Linguistics Can Be the Language of Success

Dr. Evgeny Chukharev, an associate professor in the Department of English, entered academia in an unusual way. He recalled attending a conference where he heard that Iowa State was hiring a linguistics professor. Out of curiosity, he applied, and once he got the job offer in 2011, his life was flipped upside down. He found himself with the choice between staying an engineer in Russia or picking up his life and making a career out of his hobby in Iowa. When Chukharev was in college, he considered linguistics somewhat of a hobby and continued to think so while he worked as a software engineer at the Central Bank of Russia. He decided to pursue a PhD in linguistics because he thought it was an intriguing discipline of study. Now, years later, doing what he loves, Chukharev noted the misconception held by some that “your work and hobby are supposed to be separate.” But, in his case, what started as an undergraduate hobby led to a rewarding career change while still allowing him to use his computer engineering skills. Chukharev is thankful for the career and the opportunities Iowa State has presented him.

In the English department, Chukharev teaches both undergraduate and graduate linguistics classes. Linguistics, defined as the science of language, is a major that students often stumble into, Chukharev observes. Students usually enter the program without prior knowledge of linguistics but are compelled by curiosity, exploration, and faculty support. Many individuals consider linguistics a pathway to speech pathology or teaching English as a second language; however, these are not the only applications. Some of the main areas of linguistics include the study of language systems and functions, the mind’s processing of language, and the evolution of language over time. Chukharev is fascinated by these concepts. His own research in all three of these areas have been published in a range of linguistics and psychology journals.

Chukharev’s research has resulted in funding for The Language Processing, Acquisition, and Change (PACE) Laboratory which he founded at Iowa State for his ongoing research. Noticing how his colleagues in the sciences and engineering departments routinely work in research labs, he requested lab space for himself and his research team, consisting of a cross-disciplinary group of undergraduate research assistants, master’s students, PhD students, and staff members who collaborate with him. Similar to much of the department, the lab is home to research with artificial intelligence. Chukharev says he has been working with AI since the early 2000s, motivated by the belief that computational models can help us understand the workings of the human mind. While many people were once skeptical of AI, the rise of large language models has captured public attention and sparked serious cross-disciplinary discussions about the uses and implications of artificial intelligence.

Research projects in the lab analyze how language is processed in the mind and in the computer, and how it changes over timescales from milliseconds to millennia. For example, a recent research project led by Chukharev explores the knowledge gap between computational modeling, linguistics, and cognitive psychology of text production. He admitted, “We have no idea what happens in the mind when reading complex text and producing a synthesis from it.” Another one of his projects is a highly collaborative effort that brings together professionals from around the world to investigate argumentation when teaching socio-scientific ideas in elementary school classrooms. Also, he laughed that, at Iowa State, agriculture has a way of showing up in unexpected places. In that spirit, he was awarded a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant in collaboration with colleagues in the College of Veterinary Medicine, where he analyzes the language of lectures to build curriculum maps and better understand how content is taught.

Chukharev continues to be a valuable faculty member not only through his research but as a professor and a mentor for students.