Swahili Faculty

Sabrina Billings
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(Ph.D., University of Chicago, 2006; B.A., University of Kentucky, 1995) heads the Swahili language program, the University's first offering of an indigenous African language. She also teaches courses in sociolinguistics and African culture. Billings’ research interests involve the intersection of language with gender, education, inequality, and globalization, especially in the context of urban East Africa. Her forthcoming book is entitled Speaking Beauties: Language, Opportunity, and Inequality in the Making of a Tanzanian Beauty Queen (Multilingual Matters). In her current research, Billings explores education, gender, and escape in the Tanzanian tourism industry. In addition to her appointment in World Languages and her service on the African and African American Studies Program, she is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Anthropology and a member of the Gender Studies steering committee.

University of Arkansas

Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Swahili Faculty