Department of English Language and Literature
Directory
Tracey Weldon
Title: | Professor Interim Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education |
Department: | English Language and Literature College of Arts and Sciences |
Email: | weldont@mailbox.sc.edu |
Phone: | Close-Hipp (803) 777-1250 |
Office: |
Humanities, Room 604 Close-Hipp, Suite 552 |
Resources: | Linguistics Program |

Education
Ph.D. in Linguistics, Ohio State University, 1998
B.A. in English and French (cum laude), Furman University, 1991
Areas of Specialization
Quantitative Sociolinguistics
Language Variation
African American English, Gullah
Recently Taught Courses
UNDERGRADUATE
African-American English
Introduction to Language
Introduction to Language Sciences
Language and Gender
Language in the USA
The English Language
GRADUATE
African-American English
Introduction to Sociolinguistics
Seminar in Language Variation
Survey of Linguistics
Varieties of American English
Interviews and Podcasts
• CODESWITCHING: Black girl from the burbs
• Sounds of the South
Documentary
• "Talking Black in America" Co-Associate Producer with John Baugh, Renee Blake, Patricia Cukor-Avila, Lisa Green,
Sonja Lanehart, Salikoko Mufwene, Jeff Reaser, John Rickford, Chanti Seymour, John
Singler, and Arthur Spears. Producers/Directors: Neal Hutcheson and Danica Cullinan,
Language and Life Project. Executive Producer: Walt Wolfram. Release date: March 2017.
Professional Accolades
• 2017-2018. Southeastern Conference (SEC) Academic Leadership Development Program
(ALDP).
• 2015-2016. Pipeline for Academic Leaders (PAL) Fellow. The University of South
Carolina.
• 2013-2014. Departmental Teaching Award. English Department. The University of
South Carolina.
• 2011-2012. Associate Professor Development Award. The College of Arts and Sciences.
The University of South Carolina.
• 2010-2011. Morrison Fellowship. English Department. The University of South Carolina.
• 2009. Research and Creative Projects Award. The Institute for African American
Research. The University of South Carolina.
Books
• 2021. Middle Class African American English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• 1994. Jannedy, Stefanie, Robert Poletto, Tracey Weldon, eds. The Language Files. 6th edition. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
Recent Articles
• 2019. Race, class, and linguistic camouflage: Remote past BEEN and the divergence
debate revisited. The Routledge companion to the work of John R. Rickford. Renee Blake and Isabella Buchstaller, eds. New York: Routledge. 115-132.
• 2018. Sounding Black: Labeling and perceptions of African American voices on Southern college
campuses. Language variety in the New South: Contemporary perspectives on change and variation. Jeffrey Reaser, Eric Wilbanks, Karissa Wojcik, and Walt Wolfram, eds. Chapel Hill:
UNC Press. 175-202.
• 2015. Britt, Erica and Tracey Weldon. African American English and the Middle Class. Oxford Handbook of African American Language. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 800-816.
• 2015. Weldon, Tracey and Simanique Moody. The place of Gullah in the African American
linguistic continuum. Oxford Handbook of African American Language. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 163-180.
• 2013. Vignette on “Working with scripted data.” In Data collection in sociolinguistics: Methods and applications. Christine Mallinson, Becky Childs, and Gerarad Van Herk, eds. New York: Routledge.
228-231.
• 2012. “Teaching African American English to College Students: Ideological and Pedagogical
Challenges and Solutions.” American Speech: Teaching American Speech 87: 2. 232-247.
• 2011. Labov, William, Sharon Ash, Maya Ravindranath, Tracey Weldon, Maciej Baranowski,
Naomi Nagy. Properties of the sociolinguistic monitor. Journal of sociolinguistics 15: 4. 431-463.
Recent Presentations
• 2020. “Race, class, and camouflaged divergence.” Presentation for “Changelings” speaker
series. Linguistics Department. The Ohio State University. November 2020.
• 2020. “Façade in Leadership.” Advancing African American Linguist(ic)s Symposium. Panel
presentation with Jennifer Bloomquist (Gettysburg College), Shelome Gooden (University
of Pittsburgh), and Anne H. Charity Hudley (UC Santa Barbara). August 2020.
• 2020. “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at UofSC”. Presentation for University Libraries.
University of South Carolina. May 2020.
• 2020. “Inclusive Excellence at UofSC.” Teaching Towards Inclusive Excellence (TTIE) workshop
presentation with Dr. Kirk Foster, College of Social Work. Hosted by the Center for
Teaching Excellence and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
• 2019. Workshop facilitator. “Networking and mentoring in higher education.” Grace Jordan
McFadden Professors Program. The University of South Carolina. November 2019.
• 2019. “Language and identity in contemporary creole contexts: A comparative look at Gullah
Geechee and Nigerian Pidgin.” Jessica R. Berry, Christine I. Ofulue, and Tracey L.
Weldon. 1st International Gullah Geechee and African Diaspora (IGGAD) Conference. Myrtle Beach,
SC.
• 2018-2019. “Inclusive Excellence at UofSC.” Teaching Towards Inclusive Excellence
(TTIE) workshop presentation with Dr. Michelle Bryan, College of Education. Hosted
by the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, UofSC.
• 2018. “Race, class, and linguistic camouflage: The divergence debate revisited.” English
Department, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.