Laura Alvarez Lopez Vice Dean, Professor
Contact
Name and title: Laura Alvarez LopezVice Dean, Professor
ORCID0000-0002-4223-6084 Länk till annan webbplats.
Visiting address Room B 454Universitetsvägen 10 B, plan 4 och 5 samt 10 C plan 5
Postal address Romanska och klassiska institutionen106 91 Stockholm
Research groups
About me
I am a sociolinguist and Professor of Portuguese at Stockholm University. My research focuses on how languages change and vary over time, across space, and especially when people from different linguistic backgrounds meet. I investigate how social and linguistic forces interact and shape the language we use, including the role of language in the construction of social identities.
I earned my PhD at Stockholm University in 2004. Since then, I have taught Spanish and Portuguese at Mälardalen University, Linköping University, and Dalarna University. In 2009, I returned to Stockholm University, where I was appointed Full Professor in 2016.
International collaboration has always been an important driving force for me. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work at institutions such as UC Berkeley in the United States and the University of Campinas in Brazil, as well as conduct fieldwork in countries like Angola, Brazil, Mozambique, and Uruguay. These experiences have deepened my understanding of the role of language in different societies and enriched my perspective on sociolinguistic research.
Vice Dean of the Faculty of Humanities (2024-2026).
I am responsible for the courses Language Contact, Multilingualism and Minorities in the Romance-Speaking World and Portuguese Sociolinguistics within our Master's courses. I teach Portuguese at all levels and supervise degree projects, Master dissertations and Doctoral theses within the field of Portuguese as well as Spanish Linguistics.
My research examines the interaction between language, culture, and society, with a particular focus on multilingual settings. By analyzing how people use different linguistic resources across social contexts, I explore how language practices are shaped by social relations, power structures, cultural norms, and identity-related processes.
A central focus of my research is language variation and change. I study speakers’ linguistic choices and the ideologies and attitudes that influence how linguistic practices and forms are established, circulate, and become legitimized or marginalized.
Professional memberships: ABRALIN (Brazilian Linguistics Association), ACBLPE (Association of Portuguese and Spanish-Lexified Creoles) and ABRE (Association of Brazilianists in Europe).
Main fields of interest: Sociolinguistics, Language Contact and Change, Multilingualism and Language Policy
InterSin - Interseções em Sintaxe: Formas e Usos, Teoria e Ensino
(University of Campinas, Brazil)
Current projects
(2026-2027) Voices in Motion. The project integrates sociolinguistics, collaborative language documentation, computational linguistics, and AI development through collaboration between African and European universities within the CIVIS alliance. It focuses on documenting and analyzing languages that currently lack digital resources, while also developing digital language technologies. The research is conducted in collaboration with colleagues at Stockholm University, Aix-Marseille University, the Autonomous University of Madrid, Cheickh Anta Diop University, and Eduardo Mondlane University. Funding from CIVIS and Stockholm University (2025), and the Magnus Bergvalls Stiftelse (2026).
(2025-2027) Law and Policy Proposals and Public Debate on Gender-Neutral Language in Latin America. The project collects legislative proposals and analyzes the arguments used to support or challenge gender-neutral linguistic innovations, relating these proposals to international research findings and language policy strategies. Funding from the Lars Hiertas Minnesfond and the Network Language and Power at Stockholm University (2025). The research was approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority.
(2022-2026) Language Policies and Linguistic Landscapes in Higher Education. The project mapss and analyze how languages are used in public spaces on campuses and how the presence and use of different languages relates to language ideologies and language policies in higher education institutions. The research is conducted in collaboration with Jhonni Carr (PI, University of California Berkeley). Information about treatment of personal data.
(2018-2026) Routes and Roots in the Swedish Migration to South America (1869-1914). The project examines emigration from the Nordic countries to South America by adopting an interdisciplinary approach within the humanities and social sciences. The research is conducted in collaboration with Professor Erik Olsson (Stockholm University) and Professor Eeva Sippola (University of Helsinki). Funding from Stockholm University (2018) and the Åke Wibergs Stiftelse (2019, 2024).
(2014-2026) Cupópia: The Afro-Brazilian speech of Cafundó. The project focuses on the social history of the community of descendants of enslaved Africans in relation to their language practices. The research is conducted in collaboration with Associate Professor Juanito Ornelas de Avelar (University of Campinas). Funding from from STINT (2014), Stockholm University (2014-2017), University of Campinas (2015-2017), and the Lars Hiertas Minnesfond (2014-2017).
Past projects
(2014-2020) Portuguese in Africa. The project dealt with language change in multilingual settings. Funding from STINT (2014), Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (2015), Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (initiation grant 2015), RomLing at Stockholm University (2016-2018), Wenner-gren Foundation (2018-2019), Anérstiftelsen (2018). In collaboration with Anna Jon-And (Dalarna University), Juanito Avelar (University of Campinas), Torun Reite (Stockholm University), Marie-Eve Bouchard (Stockholm University).
(2010-2014) Afro-Latin Linguistics: language contact in intercultural settings. Coordinated by Laura Álvarez López with financial support from STINT (1,2 million SEK). Researchers and students at Stockholm University, Universidade Estadual de Campinas in Brazil and Universidad de la República in Uruguay studied language contact between Portuguese or Spanish and African languages in Latin America.
(2012) AFRO-LATIN linguistic contacts: corpora development and grammatical analysis, with Juanito Avelar, financial support from FAPESP (60000 BRL).