Brandon J. C. Martínez

Personal Background

I was born and raised in Grants, New Mexico, a small mining & ranching town located in Cíbola County, nestled between Mt. Taylor, the malpaís lava flows, and the Zuni Mountains. Like most of New Mexico, Cíbola has a rich history of cultural interaction, with long-standing inhabitance by several Native American tribes and later waves of colonization and occupation by hispanos and Anglo-Americans. Although not transparent to me when I was younger, as an adult, having grown up a nuevomexicano has caused me to develop a deep respect and appreciation for cultural and linguistic diversity. Furthermore, reclaiming Spanish as my heritage tongue has helped to develop my identity as a US Latino, and to pride myself on both my mestizo and Anglo-American roots.

Academic Background

As of Fall 2023, I am a second year doctoral student in Spanish Linguistics at the University of Arizona. Prior to my doctoral studies, I graduated from the University of New Mexico, earning an MA in Linguistics in 2021 and a BA in Linguistics & Languages (Spanish & Mandarin Chinese) in 2017. My research interests primarily include variationist sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, especially relating to Traditional New Mexican Spanish and other Borderlands dialects, while also taking perspectives from usage-based, translanguaging, Marxist, and Chicano theories. My current projects revolve around sociolinguistic variation in New Mexico, tag questions and discourse markers in southern Arizona, and the semiotic work involved in the persona construction of cholas on YouTube. 

Curriculum Vitae