Awardee: Michael Diercks is a linguist who studies languages of East Africa. He specializes in areas of syntax and morphology, investigating the possible cognitive structures that human language can take. His 2023 Hahn project was typesetting a syntax textbook that will be made available Open Access online, and is already in use for courses at Pomona College.
Student Assistants: Xuehuai He
Title: An Instructor’s Manual for an Open Access Syntax Curriculum
Project Goal: Diercks is working on putting together an instructor’s manual that will include answer keys for all the problem sets and exercises in the Open Access Syntax Textbook he wrote, with the original work on the textbook funded by the Hahn grant last year. The teaching and learning goals are to adjust his course curriculum to align with the new curriculum he is writing. While the desired outcomes for the students remain unchanged, they will now benefit from a syntax curriculum that is better designed for their needs and is available free of charge, as it will be published as Open Access.
You can learn more about Diercks’ Open Access Syntax Texbook by visiting his 2023 Hahn Recipient page.