n Katherine Blake | Cornell Linguistics

About

Hey there! I currently work as a Language Data Scientist at Amazon Alexa AI, based in Boston, MA. I received my PhD in Linguistics at Cornell University in August 2022, advised by Marten van Schijndel. My dissertation is titled Phonological Markedness Effects on Noun-Adjective Ordering.

Research

Teaching

  • French Conversation Instructor Spring 2016
  • FREN1210 Teaching Assistant Fall 2018 and 2019
  • FREN1220 Teaching Assistant Spring 2019
  • Intro Phon/Phon Teaching Assistant Spring 2020 and 2021
  • Intro to Linguistics Teaching Assistant Fall 2020

I have several years of experience in instruction. During the semester I studied abroad in France (Spring 2015), I spent time helping local middle school students with their English homework and exam review at an after-school program for at-risk youth. At Indiana University during my undergrad, I was an instructor for a French conversation class offered to first- and second-year French students where I developed student-centered speaking activities geared towards improving their oral fluency. During that same semester at IU, I tutored other undergrads taking Dr. Kelly H. Berkson (my former advisor)'s Phonology class, helping them with problem sets, phonological theories, and exam review. Since coming to Cornell, I have been a Teaching Assistant for first year French (FREN1210, 1220) under the direction of Dr. Claire Menard. This past spring I was a TA for Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology, under the direction of Dr. Draga Zec. I taught two discussion sections, graded assignments, contributed to exams, and held office hours. Last fall I was the TA for Introduction to Linguistics, under the direction of Dr. Miloje Despić, and I managed all the online materials (Canvas, Zoom) and led a discussion section. Spring 2021 I was the TA for Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology again.

Other things I'm up to

I currently live in Somerville, MA
Outside of work, I enjoy backpacking, running, and traveling with my husband Max Nelson, who is also a computational linguist!