Sociology and Anthropology

Christina Davis, Professor of Anthropology
Anthropology Program Coordinator

Christina Davis

Education

  • Ph.D. in Anthropology, University of Michigan, 2011
  • Certificate Degree in South Asian Studies, University of Michigan, 2011
  • M.A. in Social Sciences, University of Chicago, 2003
  • B.A in Anthropology, University of Michigan, 2001

Teaching Areas

Linguistic Anthropology, Sociocultural Anthropology, Medical Anthropology, and South Asia Studies.

Courses Taught

  • Anthropology 110: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
  • Anthropology 210: Medical Anthropology
  • Anthropology 380: Language and Culture
  • Anthropology 419: Anthropological Theory

Christina Davis's research focuses on multilingual education, language policy, digital media practices, and youth in Sri Lanka and India. She has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals including Anthropological Quarterly, Annual Review of Anthropology, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, Anthropology & Education Quarterly, Journal of Language, Education, and Ideology, The International Journal of the Sociology of Langauge, Signs & Society, and Language & Communication. Her first book, which came out of her long-term research in Sri Lanka,   The Struggle for a Multilingual Future: Youth and Education in Sri Lanka (Oxford University Press, 2020), incorporates ethnographic research conducted during and after the Sri Lankan civil war to investigate the tension between ethnic conflict and multilingual education policy in the linguistic and social practices of Sri Lankan minority youth. She is currently working on a project on language policy, Tamil identity, and place in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Her article, "The Language Politics of Aragalaya: A Multilingual Protest Movement in Postwar Sri Lanka" (Anthropological Quarterly 2025), contributes to language-focused approaches to large-scale civic movements by analyzing Sri Lankan youths' efforts to make the 2022 Colombo-based protest movement trilingual in Sinhala, Tamil, and English. 

Cover of The Struggle for a Multilingual Future by Christina Davis.

Her forthcoming book, Mother Tongue and English: The Politics of Language in Indian Higher Education (Cambridge University Press), co-authored with Chaise LaDousa, is based on their ethnographic research at higher education institutions in northern and western India from 2020 to 2024. The book is the first to examine Indian students'  reflections on mother tongue, a concept that has been pervasive since the colonial period but is rarely questioned in language and education policy and educational institutions. It also demonstrates the struggle the students face to make sense of the crucial place of English in their academic and social lives. 

She is Vice President of the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies, an editorial board member of Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, and an editorial advisory board member of Journal of Education, Language, and Ideology . She is a member of the American Anthropological Association and the Society for Linguistic Anthropology. 

Publications (Click for PDFs)

Books and Edited Volumes

Davis, Christina P., and Chaise LaDousa. Forthcoming, 2026. Mother Tongue and English: The Politics of Language in Indian Higher Education. New York: Cambridge University Press. 

Davis, Christina P. 2020. The Struggle for a Multilingual Future: Youth and Education in Sri Lanka. New York: Oxford University Press.

LaDousa, Chaise, and Christina P. Davis, eds. 2022. Language, Education, and Identity: Medium in South Asia. New York: Routledge.

Special Journal Issues

Das, Sonia N., Christina P. Davis, and Erika Hoffmann-Dilloway, eds. 2021. Special Issue: Essays in Honor of Judith T. Irvine. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 31(3).

Davis, Christina P. and Chaise LaDousa, eds. 2020. Special Issue: Sign and Script in South Asia. Signs and Society 8(1).

Peer Reviewed Articles, Book Chapters, etc.

Davis, Christina P. 2025. “The Language Politics of Aragalaya: A Multilingual Protest Movement in Postwar Sri Lanka.” Anthropological Quarterly 98(2): 237–272.

Davis, Christina P. and Chaise LaDousa. 2024, in press. “South Asian Englishes in Linguistic Landscapes.” In Handbook of South Asian English, edited by Rakesh Bhatt. New York: Oxford University Press.

 LaDousa, Chaise and Christina P. Davis. 2024, in press. “South Asian Englishes in Advertising.” In Handbook of South Asian English, edited by Rakesh Bhatt. New York: Oxford University Press.

Davis, Christina P., and Chaise LaDousa. 2023. “Ideologies of Mother Tongue at an Indian University: From Stage to Discussion.” Journal of Education, Language, and Ideology 1(1): 6–32.

Davis, Christina P. 2023. “Language Policy and Ethnic Conflict.” In A New Companion to Linguistic  Anthropology, edited by Alessandro Duranti, Rachel George, and Robin Conley Riner, 479–493. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

LaDousa, Chaise, Christina P. Davis, and Nishaant Choksi. 2022. "Postcolonial Language Ideologies: Indian Students Reflect on Mother Tongue and English." Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 32(2): 607–628.

LaDousa, Chaise, and Christina P. Davis. 2022. “South Asian Language Practices: Mother Tongue, Medium, and Media.” Annual Review of Anthropology 51: 289–305.

Davis, Christina P. 2022. Muslims in Sri Lankan Language Politics: A Study of Tamil- and English-Medium Education. In Chaise LaDousa and Christina P. Davis (eds.), Language, Education, and Identity: Medium in South Asia, 113–137. New York: Routledge.

LaDousa, Chaise and Christina P. Davis. 2022. Medium in South Asia: Ethnography, Discourse, and Policy. In Chaise LaDousa and Christina P. Davis (eds.), Language, Education, and Identity: Medium in South Asia, 1–18. New York: Routledge.

Davis, Christina. 2021. "Memes, Emojis, and Text: The Semiotics of Differentiation in Sri Lankan Tamil Social Media Groups." Special Issue, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 31(3): 429–445.

Das, Sonia N., Christina P. Davis, and Erika Hoffmann-Dilloway. 2021. "Judith T. Irvine and the Social Life of Scholarship." Special Issue, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology.

Davis, Christina P. 2020. "Trilingual Blunders: Signboards, Social Media, and Transnational Sri Lankan Tamil Publics." Special issue, Signs and Society 8(1): 1–7.

Davis, Christina P. and Chaise LaDousa. 2020. "Introduction: Sign and Script in South Asia: Media and Semiotic Mediation." Special Issue, Signs and Society 8(1): 1–7.

Davis, Christina P. 2018. "Muslims in Sri Lankan Language Politics: A Study of Tamil- and English-Medium Education." Special Issue, International Journal of the Sociology of Language 253 (1): 125–147.

LaDousa, Chaise and Christina P. Davis. 2018. "Introduction: The Changing Relationships between Language and Schooling in India and Sri Lanka: Language Medium Matters." Special Issue, International Journal of the Sociology of Language 253(1): 1–26.

Davis, Christina P. 2017. Review of Das, S. (2016) “Linguistic Rivalries: Tamil Migrants and Anglo-Franco Conflicts.” New York: Oxford University Press. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 27 (3): 368–379.

Davis, Christina P. 2015. “Speaking Conflict: Ideological Barriers to Bilingual Policy Implementation in Civil War Sri Lanka.” Anthropology & Education Quarterly 46(2): 95–112.

Davis, Christina P. 2014. “Voicing Conflict: Moral Evaluation and Responsibility in a Sri Lankan Muslim Family’s Conversations.” Language & Communication 39: 1–13.

Davis, Christina P. 2013. “Locating Voicing: Multilingualism, Ethnic Conflict, and the Configuration of Difference among Sri Lankan Muslims.” Tilburg Papers in Culture Studies. University of Tilburg. Paper # 62.

Davis, Christina P. 2012. “Is Jaffna Tamil the Best?” Producing ‘Legitimate’ Language in a Multilingual Sri Lankan School.” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 22(2): E61–82.

Davis, Christina P., and Grant P. Upson. 2005. “Spectatorship, Fandom, and Nationalism in the South Asian Diaspora: the ’03 Cricket World Cup.” International Journal of the History of Sport, 21:3/4.

Davis, Christina P., and Grant P. Upson. 2005. “Spectatorship, Fandom, and Nationalism in the South Asian Diaspora: the ’03 Cricket World Cup.” In Boria Majumdar and J. A. Mangam (eds.), Sport in South Asian Society Past and Present, with an Introduction by Dipesh Chakrabarty (295–313). London: Routledge.

Blogs and Interviews

Interview on T he Struggle for a Multilingual Future , CaMP Anthropology Blog, October 2020.

Christina P. Davis's The Struggle for a Multilingual Future. The Page 99 Test.

Growing Up in the Shadow of Sri Lanka's Civil War. OUP Blog.

 

 

 

Contact Info

Office: Morgan Hall 409
Phone: (309) 298-1056
E-mail: c-davis@wiu.edu
Website: https://christinapdavis.com/