Anthropology, University of Colorado at Boulder. [Accepted]

Turner, R. (2021, October). Les identités sexuelles et linguistiques marquées après la Révolution tranquille. Paper presentation at Colloque du réseau de la recherche sur la francophonie Canadienne, Université d’Alberta, Campus Saint-Jean. [cancelled due to covid-19 pandemic]

Turner, R. (2021, May). Ethics of the Queer Archive: Minoritized Language, Queer Time, & Archival Activism. Paper presentation at the 17th annual International Congress for Qualitative Inquiry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Turner, R. (2021, May). Publicly Circulating Discourses of Racialization in Quebec Media. Paper presentation at the 17th annual International Congress for Qualitative Inquiry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Turner, R. (2020, March). Galician education influences on neofalante identity, attitudes, and language practices. Poster presentation at the Georgetown University Round Table 2020, Georgetown University.

Turner, R. (2020, February). Linguistic Constructions of Agency in the Grassroots Political Movement. Paper presentation at the twelfth annual meeting of Illinois Language and Linguistics Society, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Turner, R. (2020, February). Indexicalities of Community Membership in Multilingual Political Campaigning. Paper presentation at the second annual Sociolinguistic Symposium, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Selected pedagogical practices presentations: 

Turner, R. (2022, November). A critical examination of bridging courses in university French curricula. Poster presentation at the 2022 ACTFL Annual Convention and World Languages Expo, Boston, Massachusetts. 

Turner, R. (2022, April). Critical Reflections of Cultural Knowledges in French Bridging Courses. Paper presentation at the 2022 SLA Symposium, University of Wisconsin-Madison. [Accepted]

Turner, R. (2020, November). Bridging the Gap: Looking at language and literature courses in French program curricula. Paper presentation at Diversity, Decolonization, and the French Curriculum (DDFC) Conference. Online, Sam Houston State University & University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

Turner, R. (2020, February). Authentic texts: What do you adapt and how do you use them?. Presentation at the Spring 2020 Language Teaching Share Fair, Center for Language Instruction and Coordination, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Turner, R. (2019, November). Co-constructing a World: Global Simulation in the Elementary FL Classroom. Presentation at the 2019 ACTFL Annual Convention and World Languages Expo, Washington DC. 

Turner, R. (2019, November). Global Simulation Strategies for the FL Classroom. Presentation at the 2019 Language Teaching Share Fair, Center for Language Instruction and Coordination, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Turner, R. (2019, October). Global Simulation as a Vehicle for Oral Proficiency. Presentation at the 2019 ICTFL Fall Conference, Naperville, IL. 

Roncoroni, F. & Turner, R. (2019, May). A Study of Global Simulation for Engagement, Intercultural Awareness, and Fluency in Spontaneous Speech of Intermediate II French Learners. Poster Presentation at the 11th Annual SLATE Graduate Research Symposium, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Workshops & Panels: 

Turner, R. (2021, March). A Sociolinguistic Approach to Bilingual LGBTQ+ Communities & their Histories. Panel presentation at the Lavender Languages and Linguistics Conference, California Institute of Integral Studies. 

Turner, R. (2020, April). Indexicalities of Queerness and Personhood in “Emergent” Bilingual Montréal. Workshop presentation at the North American Research Network in Historical Sociolinguistics (NARNiHS) Research Incubator, The Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Conference at the University of Kentucky. 

Turner, R. (2019, September). Temporal Perspectives on Language and Queer Identities. Panel presentation at the Solidarities of Difference Graduate Student Colloquium, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Invited talks:

Turner, R. (2024, April). How do we critique what "officially" does not exist?: Raciolinguistic research in a European framework. EURO 502: The EU in a Global Context, University of Illlinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Turner, R. (2023, May). Practical Pedagogies and Linguistic Justice. Graduate Engineering Equity Committee, McGill University.  

Turner, R. (2023, April). Resources for gender inclusive langauge in the French language classroom. Roundtable on Linguistic Discrimination, University of Iowa. 

Turner, R. (2022, November). Le langage et la mode : Introduction à la théorie barthésienne. FR 337: Contemporary France, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Turner, R. (2022, October). Pedagogical strategies for teaching and implementing gender-inclusive language in the world language classroom. FR 505: Teaching College and Secondary Foreign Language, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Turner, R. (2022, February). Le Paris parlé. FR 156: Exploring Paris, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Turner, R. (2021, October). Technology and Community-building in Language Research and Education. WLLC 5000: Teaching and Learning Languages, University of Iowa.

Morgan, W.J., Robertson, W.B., & Turner, R. (2019, February). Navigating Linguistic Research and the Graduate Student-Faculty Dynamic. Panel presentation at The University of Alabama Languages Conference, Tuscaloosa, AL.

Turner, R. (2018, April). The Foundation of Emoji Social Semiotics. Presentation at The Mallet Assembly, The University of Alabama.

Highlighted Publications

Dees, J.A. & Turner, R.S. (Eds.). (2023). Studies in the Linguistic Science (SLS): Proceedings of the Fourteenth Meeting of the Illinois Language and Linguistics Society. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

MacDonald, J.E., Fagyal, Z., Beristain, A., & Turner, R.S. (Eds.). (2023). Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 18: Selected papers from LSRL 51. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Turner, R.S. (2022). Pronouns. In K. Strunk & S.A. Shelton (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Queer Studies in Education. Brill.

Recent Publications

Blogs

Cipolla, S., Turner, R., & Zalewski, N. "Graduate Student Meeting with Professor Phillip M. Ayoub". EUC blog. European Union Center, 23 October 2020. http://eucenterillinois.blogspot.com/2020/10/graduate-student-meeting-w…

Turner, R. "Classroom Combatting Language Loss: a look at Basque in France and Spain". Linguis Europae, European Union Center. 

Turner, R. "Engaging with Structuralism on its Own Terms". Response to Constantine Nakassis's lecture "Structuralism", Modern and Critical Theory Lecture Series 2019, Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory, 23 September 2019. https://unitforcriticism.wordpress.com/2019/09/23/professor-constantine…

Turner, R. "'If it worked, we wouldn't need it': on the politics of deconstruction". Response to Geoffrey Bennington's lecture "Politics in Deconstruction", Modern and Critical Theory Lecture Series 2018, Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory, 22 October 2018. https://unitforcriticism.wordpress.com/2018/10/22/geoffrey-bennington-o…