Kendall Medford

Hi. I’m Kendall Medford, and I am a linguist and anthropologist. I am currently a PhD Candidate at Tulane University in the Interdisciplinary Linguistics Program.

My research and writing focus on the linguistic dimensions of human mobility. I examine the ways that language impacts the migration experience and how the dynamics of migration can change and shape the languages involved. As migratory flows increase globally, I am interested in creating a better understanding of how families and communities maintain, teach, and use their heritage languages in new places. I research these questions in the Caribbean, primarily in Haitian communities in Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

I am also currently editing a volume, Ports of Entry: Language in Caribbean Migrations (University Press of Mississippi), which explores the contemporary experiences of Caribbean migrants as they navigate the diverse linguistic situations they encounter on-the-ground in eight different nations.