I am a doctoral researcher in English linguistics with a vognitive focus. My primary research interest is the relationship between language and thought, focusing on how we conceptualize and construe the world around us – past, present and future.
My doctoral thesis examines the conceptualization and construal of outer space in American English, employing a Cognitive Linguistic framework. Through this research, Iinvestigates how culture, encyclopedic knowledge, embodied experience and imagination shape how people talk and think about the universe. On a broader scale, this research contributes to our knowledge about how people make sense of things that are foreign, unfamiliar or abstract.
I am also, more broadly, interested in the role of popular culture in shaping how we understand and navigate the world around them. In particular, I am fascinated by the tension between fantasy and reality and how cultural narratives and science fiction influence our perception of what is, or might be, possible.