DENNIS BARON
Professor of English and linguistics
Department of English
University of Illinois
608 S. Wright St
Urbana IL 61801
mobile: (217) 840-0776
department: 217-333-2390
email: [email protected]
url: http://bit.ly/zoc7NR
VITA
Education:
Ph.D., University of Michigan (English Language and Literature), 1971.
M.A., Columbia University (English and Comparative Literature), 1968.
A.B., Brandeis University (English and American Literature), 1965.
Positions held:
Professor of English and Linguistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1984-present.
Head, Department of English, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1998-2003.
Acting Head, Department of English, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1997-98.
Director of Rhetoric, University of Illinois, 1985-97.
Director, Writing Outreach Workshop, Univ. of Illinois, 1985-88.
Professor, Campus Honors Faculty, Univ. of Illinois, 1988-present.
Professor, College of Education, UIUC, Summer 1988.
Associate Professor of English and Linguistics, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1981-84.
Assistant Professor of English and Linguistics, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1975-81.
Assistant Professor of English, The City College of CUNY, 1973-74.
Assistant Professor of English, Eastern Illinois University, 1971-73.
Fellowships and Grants:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow, 2016-17.
Faculty Fellow, Program for the Study of Cultural Values and Ethics, Univ. of Illinois, Spring 1992.
National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, calendar year 1989.
Newberry Library National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, 1988-89 (offered, not held).
IBM Project Excel Grant C-41, 1986-87: “Computer Analysis of Student Writing.”
Associate, Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois 1984-85.
Fulbright Lecturer, University of Poitiers, France, 1978-79.
Fellow, Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois, 1978 (offered, not held).
University of Illinois Research Board grants, multiple years, 1978 - present.
Publications: Books and Monographs
1.
A Better Pencil: Readers, Writers and the Digital Revolution. New York and Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2009, pp. xviii + 259. Paperback edition, 2012. Chinese translation, 2012.
Reviews: Vincent Rossmeier, “Is the internet melting our brains?” Salon Sept. 19,
http://www.salon.com/books/int/2009/09/19/better_pencil/; reprinted and reposted on over 100
sites, including Cory Doctorow’s blog, BoingBoing; rpt. in Italian:
http://guide.supereva.it/bibliofilia/interventi/2009/10/e-vero-che-internet-fonde-il-cervello
Dennis Baron, Vita, 2
Adam D. Thierer, “Plato wrote it down.” City Journal, Autumn 2009 (Oct. 23); http://www.cityjournal.org/2009/bc1023at.html. Thierer also lists the book among the 10 best technology books of
2009: http://techliberation.com/2009/12/19/the-10-most-important-info-tech-policy-books-of2009/
Jim Cullen, History News Network. Sept. 20, 2009. http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/117178.html
Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman. Nov. 3, 2009. http://www.scotsman.com/sos-review/Book-review-ABetter-Pencil.5784754.jp
William Vanderbloemen, “Twitter: A new kind of pencil.”
http://williamvanderbloemen.com/2009/10/a-new-kind-of-pencil/
Marianne Orne, Library Journal, Nov. 2009,
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6704048.html?industryid=47112
Barbara Fister, “Pencils, pixels, and panic attacks.” Library Journal.com
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6698631.html?&rid=1105906703&source=title
Elizabeth McCullough. Nov., 2009. http://internetreviewofbooks.com/nov09/a_ better_pencil.html
Juliet Waters. “Word Up.” Montreal Mirror, Dec. 3, 2009, p. 45. http://www.montreal mirror.com/
2009/120309/books1.html
Tim Kastelle & John Steen, Innovation Leadership Network.
http://timkastelle.org/blog/2009/12/innovation-lessons-from-a-better-pencil/
Roy Johnson, review, Dec. 2009. mantex.com (Manchester, England)
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/baron_2.htm
A. Asohan. “Blink and it’s a whole new world.” The Star (Malaysia)
http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?file=/2009/11/1/columnists/straythoughts/4989821&se
c=Stray%20Thoughts
Henry Farrell, Times Higher Education, Jan. 21, 2010.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=410105&c=2
Brian Winston. International Journal of Communication 4 (2010): 113-16.
Stephen Poole, The Guardian, Jan. 30, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/30/stevenpoole-nonfiction-robert-darnton
P. Finley, Choice. www.cro2.org Brian Hayes, “Electrifying Language.” American Scientist,
Nov./Dec. 2010. Review of A Better Pencil.
http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/electrifying-language. Rpt., 3quarksdaily, Dec.
28, 2010. http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2010/12/electrifying-language.html. Rpt.,
The New Yorker “Book Bench,” http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/12/a-newera-a-better-pencil.html Rpt., Arts Journal,
http://www.artsjournal.com/artsjournal1/2010/12/the_tools_of_wr.shtml; and rpt. on four other
web sites.
2.
Guide to Home Language Repair (questions, answers, and essays on the English language). Urbana:
National Council of Teachers of English (1994), viii + 165.
Reviews and notices: Richard Lederer, Boston Book Review (May 1995); William Safire, New York
Times Magazine (December 1994).
3.
The English-Only Question: An Official Language for Americans? (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1990; paper ed., 1992), pp. xxi + 226.
Reviews and notices: Publishers Weekly 237 (Aug. 10, 1990), 374; Genevieve Stuttaford, Publishers
Weekly 237 (Aug. 31, 1990), 55; Washington Post Book World (Sept. 23, 1990); Mary Banas,
Booklist 86 (August 1990), 2133-34; Kitty Chen Dean, Library Journal 115 (Sept. 1, 1990), 220;
Education Week (with 150 word excerpt; Sept. 26, 1990), 24; Hazel Sample Guyol, New York City
Tribune (Oct. 24, 1990); The Bookwatch—Midwest Book Review (February 1991), 6; Change 23
(March 1991): 55; B. Larson, Choice (March 1991), 1126; Lynn Sharon, The Jerusalem Post (10
May, 1991): 19; Suzanne Romaine, Times Literary Supplement (31 May, 1991): 8; Jonathan Pool,
American Political Science Review 85 (1991): 636-37; Book Review Digest 87 (November 1991): 13;
Dennis Baron, Vita, 3
Brian Weinstein, American Journal of Sociology 97 (1991): 863-65; Publishers Weekly (Sept. 28,
1992), 73; Elsa Auerbach, College English 54 (1992): 843-51; June K. Phillips, Modern Language
Journal 76 (1992): 112-13; Jesse Levitt, Language Problems and Language Planning 16 (1992): 27476; James E. Alatis, Language 69 (1993): 791-93.
4.
Declining Grammar and Other Essays on the English Vocabulary (Urbana, IL: National Council of
Teachers of English, 1989), pp. ix + 240.
Reviews and notices: Newsweek (Dec. 11, 1989), p. 71; William Safire, New York Times Magazine
(Dec. 3, 1989); The State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL, Nov. 26, 1989), pp. 55, 58; The Chicago
Tribune; The Chicago Sun-Times; The Denver Post; Library Materials Guide (Spring 1990), p. 99;
Book Report 8 (March 1990), p. 46; NATE News (Summer 1990), p. 22; J. N. Sivell, Language 66
(1990), pp. 859-60; Book Report 8 (March 1990), 46; Kliatt Young Adult Paperback Book Guide 24
(April 1990), 39.
5.
Grammar and Gender (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986; paper ed., 1987), pp. ix + 249.
Reviews: Kirkus Reviews 54 (Jan. 1, 1986), p. 26; Genevieve Stuttaford, Publishers Weekly 229 (Jan.
17, 1986), 59; E. Nelson Hayes, Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA), March 5, 1986; Thomas Short, The
Washington Times Magazine, March 10, 1986, 6M-7M; John Simon, The New Leader 69 (March 10,
1986), 19-20; Chronicle of Higher Education, March 19, 1986, 10; Elaine Kendall, Los Angeles
Times, March 28, 1986; Robert Paustian, Library Journal 111 (April 1, 1986), 151; Thomas Short,
Insight (April 7, 1986); Paul Wood, Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette (May 16, 1986), Weekend,
14; B. L. Dubois, Choice 23 (May, 1986), 1383; Language Monthly (May, 1986), 20-21; Charles
Sleeth, The Times Literary Supplement (July 4, 1986), 740; Beryl Lieff Benderly, Psychology Today
20 (August, 1986), 78; Virginia Quarterly Review 62 (Summer, 1986), 90; Elaine Kahn, The Toronto
Star (Sept. 20, 1986), M9; Jeremy Klein ETC. 43 (1986), 431; Book Review Digest 82 (January,
1987), 9; Clarence Petersen, Chicago Tribune (July 26, 1987), sec. 14, p. 4; rpt. Akron (Ohio) Beacon
Journal, Clearwater (Florida) Sun, Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times, Wilkes-Barre
(Pennsylvania) Times Leader (Aug. 9, 1987), Troy (N.Y.) Record (Aug. 14, 1987); Priscilla Taylor,
The Editorial Eye no. 144 (August, 1987), p. 7; Armida Gilbert, Studies in the American Renaissance,
ed. Joel Myerson (1987), p. 394; Frank Neussel, Lingua 72 (1987), pp. 243-48; G. M. Awbery,
Modern Language Review 83 (1988), pp. 644-45; David Simpson, Review 9 (1987): 600-03; Patricia
Lorimer Lundberg, American Speech 63 (1988), pp. 169-75; D. R. Mott, Southern Quarterly Review
26 (1988): 65; Patricia C. Nichols, Signs 13 (1988), 600-04; W. Nelson Francis, Language 65 (1989):
176-77; Sally McConnell-Ginet, JEGP 88 (1989): 211-13; R. L. Widmann, Frontiers 10 (1989): 9394; Ursula Oomen, Anglia 108 (1990): 167-69; Muriel Schulz, Journal of English Linguistics 22.2
(October 1989 [1993]), 240-43.
Nominated for the Mina P. Shaughnessey Medal of the Modern Language Association.
6.
Grammar and Good Taste: Reforming the American Language (New Haven: Yale University Press,
1982; paper ed., 1984), pp. IX + 263.
Reviews: Stephen H. Cape, Library Journal 107 (Nov. 15, 1982), 2176; John C. Hawley, America
147 (Nov. 27, 1982), 336; Stuart Berg Flexner, The New York Times Book Review, Nov. 28, 1982, 11,
26; Willard R. Espy, The Washington Post Book World 12, Dec. 5, 1982, 1, 14; Angus Paul,
Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 19, 1983, 29, 31; Anthony Quinton, The Times (of London), Jan.
27, 1983, 10; Edward M. White, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, Mar. 6, 1983, 7; Peter Dobkin
Hall, Journal of American History 70 (1983), 114; D. J. Enright, Encounter 61 (July/August, 1983),
65-72; John H. Fisher, American Literature 55 (1983), 671-73; Douglas Tallack, Journal of American
Studies 17 (1983), 473-75; Ewald Standop, Amerikastudien 28 (1983), 506-08; Book Review Digest
81 (1983), 89; Richard W. Bailey, Journal of English and Germanic Philology 83 (1984), 144-46;
Fern Rook, Technical Communication 31 (1st qtr, 1984), 31; The Augusta Chronicle, Augusta Herald,
Dennis Baron, Vita, 4
Feb. 25, 1984, 6B; Elmer M. Blistein, American Studies 24 (1984), 123-24; Ronald Butters, South
Atlantic Quarterly 83 (1984), 471-72; Rudolph C. Bambas, English Language Notes 21 (June, 1984),
71; World Literature Today 58 (Winter, 1984), 176; Gerald T. Burns, History of Education Quarterly
24 (1984), 465-78; Caroline Bokinsky, Studies in the American Renaissance, ed. Joel Myerson
(1984), p. 430; Guy Jean Forgue, Etudes Anglaises 38 (1985), 99-100; David Seed, Review of English
Studies 36 (1985), 461-62; Leonard Moskovit, College Composition and Communication 37 (Feb.
1986), 105-07; Frank Anshen, American Speech 61 (1986), 89-93; Ursula Ooman, Anglia 104 (1986):
159-62; Book Review Digest 82 (January, 1987), p. 9; Michael P. Kramer, ESQ 34 (1988): 294-96;
English Journal 78 (Oct., 1989) 84.
Selected for the “Editor’s Choice” section of The New York Times Book Review. Selected by the
Library of Congress for recording for the blind. Nominated for the 1982 Mina P. Shaughnessy Medal
and the 1987 James Russell Lowell award of the Modern Language Association; selected by the
Editorial Board of the National Council of Teachers of English for distribution as an affiliate
publication of the NCTE.
7.
Going Native: The Regeneration of Saxon English. Publication of The American Dialect Society,
No. 69 (University: University of Alabama Press, 1982), pp. IX + 63.
8.
Case Grammar and Diachronic English Syntax (The Hague: Mouton, 1974), pp. 132.
Reviews: Lilo Moessner, Linguistics 178 (1976), 65-70; Manfred Gorlach, Indogermanische
Forschungen 81 (1977, for 1976), 415-18; The Year’s Work in Old English Studies 9 (1976), 19;
Christian Peeters, Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire 59 (1981), 736-37.
Supreme Court Amicus Brief:
Brief for Professors of Linguistics and English Dennis E. Baron, Ph.D., Richard W. Bailey, Ph.D., and
Jeffrey P. Kaplan, Ph.D. in support of petitioners. District of Columbia, et al., v. Dick Anthony Heller. 554
U.S. 570 (2008)
Media:
“The Plain Language Movement.” Part of Stephen Fry’s series “English Delight,” BBC Radio 4, August
2014.
“Latinos in America.” PBS Documentary aired in Oct. 2013. In episode 6 of the 6-part series I discuss
official English, bilingualism, and minority language rights.
Book Chapters:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
“Post on Facebook, go directly to jail.” Rpt. in Roen, Duane, ed., McGraw-Hill Guide: Writing for
college, writing for life. Forthcoming, January, 2017.
“Don’t make English official, ban it instead.” Rpt. in Roen, Duane, ed., McGraw-Hill Guide:
Writing for college, writing for life. Forthcoming, January, 2017.
“Facebook multiplies genders but offers users the same three tired pronouns.” Melissa
Goldthwaite, et al., eds. The Norton Reader, 14/e New York: W.W. Norton. Forthcoming,
January, 2016.
“Facebook multiplies genders but offers users the same three tired pronouns.” The Little Norton
Reader. New York: W.W. Norton. A special edition containing 50 essays from the first 50 years,
to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Norton Reader. Forthcoming, 2016.
“Who owns global English?” The Norton Reader, ed. Linda H. Peterson and John C. Brereton.
New York: Norton.
Dennis Baron, Vita, 5
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
“Should Everybody Write?” In Andrea Lunsford, Everyone’s an author, with readings. New
York, NY: W. W. Norton, 2012
“The Noun Game: A simple grammar lesson leads to a clash of civilizations.” The Simon and
Schuster Short Prose Reader. Robert Funk, Susan Day, et. al. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2011. Pp.
128-34.
“#Twitter Revolution.” They Say, I Say, with Readings 2e. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012.
“The More Things Change: Language and Education.” In Anne Curzan and Michael Adams, eds.,
Contours of English. Univ. of Michigan Press (2010).
“The New Technologies of the Word.” In Keith Walters and Michal Brody, eds., What’s
Language Got to Do with It?” New York: W. W. Norton, 2005, pp. 136-51. Rpt. in Lynn Bloom
and Louise Smith, The Arlington Reader, 2e., New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008; rpt. 2010.
“Don’t Make English Official—Ban It Instead.” [rpt. of 1996 essay]. In Keith Walters and Michal
Brody, eds., What’s Language Got to Do with It?” New York: W. W. Norton, 2005, pp. 477-79.
“Forget Everything You Learned About Writing.” In Chris Anson, ed., The WAC Casebook:
Scenes for Faculty Reflection and Program Development. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2003,
pp. 261-65.
“Language Legislation and Language Abuse: American Language Policy through the 1990s.” In
Language Ideologies: Critical Perspectives on the Official English Movement, vol. 2: History,
Theory and Policy, ed. Roseann D. Gonzalez with Ildiko Melis (Urbana: NCTE, and Lawrence
Earlbaum Assoc., 2001), pp. 5-29.
“From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies.” In Passions, Pedagogies and 21stCentury Technologies, ed. Gail Hawisher and Cynthia Selfe (Logan: Utah State Univ. Press and
the National Council of Teachers of English, 1999), pp. 15-33. [This is the lead essay in the book.]
Rpt. in Ellen Cushman, Eugene R. Kintgen, Barry M. Kroll, and Mike Rose, eds., Literacy: A
Critical Sourcebook. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2001. Pp. 70-84.
“An Official Language.” Rpt. (from The English Only Question) in Writing About Diversity: An
Argument Reader and Guide, ed. Irene L. Clark (Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1994), pp. 284-302.
“Language Is the Enemy.” Rpt. (from Declining Grammar) in Dimensions of Language, ed. Boyd
Davis. (New York: Macmillan, 1993), pp. 427-31.
“Language, Culture, and Society,” in Introduction to Scholarship in Modern Languages and
Literatures, ed. Joseph Gibaldi. 2nd ed. (New York: Modern Language Association, 1992), pp.
28-52.
“Federal English and the Constitution,” rpt. in Language Loyalties, ed. James Crawford. Chicago:
Univ. of Chicago Press (1992), pp. 36-40.
“The Legal Status of English in Illinois: Case Study of a Multilingual State,” in Not Only English:
Affirming America’s Multilingual Heritage, ed. Harvey A. Daniels (Urbana: National Council of
Teachers of English, 1990), pp. 13-26.
“Watching Our Grammar: The English Language for English Teachers,” in On Literacy and Its
Teaching: Issues in English Education, ed. Gail Hawisher and Anna Soter (Albany: State Univ. of
New York Press, 1990), pp. 208-23. [Review: Sharon J. Hamilton, College English 55 (1993):
794-800.
“Watching Our Grammar” (rpt. from Grammar and Good Taste), in The Story of English: Study
Guide and Reader (Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1986).
“Nonstandard English, Composition, and the Academic Establishment,” 1975; rpt. in Readings in
Applied English Linguistics, ed. Harold B. Allen and Michael Linn, 3rd. ed. (New York: Alfred
Knopf, 1982), pp. 436-43.
Articles:
1.
“Nowadays, ‘Like’ Just Means ‘Uh-Huh’” Visual Thesaurus. August 11, 2014.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/nowadays-like-just-means-uh-huh/’ Vocabulary.com
http://www.vocabulary.com/articles/wc/nowadays-like-just-means-uh-huh/
Dennis Baron, Vita, 6
2.
“America’s war on language.” OxfordWords Blog. Sept. 17.
http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/09/americas-war-language/
Days and Memories Blog. http://hgmsblog.weebly.com/blog/americas-war-on-language Sept. 3.
3. “Changing gender in language isn’t easy.” New York Times, “Room for Debate” Oct. 19, 2014.
http://nyti.ms/1tDISSa
4. “Nobody likes a whistleblower, wrayer, snitch, narker, denunciator, quadruplator, or emphanist.”
Visual Thesaurus. Feb. 23, 2014.
5. “Plain English: It’s the law.” Visual Thesaurus. Feb. 7, 2014.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/plain-english-its-the-law/
6. “Banning words for the new year.” Vocabulary.com. January 20, 2914.
http://www.vocabulary.com/articles/wc/banning-words-for-the-new-year/“ Visual Thesaurus.
January 20, 2014. http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/banning-words-for-the-new-year/
7. “Dennis Baron’s Word of the Year for 2013: ‘marriage’” Visual Thesaurus. Dec. 24, 2013.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/dennis-barons-word-of-the-year-for-2013-marriage/
8. “The highest dictionary in the land?” Oxford University Press Blog. June 23, 2013.
http://bit.ly/11UkV54
9. “The highest dictionary in the land?” Visual Thesaurus. June 24, 2013. http://bit.ly/11GYbGK
10. “Will the real Gettysburg Address please stand up?” Visual Thesaurus. Nov. 19, 2013.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/will-the-real-gettysburg-address-please-stand-up/
11. “Pens and Pencils Down: New York City's ‘Banned Words’ Controversy.” Visual Thesaurus.
April 4, 2012. http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/3212/
12. “Wikipedia: Write first, ask questions later.” Rpt. in James C. McDonald, The Reader. New York:
Pearson, 2012.
13. “Learning not to curse in Arizona.” Oxford Univ. Press blog. May 27, 2012
14. “Why we misread.” Visual Thesaurus. July 3, 2012. http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/whywe-misread/
15. “Grammar freaks really are strange.” Cultural Weekly. July 19, 2012.
http://www.culturalweekly.com/grammar-freaks-strange.html
16. “Grammar sticklers may have OCD.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. Aug. 18, 2012.
http://blog.oup.com/2012/08/grammar-sticklers-may-have-ocd/
17. “The e-reader over your shoulder.” Visual Thesaurus. Nov. 12, 2012.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/the-e-reader-over-your-shoulder/
18. “The e-reader over your shoulder.” Oxford University Press blog, Nov. 24, 2012.
http://blog.oup.com/2012/11/the-e-reader-over-yourshoulder/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+oupblog+%2
8OUPblog%29
19. “Apple patents page-turning. What’s next, the letter “i”? Visual Thesaurus. Nov. 27, 2012.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/apple-patents-page-turning-whats-next-the-letter-i/
20. “Dennis Baron’s Word of the Year for 2012 is #hashtag.” Visual Thesaurus, Dec. 16, 2012.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/dennis-barons-word-of-the-year-for-2012-hashtag
21. “No laptops: Classroom bans on digital devices are spreading.” Visual Thesaurus, Jan. 14, 2013.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/no-laptops-classroom-bans-on-digitaldevices-are-spreading/
22. “National Grammar Day in Wartime.” Visual Thesaurus. Mar. 4, 2013.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/national-grammar-day-in-wartime/
23. “The Great Language Change Hoax.” Academe. (The AAUP blog). April 1, 2013.
http://academeblog.org/2013/04/01/the-great-language-change-hoax/
24. “English-only in the exit row.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. April 29, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/04/exit-row/
25. “The most human computer?” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. May 5, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/05/human-computer/
26. “Teaching commas won’t help.” Visual Thesaurus, May 16, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2848
27. “Teaching commas won’t help.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. June 14, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/06/teaching-commas/
Dennis Baron, Vita, 7
28. “Webster’s lays down the law.” Visual Thesaurus Magazine. June 15, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2883/
29. “But the dictionary says. . .” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. June 27, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/06/dictionary-courtroom/
30. “Content-Free Prose: Death of Writing or Next Big Thing?” Visual Thesaurus. June 29, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2893?utm_source=rss
31. “Content-Free Prose: Death of Writing or Next Big Thing?” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. July 8,
2011. http://blog.oup.com/2011/07/content-free-prose/
32. “Are laws requiring English signs discriminatory?” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. July 21, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/07/english-signs/
33. “Computers remember so you don’t have to.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. July 28, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/07/google-effect/
34. “That ugly Americanism? It could well be British.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. Aug. 5, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/08/ugly-americanism/
35. “New words are great for back to school.” Visual Thesaurus. Aug. 30, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2956/?utm_source=rss
36. “New words are great for back to school.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog, Sep. 1, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/09/school-words/
37. “The linguistic impact of 9/11? ‘9/11’ itself.” Visual Thesaurus. Sep. 12, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2969/
38. “The linguistic impact of 9/11”. Oxford Univ. Press Blog. Sep. 12, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/09/linguistic-impact/
39. “The only linguistic impact of 9/11 is ‘9/11’ itself.” Cultural Weekly, Sep. 14, 2011.
http://www.culturalweekly.com/only-linguistic-impact-of-911-is-911-itself.html
40. “Are there alternatives to global English?” Visual Thesaurus. Sept. 27, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2985/
41. “Is resistance futile? Are there alternatives to global English?” Cultural Weekly. Sept. 29, 2011.
http://www.culturalweekly.com/is-resistance-futil-are-there-alternatives-to-global-english.html
42. “Resistance may be futile: Are there alternatives to global English?” OUP Blog, Oct. 11, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/10/global-english/; reposted in the Daily Beast, Oct. 12, 2011.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/10/english-has-taken-over.html
43. “Is this the last print dictionary?” Cultural Weekly. Oct. 19, 2011.
http://www.culturalweekly.com/is-this-the-last-print-dictionary.html
44. “The laws of English punctuation.” Visual Thesaurus. Oct. 24, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/3011/
45. “Talk like Shakespeare Day.” Cultural Weekly. Oct. 27, 2011.
http://www.culturalweekly.com/talk-like-shakespeare-day.html
46. “Occupy Wall Street: Can the revolution be trademarked?” Oxford University Press Blog. Nov.
28, 2011. http://blog.oup.com/2011/11/occupy-trademark/
47. “Dennis Baron’s Word of the Year for 2011: ‘Volatility.’” Visual Thesaurus. Dec. 2, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/3052/
48. “How to save an endangered language.” Oxford University Press Blog. Dec. 4, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/12/endangered-language/
49. “The top language stories of 2011.” Visual Thesaurus. Dec. 20, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/3072
50. “Dictionary droids write definitions untouched by human hands.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. Jan.
24, 2012. http://blog.oup.com/2012/01/dictionary-droids-write-definitions-untouched-by-humanhands/
51. “The Writer’s Meme.” Cultural Weekly. Feb. 22, 2012. http://www.culturalweekly.com/thewriters-meme.html
52. “Alejandrina Cabrera should be on the San Luis City Council ballot.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog.
Feb. 28, 2012. http://blog.oup.com/2012/02/alejandrina-cabrera-san-luis-city-council/
53. “Learning not to curse in Arizona.” Cultural Weekly. Mar. 15, 2012.
http://www.culturalweekly.com/learning-not-to-curse-in-arizona.html
54. “The iPad: What’s a Gutenberg moment, anyway?” Visual Thesaurus, March 7, 2010,
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2240/
Dennis Baron, Vita, 8
55. “The iPad: What’s a Gutenberg moment, anyway?” Oxford University Press Blog. March 8, 2010.
http://blog.oup.com/2010/04/ipad/
56. “Yes, we want”: Who owns global English? Visual Thesaurus, May 4, 2010,
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2264/
57. “The New Technologies of the Word.” Rpt. in The Arlington Reader (New York: Bedford St.
Martins, 2010.
58. “Don’t read this: What Kindle’s Highlights tell us about popular taste.” The Visual Thesaurus.
July 2, 2010. http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2339/
59. “Revising our freedom: Digital archeology and Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration of
Independence.” Oxford University Press blog, July 9, 2010. http://blog.oup.com/2010/07/revisingour-freedom/
60. “Robot teachers!!! Coming soon, to a classroom near you!!!” Oxford University Press blog, July
13, 2010. http://blog.oup.com/2010/07/robot-teachers; repost, io9.com, July 28, 2010.
http://io9.com/5599084/robot-teachers-coming-soon-to-a-classroom-near-you
61. “The gender-neutral pronoun: Still an epic(ene) fail.” Visual Thesaurus. August 9, 2010.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2384/; OUP blog, Aug. 26, 2101,
http://blog.oup.com/2010/08/gender-neutral-pronoun/
62. “Technology update: Flying books can be dangerous.” Oxford University Press blog, August 13,
2010. http://blog.oup.com/2010/08/ebooks-3/
63. “Is it ‘Miss’ or ‘Ms’?” Oxford University Press blog. Aug. 16, 2010.
http://blog.oup.com/2010/08/miss-or-ms/; rpt. as “What’s in a Name? For “Ms.,” a Long History.”
on Ms. Magazine blog, Aug.27, 2010, http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/08/27/whats-in-aname-for-ms-a-long-history/
64. “Good grammar leads to violence at Starbucks?” Visual Thesaurus. August 17, 2010.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2394/
65. “Good grammar leads to violence at Starbucks?” Oxford University Press blog. Aug. 20, 2010.
http://blog.oup.com/2010/08/starbucks/
66. “Facebook says, ‘All your face are belong to us.’” Oxford University Press blog, Aug. 31, 2010.
http://blog.oup.com/2010/08/facebook-trademark/
67. “Facebook says, ‘All your face are belong to us.’” Visual Thesaurus. Sept. 9, 2010.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2414/
68. “The English Language Unity Act: Big government only a tea partier could love.” Oxford
University Press blog, Sept. 24, 2010. http://blog.oup.com/2010/09/english-language-unity/; rpt
Dallas Morning News, Sept. 24, 2010. http://topics.dallasnews.com/article/0gsfem7buy0AM; rpt.
NPR quotes, Sept. 24, 2010. http://topics.npr.org/quote/0bqS3ST97z0yC; rpt. Latest Law News,
Sept. 24, 2010, http://www.tollfree800legal.com/news/latest-law-news.cfm?Next-NewsID=3524647&start=51;
69. “It’s alive! New omputer learns language like a human, almost.” Oxford University Press blog.
Oct. 11, 2010. http://blog.oup.com/2010/10/computer-learns-language/ Picked up by NPR, the
BBC, technorati, and techeye.
70. “Killer app: Seven dirty words you can’t say on your iPhone.” Oxford University Press Blog. Oct.
18, 2010. http://blog.oup.com/2010/10/dirty-words/
71. “Killer app: Will the iPhone monitor your language?” The Visual Thesaurus. Oct. 19, 2010.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2455/
72. “A Literal Paradox.” Visual Thesaurus. Oct. 26, 2010.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2465/
73. “A Literal Paradox: literally generally means ‘figuratively.’ Oxford Univ. Press Blog. Oct. 29,
2010. http://blog.oup.com/2010/10/literal-paradox/
74. “All hail Goddess English.” Oxford University Press Blog. Nov. 9, 2010.
http://blog.oup.com/2010/11/all-hail-goddess-english/
75. “The tweet police are watching.” The Visual Thesaurus. Nov. 17, 2010.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2506/
76. “ J when you say that, pardner,” – the tweet police are watching.” Oxford University Press Blog,
Nov. 22, 2010. http://blog.oup.com/2010/11/tweet-police/
77. “On the internet, nobody knows you can’t spell.” Oxford University Press Blog, Nov. 29, 2010.
http://blog.oup.com/2010/11/you-cant-spell/
Dennis Baron, Vita, 9
78. “The Noun Game: A simple grammar lesson leads to a clash of civilizations.” Oxford Univ. Press
blog. Dec. 10, 2010. http://blog.oup.com/2010/12/noun-game/
79. “President has Americans running to the dictionary.” Visual Thesaurus. Dec. 13, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2531/
80. “Books by the numbers.” Visual Thesaurus. Dec. 20, 2010.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2546/
81. “Books by the numbers.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. Jan. 6, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/01/books-by-the-numbers/
82. “Defending the language with bullets.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. Jan. 14, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/01/bullets/
83. “The government does not control your grammar.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog, Jan. 28, 2011.
http://blog.oup.com/2011/01/grammar/
84. “The Supreme Court Debates: What does ‘personal’ mean?” Visual Thesaurus. Jan. 24, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2582/
85. “#twitterrevolution—reforming Egypt 140 characters at a time.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog, Feb.
17, 2011. http://blog.oup.com/2011/02/twitter-revolution/
86. “The government’s out-of-date definition of writing.” Visual Thesaurus. Feb. 18, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2628/
87. “The government’s definition of writing is seriously out of date.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. Feb.
28, 2011. http://blog.oup.com/2011/02/dictionary-act/
88. “Who cares about National Grammar Day? Or is it whom?” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. Mar. 4,
2011. http://blog.oup.com/2011/03/grammar-day
89. “When news breaks, people look it up in the dictionary.” Visual Thesaurus. March 10, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2655/
90. “It’s time for English teachers to stop teaching that the world is flat.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog.
Mar. 18, 2011. http://blog.oup.com/2011/03/english-teachers
91. “Happy birthday OK: the world’s most-popular word turns 172,” Oxford Univ. Press Blog. Mar.
23, 2011. http://blog.oup.com/2011/03/ok-day/
92. “OED Hearts OMG.” Visual Thesaurus. April 11, 2011.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/2815/
93. “TSA bans reading on international flights.” Indyposted, Jan. 4, 2010.
http://indyposted.com/8627/tsa-bans-reading-on-international-flights/
94. “Say goodbye to the decade with no name.” Visual Thesaurus, Dec. 18, 2009.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2100/
95. “English teachers council gives Glenn Beck the ‘Doublespeak Award’.” My statement was
reprinted verbatim in a Washington Post article about the Doublespeak Award by Valerie Strauss,
Nov. 23, 2009, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/accountability/ncte-award-glennbeck-the-doub.html
96. “The Noun Game.” The Visual Thesaurus. Nov. 16, 2009.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2067/
97. “Technology reduces the value of old people, MIT computer guru warns.” Oxford Univ. Press,
OUPBlog, Nov. 11, http://blog.oup.com/2009/11/old-people/
98. “Happy belated 40th birthday to the internet.” Oxford Univ. Press, OUPBlog, Nov. 3,
http://blog.oup.com/2009/11/40th-birthday-internet/
99. “Two thumbs up? Researchers predict that by 2013, we’ll all be Tweeting.” Oxford Univ. Press,
OUPBlog, Oct. 27 http://blog.oup.com/2009/10/universal_authorship/
100. “Blogging for pay.” Oxford Univ. Press, OUPBlog, Oct. 8, http://blog.oup.com/2009/10/bloggingfor-pay/
101. “Amazon sales rank: I’m being outsold by a book on tattoos.” Oxford Univ. Press, OUPBlog,
Sept. 25, http://blog.oup.com/2009/09/amazon-rank/
102. “The Spellings Commission, the ACT, and the ETS Just Don’t Read America’s Literacy Right.”
College Composition and Communication 61.1 (Sept. 2009): W424-35.
103. “The Elements of Style at 50: If You Celebrate, Use the Active Voice.” Visual Thesaurus, April 6,
2009, http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/1805
104. “ ’Tis Talk Like Shakespeare Day in Chicago, Methinks.” Visual Thesaurus, April 23, 2009.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/1827/
Dennis Baron, Vita, 10
105. “Amazon Fail 2.0: Orwell Removed from Kindles.” Visual Thesaurus, July 21, 2009.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1922/
106. “Amazon Fail 2.0: Bookseller’s Big Brother removes Orwell’s Big Brother from Kindles
everywhere.” Oxford Univ. Press OUPblog. July 21, 2009.
http://blog.oup.com/2009/07/amazon_fail2/
107. “Digital Text.” Letters. Wilson Quarterly (winter, 2010), p. 6.
108. “Multitasking: Learning to teach and text at the same time.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog, Jan. 25,
2010. http://blog.oup.com/2010/01/teach-and-text/#more-7305
109. “Will the iPad change your life?” Oxford Univ. Press Blog, Jan 28, 2010.
http://blog.oup.com/2010/01/will-the-ipad-change-your-life/
110. “Sliced Bread 2.0.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog, Feb. 24, 2010. http://blog.oup.com/2010/02/slicedbread-2-0/
111. “Should everybody write? The destabilizing technologies of communication.” Oxford Univ. Press
Blog, Mar. 16, 2010. http://blog.oup.com/2010/03/should-everybody-write/ a day later, there
were 25 reposts of the essay.
112. “Should everybody write?” Visual Thesaurus. Mar. 16, 2010.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/2204/
113. “Multitasking: Learning to Teach and Text at the Same Time” Quality Teacher (a quarterly
journal of Bato Balani Foundation, the Philippines; forthcoming).
114. “The book, the scroll, and the web.” Oxford Univ. Press Blog, April 2, 2010.
http://blog.oup.com/2010/04/scroll-book/
115. “March 10: The telephone is 133 years old today. Call me.” Visual Thesaurus. March 10, 2009.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/1768/
116. “Lincoln the writer at 200.” The Visual Thesaurus. Feb 13, 2009.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/1722/
117. “No Students Left Behind: Why Reports on the Literacy Crisis from the Spellings Commission,
the ACT, and the ETS Just Don’t Read America’s Literacy Right.” College Composition and
Communication 61.1 (Sept. 2009): W424-35.
118. “Noah Webster at 250: A Visionary or a Crackpot?” The Visual Thesaurus. Oct. 16, 2008.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dictionary/1576/
119. “Can commas shoot down gun control?” Los Angeles Times, March 22, 2007. Rpt. Oxford
Magazine no. 264 (Oxford Univ.), Spring (second week, Trinity term) 2007, pp. 12-13.; also rpt.,
The Green Bag, second series, vol. 10, no. 40 (Quarterly Law review of the George Mason School
of Law), Summer 2007.
120. “Don't write off the pencil just yet.” Los Angeles Times, Jan. 23, 2007, A15.
121. “No academic bill of rights?” Inside Higher Education, June 13, 2006. www.ihe.com.
122. “Churchill fallout: It’s about academic freedom.” Inside Higher Education, May 26, 2006.
www.ihe.com.
123. “I’m not really a professor, I just play one on TV.” Inside Higher Education, Oct. 14, 2005.
124. “The College Board’s New Essay Reverses Decades of Progress Toward Literacy.” Chronicle of
Higher Education. May 6, 2005. Pp. B14-15; rpt. in Newsletter of the Northeast Association of
Pre-Law Advisors, Fall 2005.
125. “The New Nativism: Language Policy and Linguistic Ideology in the United States.” Ryukyus
Journal of American Studies (April, 2005): 1-12.
126. “Not Searching for Skeletons.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 14, 2005, C1;4.
127. “The Tongue Who Would Be King.” Science and Spirit, November/December 2004, pp. 28-33.
128. “The President’s Reading Lesson.” Education Week, Sept. 8, 2004, p. 43.
129. “A Diverse Department.” Chronicle of Higher Education, August 13, 2004, C2-3.
130. “Avoiding the Role of Straight Man.” Chronicle of Higher Education, June 18, C1;4.
131. “Around the Clock.” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 21, 2004, C1;4.
132. “It’s Just Grammar. Whom Really Cares?” Los Angeles Times, May 7, 2004, B17; rpt., Austin
(Texas) American-Statesman, Adrian (Michigan) Daily Telegram, May 12, 2004.
133. “What Am I Worth?” Chronicle of Higher Education. April 23, 2004, C1;4.
134. “Lessons in Department Budgeting.” Chronicle of Higher Education. March 26, 2004, C2-3.
Dennis Baron, Vita, 11
135. “Language and society.” For PBS Documentary, “Do you speak American?”
www.pbs.org/speak/words/sezwho/socialsetting. [Rpt. in Insightful Writing, ed. David Sabrio and
Mitchel Burchfield. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 2008.
136. “No Translation Needed: ‘Door Is Closed.’” Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2004, M5 [rpt. Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, Kansas City Star; Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) Sun-News; Bryan-College
Station (TX) Eagle; translated into Finnish for Helsingin Sanomat (Helsinki, Finland), March 28,
2004].
137. “New Programs, New Problems.” Chronicle of Higher Education. Feb. 27, 2004. C1;4.
138. “Intervening in the Classroom.” Chronicle of Higher Education. Jan. 30, 2004, C1;4
139. “Sharing Inside Information.” Chronicle of Higher Education. Dec. 19, 2003, C1; 4.
140. “McLanguage Meets the Dictionary.” Chronicle of Higher Education. Dec. 19, 2003, B14.
141. “Not What I Signed Up For.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 21, 2003, C1; C4.
142. “Professors Behaving Badly.” Chronicle of Higher Education, October 24, 2003, C3-4.
143. “Learning to Be a Department Head.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept. 22, 2003, C5.
144. “Life After Tenure.” Chronicle of Higher Education, July 21, 2003.
145. “When Tenure Fails.” Chronicle of Higher Education, June 10, 2003.
146. “Teaching Grammar Doesn’t Lead to Better Writing.” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 16,
2003, B20.
147. “Promoting Late Bloomers.” Chronicle of Higher Education, April 25, 2003.
148. “The Tenure Files: Getting Through the College.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 14, 2003.
149. “External Reviewers.” Chronicle of Higher Education, January 7, 2003.
150. “A Look at the Record.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 7, 2002.
151. “I Teach English—and I Hate Reader’s Guides.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 4, 2002, p.
B5.
152. “Good Grammar and the Career Network.” Chronicle of Higher Education, July 31, 2002.
153. “Language Use and Grammar.” The September, 2002, module for “Teaching Composition,” a
listserv for the composition teaching community, published by McGraw-Hill.
http://www.mhhe.com//socscience/english/tc.
154. “Getting Promoted.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept. 5, 2002.
155. “The Job Search: You’re the One.” Chronicle of Higher Education, April 12, 2002.
156. “The Campus Visit.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 24, 2002.
157. “Will Anyone Accept the Good News on Literacy?” Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 1, 2002,
B10.
158. “The Job Interview.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 21, 2002.
159. “To Whom It May Concern: Reading Job Applications.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec, 21,
2001.
160. “The Hiring Season.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 9, 2001.
161. “America Doesn’t Know What the World Is Saying.” Op-Ed essay, The New York Times, Oct. 27, 2001,
A21. Rpt. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 30, 2001, B11.
162. “The End of Linguistics: a response” letter to the editor, The American Scholar (Spring, 2001): 155-56.
163. “The Official Secrets Act in Academic Publishing.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 16, 2001, B5.
164. “Literacy and technology.” In Linda K. Shamoon, R. M. Howard, S. Jamieson, and R. A. Schwegler,
eds., Coming of Age: The Advanced Writing Curriculum. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, Boynton/Cook,
2000 and on CD-rom. Approx. 8 pp.
165. “Ebonics and the Politics of English.” World Englishes 19 (March, 2000): 5-19.
166. “Technology’s Impact on Writing.” Letter. Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 21, 2000, B11.
167. “To Sir, or Ma’am, with Love.” Education Week. Sept. 8, 1999, 45.
168. “When Professors Get A’s and Machines Get F’s.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 20, 1998, A56.
169. “Can B-Schools Corner the Market on Knowledge?” Chronicle of Higher Education, June 5, 1998, B7.
170. “How to Be a Person, Not a Number, on the U.S. Census.” Chronicle of Higher Education, April 3,
1998, B8.
171. “Ebonics Is Not a Panacea for Students at Risk.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 24, 1997, B4-5.
Rpt. in Second-Language Learner, Chicago Public Schools, 1997.
172. Cartoon: “This is a Test” English Journal 87 (February 1998): 8.
Dennis Baron, Vita, 12
173. Cartoon: “Mark Twain as a walrus designed by a committee” English Journal 86 (October, 1997): 26.
174. “Lingua Blanka: Official English? Let’s Be Done With the Poor Old Mother Tongue.” Op-Ed essay, The
Washington Post Sunday, Sept. 8, 1996, C5. Rpt. as “Official English? Let’s Ban It Instead!” Hartford
Courant, Sept. 13, 1996; “English official in US? No, let’s ban it.” The Evening Post (Wellington, NZ),
Sept. 18, 1996, 4; “English prohibited here,” Miami Herald, Sept. 19, 1996, 23a.; rpt. in Andrea Lunsford
and John J. Ruszkiewicz, Everything’s an Argument, NY: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2001; rpt. in Keith
Walters and Michal Brody, eds., What’s Language Got To Do With It?, NY: W.W. Norton, pp. 477-79.
175. “Exploration to master English.” Letter to the editor, Washington Post, April 23, 1996, A16.
176. “Grammar on the Internet,” Oklahoma English Journal 10 (Spring 1996): 26-27.
177. Cartoon: “William Shakespeare Takes Young Hamnet Shopping for School Supplies,” Englsih Journal
(Sept. 1996): 10.
178. “Listen Up: Hey, here are the top words of ’95” Op-ed Essay, Chicago Tribune, Jan. 1, 1996, sec. 1, p.
13.
179. Twelve cartoons, English Journal (1995-97).
180. “Grammar is not the problem.” Letter to the editor, Washington Post, August 2, 1995.
181. “Royal Rhetoric.” Op-Ed essay. Chicago Tribune, April 7, 1995.
182. “The best phrase of 1994 is . . .” Op-Ed essay, Chicago Tribune Dec. 16, 1994, A13.
183. Cartoon, “Global Warming.” Chronicle of Higher Education, July 13, 1994, B3.
184. “Idiomatic Usage and the Deterioration of Language: The Debate Rages.” The Council Chronicle
(September 1994), p. 20.
185. Cartoon, “Ask Dr. Grammar.” The NCTE Standard 1.2 (Summer 1994): 15.
186. “Fact Versus Opinion.” The Council Chronicle 3.5 (June 1994): 16-17.
187. “The Noun Game—When Cultures Intersect.” Inflections 2.1 (May 1994): 1 – 3. Rpt. as “Where
cultures meet.” The Education Network (Summer 1994, no. 6) of the Australian Education Network, 1718. Rpt. in Statement, journal of the Colorado Language Arts Society (vol. 31, no. 3, Summer 1995), pp.
56-57; The San Antonio Area Council of Teachers of English Journal 12.2 (Spring 1995): 15-17.
188. “Best words of ’93 sound like trouble.” Op-Ed essay, Chicago Tribune, January 13, 1994, sec. 1, p. 13.
189. “Getting a read on government bungling.” Op-Ed essay, Chicago Tribune, Sept. 22, 1993, sec. 1, p. 13.
190. “School: An American paradox.” Op-Ed essay, Baltimore Sun, Sept. 7, 1993, 9A.
191. Review, Random House Webster’s College Dictionary, American Speech 68: 205-12.
192. “Keep the factoids and just stick to the facts.” Op-Ed essay, Atlanta Constitution, May 5, 1993, A13.
193. “What’s in a Word?” Op-Ed essay, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 5, 1993, 3C.
194. “The Literacy Complex.” Cultural Values and Ethics (March 1993): 3-15.
195. “Watch your language.” The Stag (journal of the Scientific and Technical Authors Group) no. 11
(Winter/Spring 1993): 15-18.
196. “Dial 1-800-M4MURDR.” English Today 33 (January, 1993): 25-26.
197. Review of Francine Frank and Paula Treichler, eds., Language, Gender, and Professional Writing (New
York: MLA), American Speech 67 (1992): 94-99.
198. “Declining Grammar.” SENSE Newsletter (Society of English-Native-Speaking Editors in the
Netherlands) 1, no. 1 (Winter 1992), pp. 1; 3-4. [Rpt. from Declining Grammar and Other Essays on the
English Vocabulary]
199. “Leaks Spring Eternal.” American Speech 67 (1992): 112.
200. “Grammar.” The President’s Scrapbook. Inside Illinois (1 Oct., 1992), p. 5.
201. “Orthography.” The President’s Scrapbook. Inside Illinois (20 Aug., 1992), p. 3.
202. Letter, “Defending Linguistic Diversity.” Chronicle of Higher Education, August 12, 1992. B3.
203. “Why Do Academics Continue to Insist on `Proper’ English?” Chronicle of Higher Education, 1 July,
1992, B1-2.
204. Letter, “How higher education deals with plagiarism.” Chronicle of Higher Education, March 18, 1992,
B4.
205. Letter, “Myth of German Replacing English by only 1 Vote.” Verbatim 18.1 (1991): 6.
206. Letter, “Computer proliferation: a death knell for print?” Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 31, 1991,
B6.
207. “English in a Multicultural America.” Social Policy 21.4 (Spring 1991): 5-14.
208. Contributor to “Among the New Words,” American Speech, numerous vols.
Dennis Baron, Vita, 13
209. Review of Sidney Greenbaum, Good English and the Grammarian (London: Longman), in World
Englishes 10 (1991): 100-102.
210. 14 articles: American Dialect Society, The American Language, archaism, Dwight Bolinger, bonehead
English, the Grammarians of English, the Library of Congress, Robert Lowth, H. L. Mencken, private
language, purism, the USIA, the USIS, the Voice of America (5700 words) for the Oxford Companion to
the English Language, ed. Tom McArthur (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).
211. “The English Language,” New Book of Knowledge (Danbury, CT: Grolier).
212. “Language Reference Books,” International Encyclopedia of Communication (Annenberg School of
Communications and Oxford University Press, 1989).
213. “English Only.” (Letter) Times Literary Supplement, Sept. 1-7, 1989, p. 945.
214. “A Positive Trend.” English Today 5.2 (April 1989): 10-11.
215. “Word Law,” Verbatim 16.1 (Summer, 1989): 1-4.
216. “Going Out of Style?” English Today 17 (January 1989): 6-11.
217. “Etc.” 1988. American Speech 64: 379-80.
218. “The Ugly Grammarian,” English Today 16 (October 1988): 9-12.
219. “Our Presto-Changeo Language,” Righting Words 2 (Jan/Feb. 1988), 15-17; 20-21.
220. Letter to the Editor, “The golden rule of editing,” Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 2, 1988, B3.
221. Letter to the Editor, “Students need more writing instruction, not less,” Chronicle of Higher Education,
Oct. 19, 1988, B3.
222. “A Writing Lesson,” in Collective Wisdom, ed. Sondra J. Stang and Robert Wiltenburg (N.Y.: Random
House, 1988), p. 348.
223. “Public Cutespeak,” Verbatim 13 (Spring 1987): 18-19.
224. “Federal English,” Brandeis Review 6 (Spring 1987): 18-21.
225. “No way to treat a lady—or a gent,” Righting Words 1 (January/February, 1987): 24-28. Reviewed by
Peggy Smith in The Editorial Eye no. 144 (August, 1987), p. 5.
226. “The Uses of Usage,” English Journal 76 (December, 1987): 59-60.
227. Letter to the Editor, “It takes more than grammar to teach writing,” Chronicle of Higher Education (June
17, 1987), p. 35.
228. “Is It [MIS] or [MIZ]?” Verbatim 11 (Autumn, 1984):10.
229. Review of Famous Last Words: The American Language Crisis Reconsidered, by Harvey A. Daniels, in
American Speech 59 (1984), pp. 226-30.
230. “Pizza Clippings,” American Speech 59 (1984), p. 89.
231. “More Pies,” American Speech 57 (1982), p. 160.
232. “Among the New Words” (with the Committee on New Words of the American Dialect Society),
American Speech 57 (1982), pp. 48-51; 121-27; 204-07; American Speech 56 (1981), pp. 278-84.
233. “The Epicene Pronoun: The Word That Failed,” American Speech 56 (1981), pp. 83-97.
234. “Planning the American Language: Federal English,” Language Problems and Language Planning 5
(1981), pp. 239-50.
235. “A Note on Pizza Pie,” American Speech 56 (1981), p. 149.
236. “A Note on Sleep and Dust Bunnies,” American Speech 56 (1981), p. 145.
237. “Stylistics in the Classroom,” Illinois English Bulletin 65.2 (1978), pp. 11-16.
238. Review of A Poetics of Composition by Boris Uspensky, in Style 10 (1976): 274-77.
239. “Role Structure and the Language of Literature,” Journal of Literary Semantics 4 (1976): 43-51.
240. “The Syntax of Perception in Richard Wright’s Native Son,” Language and Style 9 (1976), pp. 1728.
241. “Nonstandard English, Composition, and the Academic Establishment,” College English 37 (1975), pp.
176-83.
242. Review of Theoretical Semics by Trevor Eaton, in Style 9 (1975), pp. 108-11.
243. “Against Interpretation: The Linguistic Structure of Television Drama,” Journal of Popular Culture 7
(1974), pp. 946-54.
244. “The Early Modern English Dictionary: Progress Report,” Shakespearean Research and Opportunities 56 (1970-71), pp. 122-28.
245. “A Note on Charles Beard’s Dictionary of Arms and Armour, Costumes and Textiles,” Shakespearean
Research and Opportunities 5-6 (1970-71), pp. 128-30.
Dennis Baron, Vita, 14
The Web of Language: a blog running from 2007 to the present dealing with issues of language and technology:
http://bit.ly/weblan Averages four 900-word posts per month, with an average of 25,000 page views per month.
Work in Progress:
Language and Law. A book on how the law uses linguistic resources to make meaning, and on legal issues
touching on language.
ERIC Documents:
“The English Language Amendment: Backgrounds and Prospects,” ED 297 578. ERIC Clearinghouse on
Languages and Linguistics, Center for Applied Linguistics.
“Lexical Change in Present-Day English,” ED 125 293. ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics,
Center for Applied Linguistics.
“Reactions to Nonstandard Written English: Toward a Formal Characterization of the Written Code of
Nonstandard English,” ED 126 710. ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics, Center for
Applied Linguistics.
“Flowers of Evil: Attitudes Toward Language and Their Effects on Language Production,” ERIC
Clearinghouse on Reading, National Council of Teachers of English.
Invited Lectures, Workshops and Conference Presentations:
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15.
“Pronoun Showdown: Are nonbinary pronouns and singular they ruining the language or making
English great again?” Univ. of Tennessee (Knoxville), April 11, 2016.
“Speak the language of your flag.” Present-Day English Discussion Group, Modern Language
Association. Jan. 9, 2014.
“#twitterrevolution: Destabilizing the world, 140 characters at a time.” Univ. of Sussex (Brighton,
UK). March 21, 2013.
“Speak the language of your flag.” In “creative” conversation, with Michael Erard. Modern
Language Association. Boston, Jan. 3, 2013. Speakers invited by MLA Executive Director
Rosemary Feal.
“Official English from the school house to the White House.” Englishes in Europe Conference.
Univ. of Sheffield. April, 2012.
“#twitterrevolution: Destabilizing the world, 140 characters at a time.” Temple Contemporary,
Temple University Art Museum. Oct. 11, 2012.
“Guns and grammar: Linguistic authority and legal interpretation in Washington, D.C., v. Heller”
Stanford University. Nov. 10, 2011.
“Should everybody write? The destabilizing technologies of communicaton.” Univ. of Chicago
Semiotics Workshop, March 11, 2010.
“Guns and grammar: The linguistics of the Second Amendment.” Law and Society Annual
Conference, Denver, CO, June 30, 2009.
“Let’s go to the phones.” Univ. of Michigan invited lecture. Dec. 5, 2008.
“Policing English in America from the White House to the schoolhouse.” Conference on
prescriptivism in language. Univ. of Paris VII (Sorbonne), Paris, FR. Nov. 15, 2007.
“It’s All Your Fault: Who’s Really to Blame for the Literacy Crisis?” Conference on College
Composition and Communication. New York City, March 2007.
“No University Student Left Behind: Writing and the Secretary of Education’s Commission on
Higher Education.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Chicago, March
2006.
“The Perils of the new SAT Writing Test.” Conference on College Composition and
Communication. San Francisco. March 17, 2005.
“Spanish, English and the New Nativism.” Modern Language Association. Philadelphia. Dec. 30,
2004.
Dennis Baron, Vita, 15
16. “Reading and Writing in the Digital Age.” Invited presentation. Illinois Library Association,
Chicago, September 30, 2004.
17. “Language Policies and Language Politics in the United States.” “English and Minority Languages
in the 2000 Census.” Invited lectures, Univ. of Ryukyu, Okinawa, Japan, June, 2004.
18. “TeknoFear.” Invited lecture, Northeastern Illinois University, April 15, 2004.
19. “Standards: They’re Not for Everybody.” Conference on College Composition and
Communication. San Antonio, TX, March 25, 2004.
20. “The New Technologies of the Word.” Plenary lecture. International Association of World
Englishes Conference, Univ. of Illinois, October 17, 2002.
21. “Writing Effective Promotion Dossiers,” Provost’s Seminar, Univ. of Illinois, Sept. 7, 2001.
22. “Promotion and Tenure,” a workshop for new executive officers, Association of Departments of
English seminar, Monterey, California, June 29, 2001.
23. “From Pencils to Pixels: The New Technologies of Literacy.” Invited lecture, UC Davis, March 2,
2001.
24. “The Illinois Professional Learning Partnership.” Conference on College Composition and
Communication, Denver, CO, March 15, 2001.
25. “Writing Effective Third-Year Faculty Reviews,” Provost’s Seminar, Univ. of Illinois, Feb. 26,
2001.
26. “Outreach for the Humanities,” response to Graham Spanier; Chancellor’s Conference, Univ. of
Illinois, Jan. 31, 2001.
27. “Other Teachers’ Students.” Conference on College Composition and Communication,
Minneapolis, MN, April 15, 2000.
28. “The Best Words of the Millennium.” Modern Language Association, Chicago Il, Dec. 27, 1999.
29. “Ebonics and the Politics of Language.” Conference on Language Policy at the Millennium. BarIlan University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Nov. 23-25, 1999.
30. “From Pencils to Pixels: The New Technologies of Literacy.” Keynote address, Verbal Arts
Conference, University of Illinois at Springfield, April 23, 1999. Versions given at Pennsylvania
State University; Center for Advanced Study Symposium on Literacy and Writing Systems in
Asia.
31. “Ebonics in the National Media and the National Consciousness,” Modern Language Association, San
Francisco, Dec. 1998.
32. “Talking the Talk: Language Politics Coast to Coast, from Prop 227 to the Puerto Rico Statehood
Referendum,” Modern Language Association, San Francisco, Dec. 1998.
33. “An Invitation to ‘Forget Everything You Learned about Writing in High School’ or Not.” Practice,
Theory, Reflection, and Action: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and English Studies [NCTE], Seattle
WA, June 19, 1998.
34. “From Pencils to Pixels: The New Technologies of Literacy.” Center for Advanced Study Symposium on
Literacy and Writing Systems in Asia, May 2, 1998.
35. “Habits of Mind: Designing Discovery Projects for Undergraduates” Organizer and chair, half-day
Workshop at the Conference on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, April 4, 1998.
36. “Researching the Net: Writers Evaluate Their New Resources.” Workshop presentation, CCCC, April 4,
1998.
37. “Language, Standards, and Scapegoats: Will Talking the Talk Get You Walking the Walk?” Conference
on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, April 3, 1998.
38. “J when you say that, pardner: Urbanizing the electronic frontier.” Technologies for Learning Program
Seminar, U of I College of Education, Feb. 18, 1998.
39. “Language and the New Technologies of Literacy.” Modern Language Association, Toronto, CA, Dec.
28, 1997.
40. “Talking the talk: The Ebonics controversy in perspective.” Midwest Modern Language Association,
Chicago, Nov. 8, 1997.
41. “The New Technologies of Literacy.” McGill University, Montreal, Sept. 9, 1997.
42. “The Subject Is Grammar,” International Literacy Day speech, Centre for Literacy, Montreal, Sept. 8,
1997.
Dennis Baron, Vita, 16
43. Workshop on Portfolios for Teachers, NCTE Conference, Expanding the Conversation on Reflection:
Innovative Practices, New Understandings, Current Challenges. Montreal, June 26-28, 1997.
44. “American Usage” “Under Construction,” Merriam-Webster lectures on the American language,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., March 6, 1997.
45. “The Official Language Movement in the United States.” Georgetown Univ., March 5, 1996.
46. Panel on Ebonics, Delta Sigma, U of I Student Union, Feb. 18,1 997.
47. Class on Ebonics, “The Academy,” Central High School, Champaign, Feb. 13, 1997.
48. Panel on Ebonics, University YMCA, Feb. 13, 1997.
49. Workshop on Portfolios and Active Learning, Faculty Retreat Teaching for Active Learning, U of I, Feb.
6, 1997.
50. “ :) When You Say That: Variation and the Move to Standardize Communication Practices on the
Electronic Frontier.” Modern Language Association, Washington, DC, Dec. 1996.
51. “Guide to Home Language Repair,” American Association of University Women, Danville, IL, Dec. 6,
1996.
52. “Grammar for Teachers.” National Council of Teachers of English, Chicago, Nov. 21, 1996.
53. “The Current State of Official Language Legislation in the U.S.” NCTE, Nov. 22, 1996.
54. “Don’t Make English Official—Ban It Instead: Updating the Official English Question in the United
States.” College of DuPage, Nov. 18, 1996; Linguistics Seminar, Univ. of Illinois, Nov. 14, 1996.
55. “The English Language: Where It’s At,” The Art Club, Champaign-Urbana, Nov. 6, 1996.
56. “Teaching Portfolios.” Conference on Learning and Literacies, sponsored by NCTE. Albuquerque, NM,
June 20-22, 1996.
57. “Teaching Language in the Language Arts,” Workshop, Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English,
Oklahoma City, April 27, 1996.
58. “Guide to Home Language.” Plenary lecture, Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English, Oklahoma
City, April 26, 1996.
59. “ :) When You Say That: Developments in Communication Technology.” Invited lecture, Department of
English, Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman OK, April 25, 1996.
60. “Guide to Home Language Repair.” Univ. of Illinois LAS Alumni Association, Harold Washington
Library, Chicago, IL, April 18, 1996.
61. “Teaching as Revision: A Full-Day Workshop on Teacher Portfolios” Conference on College
Composition and Communication, Milwaukee, March 27-30, 1996.
62. “Grammar in the classroom: Teaching the Conflicts.” Presentation at the Conference on College
Composition and Communication, Milwaukee, March 27-30, 1996.
63. “Writing Program Administration,” Workshop at the Conference on College Composition and
Communication, Milwaukee, March 27-30, 1996.
64. “Is political correctness PC? The history of a phrase.” MLA Conference, Chicago, December 1995.
65. “Proper Nouns: Political Correctness and names for groups,” National Council of Teachers of English
Conference, San Diego, CA, November, 1995.
66. “Creating a Teaching Portfolio.” College Teaching Effectiveness Network, Univ. of Illinois, Sept. 27,
1995.
67. “Plagiarism in the postmodern age,” NCTE-sponsored Conference on Writing Assignments and
Assessment, Colgate University, August 11, 1995.
68. “Teaching as Revision: Workshop on Teaching Portfolios.” Conference on College Composition and
Communication, Washington, DC, March 25, 1995.
69. “How Language Study Should Fit into the English Curriculum.” Conference on College Composition
and Communication, Washington, DC, March 24, 1995.
70. “Teaching Portfolios.” National Council of Teachers of English, Orlando, FL, Nov. 19, 1994.
71. “Political Correctness, Language, and the Classroom.” National Council of Teachers of English, Orlando,
FL, Nov. 17, 1994.
72. “Teaching Portfolios and Pedagogical Development.” NCTE Conference on Portfolios and Assessment,
Scottsdale, AZ, June 18, 1994.
73. “Technology and Literacy.” 30th Annual University/Community College English Articulation
Conference, April 21, 1994.
Dennis Baron, Vita, 17
74. “Reprocessing Language.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Nashville, TN,
March 18, 1994.
75. “Precultural Literacy.” National Council of Teachers of English, Louisville KY, November 1992.
76. “Writing at the University of Illinois.” U of I Mothers Association Annual Meeting, Oct. 3, 1992.
77. “The Literacy Complex.” Seminar, Program for the Study of Cultural Values and Ethics, Univ. of
Illinois, April 30, 1992.
78. “The Uses of Literacy.” Invited lecture, University of Georgia, Athens GA, April 22, 1992.
79. “Guide to Home Language Repair.” Keynote address, Illinois State University English Department
Annual Banquet, April 10, 1992.
80. “Writing Preparation and Expectations for Collegiate Programs.” North Central Association of Colleges
and Schools, Chicago, March 23, 1992.
81. “The Death of English: Did It Jump or Was It Pushed?” Present-Day English Discussion Group, Modern
Language Association, San Francisco, Dec. 1991.
82. “The Once and Future Ms.: A Lesson in Language Planning.” Speech Communication Association
conference, Atlanta, Nov. 2, 1991.
83. “Watching Our Grammar: The English Language for Teachers of Language Arts.” Keynote address,
Michigan Association of Teachers of English annual conference, Kalamazoo, Oct. 11, 1991.
84. “Defining Literacy.” Panel on “The Politics of Literacy,” Program for the Study of Cultural Values and
Ethics, Univ. of Illinois, Sept. 25, 1991.
85. “The English-Only Question.” Lecture in the Language and Nation series at the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, March 22, 1991.
86. “Public Language.” Panel discussion at UNC, March 22, 1991.
87. “The English-Only Question.” Colloquium for the Division of English as an International Language,
Univ. of Illinois, Sept. 12, 1990.
88. “English-Only — Then and Now.” Lecture at Pennsylvania State University, March, 1990.
89. “Official English.” Forum on Cultural Imposition, Univ. of Illinois Program for the Study of Cultural
Values and Ethics. Feb. 7, 1990.
90. “Official Language Legislation in New York and New Mexico.” National Council of Teachers of English
Annual Conference, Baltimore, Nov. 19, 1989.
91. “Corporate Onomastics.” 25th Annual Community College/University Articulation Conference, Allerton
House, Monticello, IL, April, 1989.
92. “English Only: The Official Language Question in Illinois.” Illinois Association of Teachers of English
Conference, Champaign, October, 1988.
93. “The English Language Amendment: Backgrounds and Prospects.” Teachers of English to Speakers of
Other Languages (TESOL) annual convention, Chicago, March 12, 1987.
94. “A History of the English-First Movement.” Present-Day English session, Modern Language
Association, San Francisco, December, 1987.
95. “Federal English and the Constitution.” Forum on “The Dangers of an Official Language Policy,”
National Council of Teachers of English Annual Conference, Los Angeles, November, 1987 (available
on cassette from NCTE).
96. “Writing across the Curriculum.” LAS Dean’s Executive Officer Retreat, Univ. of Illinois, March 9,
1987.
97. “The Myths of English.” Illinois Association of Teachers of English Annual Meeting, October 1986.
98. “Language Myth and Fact.” English Department Lunch Lecture Series, Univ. of Illinois, Spring, 1986.
99. “Grammar and Gender.” Linguistics Department Seminar, Univ. of Illinois, November, 1985.
100. “Etymologizing man and woman.” ESL Colloquium, Univ. of Illinois, November, 1985.
101. “Language and Sex.” Respondent at Unit for Critical Theory and Interpretation Colloquium, Univ. of
Illinois, 1985.
102. “Grammar and Good Taste.” Keynote luncheon address for the 33rd Annual High School-University
English Articulation Conference, University of Illinois at Urbana, February 25, 1984.
103. “Eve’s Rib: Images of Sex and Gender in English Linguistics.” University of Texas at Austin, February
9, 1984.
104. “Language and Liberty: The Politics of English.” Modern Language Association annual conference, New
York, December 27, 1983.
Dennis Baron, Vita, 18
105. “The Tangled Web: The Uses of Usage.” American Dialect Society annual conference, Los Angeles,
December, 1982.
106. “Going Native: The Regeneration of Saxon English.” The Linguistics Seminar, University of Illinois,
1982.
107. “Practical Grammar.” National Council of Teachers of English annual conference, Boston, November,
1981.
108. “A Federal Language.” American Dialect Society annual conference, Houston, December, 1980.
109. “Autodeixis: Metatext and Metaphor.” Reading University, England, Linguistics Seminar, June, 1979;
University of Oulu, Finland, February, 1979; principal address to the annual meeting of the Finnish
Council of Teachers of English, Tampere, Finland, February, 1979; Modern Language Association
annual conference, Chicago, December, 1977.
110. “A Promise is a Promise: Speech Acts and Literature.” University of Jyvaskala and University of
Tampere, Finland, February, 1979.
111. “Self-Referentiality in Chaucer’s Book of the Duchess.” Reading University, England, June, 1979.
112. “Directions in Sociolinguistics.” University of Paris, VII, December, 1978.
113. “Fear and Flying, Language and Sex.” Feminist Scholarship Conference, University of Illinois, March,
1978.
114. “Flowers of Evil: Attitudes Toward Language and Their Effects on Language Production.” Modern
Language Association annual conference, New York, December, 1976.
115. “How to Relate to Students Who Speak Nonstandard English.” National Council of Teachers of English
annual conference, Chicago, November, 1976.
116. “Lexical Change in Present-Day English.” Linguistics Seminar, University of Illinois, November, 1975;
Linguistic Society of America annual conference, San Francisco, December, 1975.
117. “Reactions to Nonstandard Written English: Toward a Formal Characterization of the Written Code for
Nonstandard English.” American Dialect Society (Northeast) annual conference, State College,
Pennsylvania, November, 1974.
118. “I am nat textueel: The Process of Fiction in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.” Midwest Modern Language
Association annual conference, Chicago, October, 1973.
119. “Nonstandard English, Composition, and the Academic Establishment.” Faculty Seminar, Eastern Illinois
University, February, 1973; American Dialect Society (Midwest) annual conference, Ann Arbor,
Michigan, July, 1973.
Radio and Television Broadcasts and Interviews
1.
2.
3.
“Latinos in America.” PBS documentary, aired October, 2013.
Various radio appearances on WILL-AM discussing language issues 1984-present.
“Extension 720” with Milt Rosenberg. WGN radio, Oct. 16, 2009. 2-hour interview about A Better
Pencil.
4. Steve Fast, “The Classroom Connection” Oklahoma Public Radio, interview about A Better
Pencil. Oct.1, 2009.
5. Valerie Richardson Show. WPKN, Bridgeport CT, April 21, 2009. Half-hour interview about my
work on usage and on technology.
6. Jim Brown, “The Current.” CBC-Radio, Canada. July 15, 2008. Interview on Esperanto.
7. “The Peter Laufer Show”, Green Radio 960 (San Francisco). 60 min. interview on Broadcast
English, Dec. 28, 2008.
8. “Official English in Small Town America,” Eight Forty-Eight, WBEZ-FM (Chicago public radio),
June 13, 2007. Lead interview for the show, also featured on the WBEZ web site:
http://www.wbez.org/Program_848_Segment.aspx?segmentID=11395
9. “The English Language.” Focus 580, WILL-AM, multiple appearances each year from 1982present.
10. “Good English.” The Robin and Maynard Show. KQBZ-FM (Seattle), May 3, 2005.
11. “Pronunciation in American English.” Interview by Avi Arditti and Roseann Skirble broadcast on
“Coast to Coast” by Voice of America (4/24/03); posted on voanews.com/wordmaster.
12. “The English Language,” The Joan Rivers Show, WOR-AM, New York, June 25, 2001.
Dennis Baron, Vita, 19
13. “The New Oxford Dictionary of English,” “Sandy Rios Live,” WYLL-FM, Chicago, Aug. 14,
1998.
14. “The Merriam-Webster/NAACP Controversy.” WCIA TV, Champaign, Oct. 20, 1997.
15. “American English Usage,” broadcast in the series “Under Construction,” by Merriam-Webster
and Northeast Public Radio.
16. “The French Language Police,” The Howard Galganof Show, CJIT, Montreal, Sept. 22, 1997.
17. “Language Legislation,” Daybreak, CBC, Montreal, Sept. 8, 1997
18. “Bill 101 and Language Legislation,” The Tommy Schnumacher Show, CJAD-AM, Montreal,
Sept. 8, 1997.
19. “Literacy,” Newswatch, CBC-TV, Sept. 8, 1997.
20. “The Ebonics Debate,” “Penny for Your Thoughts,” WDWS-AM, Champaign, Jan. 28, 1997.
21. “Ebonics,” WTOP News Radio AM 1500 (Washington, DC), Dec. 28, 1996.
22. “Ebonics,” ABC Radio News, Dec. 28, 1996.
23. “Ebonics,” WNBC-TV (Washington, DC), Dec. 27, 1996.
24. “Ebonics,” NewsChannel 8 (Washington, DC), Dec. 27, 1996.
25. “Banning English,” Jack Cole, WJNO, ABC radio affiliate, Palm Beach, FL, Sept. 12, 1996.
26. “Home Language Repair.” Karen Kelly, “The Best of Our Knowledge,” WAMC, Albany, NY.
July 18, 1994.
27. “The English Language.” Ken Behrens, WJBC-AM, Bloomington IL, May 19, 1993.
28. “The English Language.” Stevie Jay, WDWS-AM, Champaign, May 19, 1993.
29. “Vanity Phone Numbers.” Phillip Till, “The World Tonight” CKNW, Vancouver CA, May 13,
1993.
30. “Vanity Phone Numbers.” WPGU, Champaign, April 19, 1993.
31. “Vanity Phone Numbers.” Diane Stern, WBZ-AM, Boston, April 7, 1993.
32. “The English Language.” “The Show with No Name” WDWS-AM, Champaign, March 30, 1993.
33. “The English-Only Question.” Minnesota Public Radio, Sept. 13, 1991.
34. “Ask Dr. Grammar,” “Studio A,” with Ken Davis, WBEZ-FM, Chicago, August 9, 1991.
35. “Language and Sex,” “Studio A,” with Ken Davis, WBEZ-FM, Chicago, July 11, 1991.
36. “Powerful Language,” “Soundings” with Wayne Pond, National Public Radio, July 14, 1991.
37. “The State of the Language.” Extension-720, with Milton Rosenberg, WGN-AM, Chicago, Oct.
25, 1990.
38. “The English-Only Question.” Cliff Kincaid Show, WNTR, Washington DC, Oct. 16, 1990.
39. “Business Names.” “Inner City, with Diane Larsen.” Chez Radio Canada, Ottowa, July 1990.
40. “Corporate Punishment,” The Frank Dill Show, KNBR, San Francisco, CA, Dec. 8, 1989.
41. “Language Stereotypes,” one segment of 13-part series on “English in the American South”,
Tennessee Endowment for the Humanities, taped June, 1989.
42. “Language Commentary,” a semi-monthly feature on WILL-AM, March, 1988—94.
43. “Grammar and Gender,” on Milt Rosenberg’s “Extension 720,” WGN-AM (Chicago), July 28,
1986.
44. “Grammar and Gender,” on Tim Jackson’s “Talk 30,” WFYR-FM (Chicago), July 13, 1986.
45. “Grammar and Gender,” The Casper Citron Show, WMCA-AM (New York), June 17, 1986.
46. “Grammar and Gender,” Leonard Lopate, “Senior Edition,” WNYC-AM (New York), June 2,
1986.
47. “Grammar and Gender,” Owen Murrill, KLBJ-AM (Austin, TX), Feb. 18, 1986.
Editorships and Commissions:
Chair, Committee on Public Policy, Conference on College Composition and
Communication, National Council of Teachers of English, 2003-06.
Member, Board of Advisors for the television series “Do You Speak American?” with
Robert MacNeil.
Member, PMLA Advisory Committee, 1998-2001.
Member, editorial advisory board, Liverpool Studies in Language and Discourse, 1993present.
Dennis Baron, Vita, 20
Member, MLA Delegate Assembly, 1998-2003.
Chair, MLA Division on Language and Society, 2001-02.
Member, Commission on Language, National Council of Teachers of English, 1984-87;
1999-2002.
Editor, Publication of the American Dialect Society (monograph series) 1984-93.
Member, Committee on Language and the Schools, Linguistic Society of America, 19921997.
Associate Editor, Publication of the American Dialect Society, 1982-84.
Refereeing Positions:
Reviewer of Grant Proposals on dialectology for the National Science Foundation, program in
linguistics, 1975-present.
Reviewer of Grant Proposals in English Linguistics, University of Illinois Research Board,
1982-present.
Reviewer of Grant Proposals in English Linguistics, National Endowment for the Humanities,
1984.
Reviewer of manuscripts for JEGP, Univ. of Alabama Press, Cambridge Univ. Press, Univ. of
Chicago Press, Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, Univ. of Michigan Press, Scott, Foresman,
Oxford Univ. Press, The University Press of New England, Yale University Press.
Consultant, Tennessee Humanities Council public education project (traveling exhibit and 13part radio series), “English in the American South,” funded by NEH.
Multiple promotion and tenure reviews.
Memberships in Professional Organizations:
American Dialect Society (life member; member, Committee on New Words, 1975-82;
member, Committee on Usage, 1982-present; member, Centennial Publications
Committee; Centennial Publicity Committee; Centennial Documentaries Committee).
Modern Language Association (member, Delegate Assembly, 1996-99).
National Council of Teachers of English (member, Commission on the English Language,
two terms). Chair, Committee on Public Language, 2009-12.
Conference on College Composition and Communication.
Conference of Editors of Learned Journals, 1985-93.
Linguistic Society of America; member, Committee on Language in the Schools, 1992-94.
Council of Writing Program Administrators
Illinois Association of Teachers of English (member, program committee, 1987-88).
Administrative Initiatives:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.
Chair, English Group, METER section of Illinois Professional Learning Partnership (Department
of Education TQE Grant), 1998-2004.
Director, Language and Public Policy Reading Group, sponsored by Illinois Program for Research
in the Humanities.
Joint proposal with departments of French, Linguistics, and English as an International Language
for an international conference on Language Legislation and Linguistic Rights, funded at $10,000,
March 21-23, 1996.
Joint proposal with Department of Speech Communication to establish the Center for Writing
Studies—funded initially at $225,000, with $150,000 in recurring funds, including support for 5
faculty lines and graduate student support for 17 students, beginning FY 1990.
LAS Writing across the Curriculum Proposal, to develop writing-intensive general education
courses. Planning Grant Funded FY 1990 @ $19,000 by the Council on Teacher Education to
develop writing component for History 151.
Dennis Baron, Vita, 21
g.
h.
i.
Planning Grant, summer 1988, to develop proposal for new LAS undergraduate teacher education
curriculum in English, funded @ $15,000 by the Council on Teacher Education.
Freshman English Test: proposal for administering and grading writing sample for entering firstyear students. Recurring funds of $10,000.
Writing Outreach Workshop: a program of institutes and short courses to introduce Illinois high
school English teachers to computer writing instruction. Funded @ $120,000 per annum, 198588.
Biographical Notices:
Who’s Who in America
Directory of American Scholars
Contemporary Authors
Who’s Where Among Writers
International Authors and Writers Who’s Who
International Linguistic Directory
Who’s Who in American Education
Who’s Who in the World
Who’s Who in the Humanities
Consulting:
Legal consulting and expert witness reports and testimony for a variety of law firms.
Media consulting for television, radio, and newspapers, including ABC’s Nightline,
Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, The Chicago Tribune, Cincinnati Enquirer, Los
Angeles Times, The McNeil-Lehrer Report, The New York Times, Newsweek, Orlando
Sentinel, Prentice-Hall, Scripps-Howard Newspapers, Scott-Foresman, Inc., Springfield
(IL) Register, USA Today, U.S. News and World Report, WICD-TV (Champaign, IL),
William Safire.
Professional consulting for numerous academic and university presses.
Courses Taught at the University of Illinois:
English 584 Language and law
English 582 Technology and words
English 593 Proseminar in the Teaching of Writing
English 591 Writing Outreach Workshop Seminar: The Nature of Standard English
English 591 Writing Outreach Workshop Seminar: Writing Assessment and Standard English
English 544 Seminar on the Poetics of Oral Literature: a course taught for the Linguistic Institute of
the Linguistic Society of America, held at the University of Illinois during the summer session of
1978.
English 512 Seminar on Chaucer
English 504 Seminar on the English Language (topics vary, including literacy abd discourse; language
and sex; linguistics for teachers; rise of Standard English; language and literacy)
English 411 Chaucer
English 404 Stylistics and Literary Criticism
English 403 History of the English Language
English 402 Descriptive English Grammar
English 401 Introduction to the Study of the English Language
English 380 Language and law
English 300 Technologies of the Word
English 273 Film as Literature
Dennis Baron, Vita, 22
English 104 Introduction to Film
English 103 Introduction to Fiction
Rhetoric 143 Intermediate Expository Prose
Courses taught at other universities:
Old English; Beowulf; Middle English Literature Survey; composition at all levels, remedial to
advanced.
Committee Service, University of Illinois:
University level—
Provost’s Committee on Asian American Studies
Asian American Studies Council
Task Force on Program Assessment and Evaluation
Advanced Information Technologies, Hewlett Group
Chair, University High School English Committee
Chair, Communications Area Committee for the Preparation of Teachers, Council on Teacher
Education
University High School Advisory Board
Committee to Evaluate the Director of University High School
Search Committee for English Librarian
College level—
Chair, Search committee for Director of the School of Music in the College of Fine and Applied Arts
Chair, Search committee for the Director of the School of Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Executive Committee (three terms)
Co-chair, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Committee to prepare NEH Division of Education
planning grant for revised LAS teacher education curriculum in English and Foreign Languages
LAS Committee on Planning and Development
Committee to Plan the 75th Anniversary of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Supercommittee on Teacher Education in the Liberal Arts and Sciences
College of Education Search Committee for Specialists in Writing and in Children’s Literature
LAS Committee on Committees
Humanities Core Curriculum Group
Center for Writing Studies Graduate Committee
Department level—
Chair, Rhetoric Advisory Committee
Chair, Committee to Evaluate the Writing and Rhetoric Programs
Chair, Committee to Evaluate Curriculum in English Linguistics
Chair, Undergraduate Teaching Awards Committee
Chair, University-Community College Articulation Committee
Chair, Computer Rhetoric Planning Committee
Honors Committee
Teaching Awards Committee
Writing Studies Committee
Graduate Admissions and Financial Aid Committee
Committee to Evaluate Curriculum in Medieval English Language and Literature
Committee to Evaluate Curriculum in English Education
Undergraduate Advising Committee
Dennis Baron, Vita, 23
Masters Comprehensive Examination Committee
Lecture Committee
Grade Review Committee
Graduate Studies Committee
Chair, Search Committee for Rhetoric Specialist
Search Committees for Medievalist (twice), Business Writer, Writing Center Director and Associate
Director, Technical Writer
Committee to Review the Watts Report
English Library Committee
English Department Long-Range Planning Committee