Masako Ueda Fidler
Professor of Slavic Languages:
Slavic Languages
Phone: +1 401 863 3933
Phone 2: +1 401 863 2689
Masako_Fidler@Brown.EDU
Professor Fidler's areas of expertise include comparative linguistics (especially dealing with Czech, Russian and Japanese), discourse analysis, and cognitive linguistics.
Biography
I was born in Tokyo, Japan. My parents are both professors of linguistics and English. Their specialization does not sound very unusual in the current political climate, but it was quite an accomplishment when they were young. Both of them studied English at the time when the language had been completely wiped out from the school curriculum during the Second World War. My mother was told that she would never get married by her relatives because she, a woman, wanted to go to college.
My grandfather, Masashi Ueda, is one of the founders of the first Japanese orchestra. He gave premier performances of works by Russian and Soviet composers. His study was full of orchestral scores with signatures of famous Russian and international performers with whom he performed. But he didn't grow up in a supportive environment either. He grew up as an orphan in a remote Hokkaido village where the only musical instrument he was exposed to was a primitive school organ, the kind that plays by pumping air with two pedals. He had no formal music education in childhood, but when he came to Tokyo in his teens to study electronics, he could not give up his dream. He studied piano, voice, bassoon, and orchestral conducting. I imagine it wasn't easy starting music education late and having to support himself. I hear he even worked as a pianist on an ocean liner at some point. Grandfather's family suffered a great deal during the Second World War; music was not considered a patriotic occupation. Grandfather also failed the physical examination to join the army because of bad eyesight. The whole family was therefore subject to name-calling "hikoku-min," being repeatedly called that they were not "genuine" citizens.
It is perhaps thanks to this family trait that I became a rare species in Slavic studies in the American context that is primarily populated by American nationals and native speakers of Slavic languages. Our family members all like to do things that are different and perhaps unusual. I hope that my existence in the field will help inspire more people of different backgrounds to become interested in Slavic cultures and to enrich the field with their unique contributions and perspectives.
At home, because of the non-standard configuration of family members we speak Czech, English, and Japanese.
Interests
Masako Fidler does research in discourse analysis and cognitive linguistics with an emphasis on Czech, Japanese, and Russian. She is particularly interested in connections between sound and meaning in language and how this relationship interacts with grammar. Her hypothesis is that what appears to be mere primitive or naive imitation of sounds and motions is, in fact, a treasure box of discourse devices and a rich source for elements of grammar, especially in the areas of quantification and aspect.
Degrees
PhD, Slavic Linguistics
Awards
1984-86: Sokol Fellowship in Slavic Languages and Literatures,
1987-88: Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Award, University of California at Los Angeles
1996-98: Elected President of the North American Association of Teachers of Czech
2004: National Award for Best Teaching on the Post-Secondary
Level, National Award from the American Association of Teachers of Slavic
and East European Languages
Affiliations
American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages
American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies
International Association of Teachers of Czech
International Cognitive Linguistics Association
Linguistic Society of America
Teaching
Czech language, culture and literature, Slavic linguistics, Discourse-cognitive linguistics, Comparative Analysis of Czech and Russian
Funded Research
Current grants
2005-6: Undergraduate Teaching and Research Assistantship
(The National Science Foundation, etc.) for subtitled interview DVDs and digital text with photos and sound files on the changing face of Prague architecture, to be used in Czech language courses as well as culture courses.
2005-6: Departmental research fund, Brown University: $1,700
Completed grants
1990-91: Undergraduate Research Assistantship in Russian
linguistics from the Dean of the College (Ford Foundation, etc.)
1992: Faculty Research Travel Grant from the Watson Institute
for International Studies, Brown University for research in Prague,
Czechoslovakia: $ 2,000
1992-93: Undergraduate Research Assistantship in Russian
linguistics from the Dean of the College (Ford Foundation, etc.)
1993: American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) East European Advanced Language Training Grant (principal investigator): $ 2,000
September 1994 - January 1995: International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) Grant for Advanced Research in Central and East
Europe project on discourse functions of Czech conditionals, (principal investigator): $17,000
1995-96: Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship for SL125-126, Czech I-II, (Ford Foundation etc.)
1996-97: Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship for RU1-2, Elementary Russian (Ford Foundation etc.)
1996: Faculty Research Travel Grant from the Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, to fund research in the comparative study of Czech and Russian hybrid conditionals
1997-98: Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship for SL125 and 126 (Ford Foundation etc.)
1998-1999: Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship for CZ135 and 136 (Ford Foundation etc.).
1998-1999, 1999-2000: Cultural grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic for the North American Association of Teachers of Czech for two consecutive years (President of the organization, one year): $ 2,500; (Executive officer, co-proposed with President of the organization, one year): $2,000
1999-2000: Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship for CZ126 (Ford Foundation etc.)
1999-2000: A Campus-based Grant from the Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning for a project in adding sound to the existing web-based Czech anthology. (principal investigator), $ 3,000.
2000-2001: Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship for first year Czech (Ford Foundation etc.)
2000-1: Francis Wayland Collegium Grant for expanding the Brown On-line Czech Anthology (principal investigator), $ 2,000
2000-1: Wriston Curricular Development Grant to develop materials for Czech language courses including the development of the Brown On-line Czech Anthology (principal investigator), $ 2,000
2000-1 A Consortium Grant from the Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning for expansion and elaboration of the web-based Czech Anthology (18-months, co-principal investigator, 16 months), $ 14,730 and additional funding of $2,715
2001-2: Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship for first year Czech (The George I. Alden Trust, etc.)
2002-3: Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship for first year Czech (The National Science Foundation, etc.)
2003: Departmental research grant, Brown University, $ 1,200
2003-4: University Lectureship Funds to invite 6 prominent scholars specializing in Central European cultures and literatures (main organizer and drafter of proposal, co-proposed with A. Levitsky), Brown University, $ 5,200
2003-5: Richard B. Salomon Grant, Brown University, to support the research project on Czech sound symbolism, (principal investigator),
$ 3,700
2004-5: Departmental research fund, Brown University, $ 1,400
2004-5: University Lectureship Funds to invite three scholars on Czech culture and literature, Brown University, $ 1,600
2004-5: Undergraduate Teaching and Research Assistantship (The National Science Foundation, etc.) for subtitled interview DVDs with politicians and artists who worked with Havel, including Ivan Havel, to be used in my new course SL197 sec. 2 (Seminar on Vaclav Havel).
Web Links
Curriculum Vitae
Download Masako Ueda Fidler's Curriculum Vitae in PDF Format
