My name is Jamaal Muwwakkil, PhD. I’m a sociocultural linguist and a higher education scholar.
I’m currently available for consulting engagements, collaborations, and media requests.
I’m based in Los Angeles and, am currently a University of California Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA in the Department of Education and information Systems
“If Black English isn’t a language, then, tell me, what is?”
-James Baldwin
I love language! My lived experiences have honed my appreciation of the beauty present in language, and Linguistics has provided some tools through which I can glean and describe the depths of that beauty. To date, much of my time has been spent investigating the following areas of research:
African American Language and Culture
I explore Black linguistic practices in the US context, ranging from intracommunity discourse to media performance.
Political Discourse
I have done ethnographic work on the discourse of conservative student groups on a liberal west coast university campus. I have also authored a piece about the process of doing this work from my positionality. I’m interested in the role of political discourse in identity development.
Educational Linguistics
I have written extensively multiple article about language in the university context. I am fascinated by how discursively informed images of communities shape community belonging and undergraduate self concept.
Regents Jay Sures, Jamaal Muwwakkil, Chancellor Henry Yang, Rich Leib, and William Um
From 2019-2021, I served in the governing board of the University of California. As a member of the UC Board Of Regents, I lent my voice to issues related to student basic needs, tech transfer and innovation, the community college transfer pipeline, and issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education.
Hayley Weddle, John Perez, and Jamaal Muwwakkil