Professional Biography
Dr. Asif Agha is internationally known for his work on language in society. His research focuses on the structure and organization of human language and its communicative uses in human affairs; on the role of communication in giving rise to forms of social organization; and on the communicative organization of institutions of media, law, economy, science, politics, and education. As a research mentor, teacher, and Ph.D. advisor, he has helped many Educational Linguistics students (and other GSE students) complete their doctoral work, get their work published in major journals, and find jobs at major universities across the United States and Europe.
Dr. Agha teaches courses in Department of Anthropology (his primary appointment); at Penn GSE; and in the Graduate Groups in Anthropology, Linguistics, History and Sociology of Science, South Asian Studies, and International Studies. He has served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Linguistic Anthropology and as fellow of the Stanford Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. His book Language and Social Relations was awarded The Edward Sapir Prize for best book in 2008. He is president of the Society for Linguistic Anthropology, editor-in-chief of Signs and Society, and director of the Penn Semiotics Lab.
