Pronouns: she | her | hers
Dr. Kristen Syrett is an Affiliated Faculty Fellow at the Honors College and a Professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Rutgers University. Prof. Syrett received her Ph.D. in Linguistics with a specialization in Cognitive Science from Northwestern University. She joined Rutgers in 2007 as a post-doc, supported by NIH NRSA funding, and joined the faculty in 2011. She directs the Rutgers Laboratory for Developmental Language Studies, where she and her fantastic research team of undergraduate and graduate students research how children acquire the meaning of words, and how children and adults rapidly interpret words and sentences as we communicate with each other. Her research has been funded by internal grants and the NSF. She has received awards for her research, teaching, and mentoring. Prof. Syrett teaches courses on language and cognition, language acquisition and development, pragmatics, and experimental pragmatics/semantics. She has advised 15 undergraduate honors theses since joining the faculty. Complementing her vibrant research program, Prof. Syrett is a passionate advocate for gender equity and diversity. She has given invited talks on this topic, has been hired as a consultant for organizations (including the NCAA), and has been quoted and featured in the media as an expert on diversity, gender, and inclusive language. She enjoys hiking, yoga, and a good workout, and often enlists her students to boost the motivation and accountability.