Agenda

1. Please provide a brief outline of your training and scientific activity.
I got my undergraduate degree from the University of Valladolid in Spain; then I pursued a Master’s degree and a PhD in the USA at the University of Southern California. I am currently a full professor of Spanish Historical Linguistics at the University of the Balearic Islands in Palma de Majorca (Spain); I have also taught at Colgate University (New York), Boston University and Harvard University.
My research focuses on morphosyntactic variation and change in the history of Spanish; I am also interested in Spanish - Catalan contact in Majorca, and in the use of computer techniques for analyzing linguistic variation in historical textual corpora.

2. Please state your reasons for choosing Venice and the Department for your research and teaching stay.
The Linguistics Department at Ca’Foscari is well known internationally for the high quality of the research conducted therein. Throughout the years I have been fortunate to establish a fruitful collaboration with Professor Del Barrio. Also, I have tutored incoming students from Ca’Foscari at my home institution and I have always been impressed by their solid performance and their capability to adapt to our learning environment. For these reasons I had considered the possibility of a stay at Ca’Foscari and I am very glad to make this a reality.

3. Have you ever had a research collaboration with the teaching staff of Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies in the past?
During the last decade or so I have been in close collaboration with professor Florencio del Barrio with whom I have engaged in a number of research collaborations. Also I  have been responsible for the Erasmus agreement between Ca Foscari and my home institution since 2013; within this agreement I have visited Ca Foscari several times and also I have received Prof. Del Barrio in Majorca. During this time I have also presented my research in colloquia and conferences organized at Ca Foscari.