• Evolution of language and the language faculty

• Language as a complex adaptive system

• Iterated learning, cultural evolution and evolutionary theory

• Computational models of biological, social and cultural systems
• Experimental models of culture in humans and other animals
• Evolution of music
• The intersection of scientific and artistic practice 

Mar. 2000 – Mar. 2003 UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow.
Oct. 2003 – Oct. 2005 UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, PPLS- Lecturer.
Oct. 2005 – Oct. 2009 UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, PPLS - Reader in Evolution of Language and Cognition.
Oct. 2009 – UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, PPLS- Professor of Language Evolution.

Courses developed:

• Current Issues in Language Evolution (10 credits). Postgraduate course.

• Foundations of Evolution (10 credits). Interdisciplinary postgraduate course made up of guest lectures from across the university (Biology, Economics, Philosophy, Linguistics etc.)

• Simulating Language (20 credits). Postgraduate and Undergraduate versions.
• Language Evolution in the Lab (10 credits). Practical course showing how language evolution can be studied in the experiment lab.

• Language and Communication (part of Linguistics 1). Undergraduate introductory course including guest lectures on a range of topics.

• Computational Modelling of Linguistic Processes (20 credits). Postgraduate and Undergraduate versions.

• In addition, I developed and ran the MSc in the Evolution of Language and Cognition aspart of our overall graduate programme in language evolution.

• Director of the Centre for Language Evolution (current)
• MSc Programme Director, Evolution of Language and Cognition (current)
• Appeals committee member (current)
• University complaints officer (current)
• School Postgraduate Director
• Director of the Language Evolution and Computation Research Unit
• School Academic Misconduct Officer
• School Undergraduate Studies Committee member

Oct. 1988 – Jun. 1992 UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
MA(Hons) Linguistics and Artificial Intelligence, First Class; Recipient of Howe Prize
for Artificial Intelligence 1992
Oct. 1992 – Oct. 1995 UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
PhD dissertation: “Function, Selection and Innateness: the Emergence of Language
Universals”. External examiner: Professor John Hawkins (USC)

2012, Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

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Personal webpage