Eva Michelle Wheeler is a sociocultural linguist whose work frames language as a lens for interdisciplinary inquiry. Her research questions have explored the role of language in the construction of ideas about race, beauty, and meaning in Spanish-speaking settings in the U.S., Latin America, Europe, and Central Africa.
In her most recent project, Professor Wheeler examines how racial language from African American film and literature is translated into languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, and French. Through her methodology-driven research, Professor Wheeler seeks to examine social phenomena in new ways and to give a voice in academic literature to underrepresented groups.
To this end, she has presented her work at international conferences on linguistics, anthropology, and Latin American Studies and has published articles in journals such as Sociolinguistic Studies, The Black Scholar, and Caribe. Professor Wheeler received her Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara in 2015, and is currently an Associate Professor of Spanish at Oakwood University.