Boston University

Linguistics & Language Sciences

Digital Humanities

The World’s First Novel Has Romance, Tragedy, Adventure. Now, After 1,000 Years, The Tale of Genji’s Poems Have Joined the Digital Age

July 15, 2025

Photo: A small green frog on a leaf in India, near Kerala

Research News

Brink Bites: Tracking Endangered Frogs, Why Concentration Wanders, Studying Kids’ Beliefs

May 6, 2025

Photo: Sock image of two phones with screens that read ITS A MATCH on blue sheets.

Research News

Brink Bites: Finding Love Online and Preserving Black American Sign Language

November 27, 2024

Photo: A large group of people sit watching an individual giving a research presentation in a bright modern space

Inauguration 2024

Inauguration 2024 Research on Tap Celebrates BU’s Power to Bring Scholars Together to Better Our World

September 25, 2024

Illustration of people talking with speech bubbles above their heads. Text reads "Explain This!"

Listen Now

What Is Language and How Does It Evolve?

March 1, 2024

Image: Vintage engraving of a scene from the Charles Dickens novel "David Copperfield." The black sketch-style engraving shows a man writing at a desk as a woman sitting on the floor next to him looks over towards the desk. A large bookcase filled with bookcase is the backdrop.

Education

How Dickens and Other Authors Shaped Attitudes to Education—with Lasting Impacts

December 5, 2023

Black and white photo of Writer Nobuko Yoshiya, an older Japanese woman wearing a long sleeved seater over a white collared shirt and long skirt. She poses for a photograph in a small rock garden. A small building can be seen behind her.

Expert Take

This Queer Japanese Novelist Disrupted Beliefs about Sexuality, Love, and Friendship

June 12, 2023

Photo: Fallou Ngom, professor of anthropology, poses for a photo on November 22, 2022. A black man wearing a grey medium-brimmed hat, light pink collared shirt, and navy blue blazer, poses with hand on chin and a soft smile as he sits in a chair.

Linguistics & Language Sciences

Unearthing a Long-Ignored African Writing System, One Researcher Finds African History, by Africans

December 21, 2022

Collage: (From left to right, top down) Photo: Bruce Willis at a speaking engagement wearing a blue collared shirt with a white undershirt, Photo of BU Medical student, Molly Jia Yong Zhao gives a flu shot to a patient during a clinic on September 29, 2020, vector illustration of a brain pixelating and dissolving from left to right, and Photo of Clinical Assistant Professor in Health Science, Hagere Yilma, posing for a photo. A Black woman with shoulder-length black hair styled in a twist-out hairstyle wearing a black, tunic-style blouse stands in front of a brick wall and smiles to the camera.

2022 in Review

Best of The Brink 2022: BU’s Most-Read Science and Research Stories

December 13, 2022

Screenshot of a woman signing. Her face and body are outlines by colorful lines showing how AI might recognize the signs she makes.

ASL and AI

Can Artificial Intelligence Reveal Why Languages Change Over Time?

March 29, 2022

Photo of neuroscientist and speech pathologist, Jenny Zuk, in a hunter green dress, sitting at her desk with her arm resting on the desk. Behind her, the Boston skyline is seen.

Baby Brains and Language

When It Comes to Communication Skills—Maybe We’re Born with It?

August 20, 2021

A young family conference with a doctor or therapist via a telehealth application on a laptop computer

Rehabilitation Sciences

Beware Using Telemedicine for Voice and Speech Therapy

July 15, 2021

An illustration of a brain on a red background

Language Rehabilitation

Scientists Can Predict How Well a Stroke Survivor Will Recover Language Skills Using Computer Simulations of the Brain

June 3, 2021

A photo of a father and son working together on a tablet

Digital Health

Can This Free Mobile App Help Autistic Children Develop Better Language Skills?

April 2, 2021

Deaf Studies

World’s Largest American Sign Language Database Makes ASL Even More Accessible

March 22, 2021

A photo of Graham Grail smiling at the camera

Voice & Gender

How Testosterone Changes the Voices of Trans Men

March 3, 2021

Fallou Ngom sits in the home of an Ajami manuscript owner in Belfort, Ziguinchor, Senegal.

Anthropology

Digitizing Ajami, a Centuries-Old African Script

January 23, 2020

Portrait of Stephanie Curenton

Accolades

BU Researcher Named National Black Child Development Institute Fellow

August 29, 2019

Japanese soldiers playing the American game of baseball supposedly in China during the war

International Relations

Long before Pearl Harbor, Japan Tried to Get America on Its Side

February 22, 2019

Fallou Ngom, director of the African Studies Center

Education

African Studies Center Expands Curriculum

September 24, 2018

African Studies Center Expands Curriculum