Title: Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish

Office: Humanities Building 407-F

Phone: 205.934.4652

Email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it


Nicholas Henriksen earned a dual PhD in Linguistics and Hispanic Linguistics from Indiana University in May 2010. He is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish at UAB for 2011-2012. His research agenda focuses on issues in the phonetics and phonology of different varieties of Spanish from an experimental perspective, working within the fields of sociolinguistics, dialect variation, and diachronic linguistics. His most recent publications are based on the intonational structure of questions and statements in varieties of Spanish spoken in northern, central, and southern Spain, adhering to principles in stylistic (social) variation and autosegmental prosodic structure. He has presented his research findings at conferences such as Speech Prosody, The Chicago Linguistics Society, Phonetics and Phonology in Iberia, and the Second Language Research Forum. Recent journal publications appear in Language and Speech, Probus, Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, and Journal of Portuguese Linguistics. Most recently, Henriksen has extended his work on sociophonetics to issues related to heritage language intonation for Mexican-American speakers of Spanish living in the Chicagoland area.


Henriksen has taught courses in Spanish and Linguistics at all levels of the undergraduate and graduate curriculum as Associate Instructor at Indiana University and Assistant Professor at Northern Illinois University. He has supervised various MA theses on issues related to Spanish sociolinguistics and phonology and most recently directed a study abroad program for college-level students in Toledo, Spain (see blog). This summer he will co-direct UAB’s Study Away program in Toledo as well.

Henriksen CV