Michael Senko

Bio

Starting in Fall 2025, I am a first year PhD student in the Stanford Department of Linguistics. My research is supported by an EDGE Doctoral Fellowship from the Stanford Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education.

I received a B.S./M.A. in Linguistics & Communication Studies from Northwestern University in 2022, where I worked with Rob Voigt and Annette D’Onofrio. Prior to starting my PhD, I worked as a teacher first in Taiwan through the Fulbright program and later in New York City. I have taught everything from TEFL and math to computer science and religion.

I’m broadly interested in how social and linguistic information is integrated. I use sociophonetic and computational methods in my research to shed light on the cognitive dynamics underlying language users’ utilization and perception of variation. My previous work has focused on variation in the uptake of new (pro)nominal forms on Twitter and in the stressed vowel of "Chicago."

Education & Certifications

• B.S., Northwestern University, Linguistics & Communication Studies (2022)
• M.A., Northwestern University, Linguistics (2022)