In a field often defined by carefully planned academic pathways, Dr. David Hanks, visiting Assistant Professor in the department of Applied Linguistics, embodies a very different story - one shaped by curiosity, openness and willingness to follow the unexpected. His path into linguistics was anything but conventional, yet it is precisely this unpredictability that has shaped him into the thoughtful scholar and teacher he is today.
This spotlight traces his journey from a circuitous educational beginning to his work in linguistic anthropology, language policy and education. This reveals a scholar grounded in humility, attentiveness and deep care for the human connections that make learning possible.
A Path Redirected by Curiosity
Doctor Hanks’s academic journey began far from linguistics. “I dropped out of high school”, he recalls, describing his early years with refreshing honesty but his interest in astronomy drew him back to Community College where he began taking general education courses. That's when a required language class (Russian), unexpectedly changed everything.
He found himself not only intrigued by the language but fascinated by the patterns, structures and reasoning behind it. “I realized I liked Russian, and I started taking almost a language semester, including Arabic, German, Mandarin, you name it”. But an even deeper shift was emerging: “I began to see that what I really liked wasn't just the languages themselves but the underlying mechanics of how language works”. That realization led him to linguistics. He eventually transferred to UCLA completed his bachelor's degree and began searching for ways to combine his interest in language with broader social questions. The search led him to Educational Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education.
Finding Direction Through Theory and People
Graduate School became a turning point in his very first semester, he took an Indigenous education and language revitalization course that opened up a new intellectual horizon. He recalls sitting in a room surrounded by PhD students and thinking, “those were the conversations I wanted to be part of”. He was drawn to questions about how language interacts with identity, the political stakes of educational systems, how policy shapes linguistic opportunities and how communities negotiate language power and belonging. Scholars like Nancy Hornberger and Nelson Flores were formative influences, not because he had sought them out intentionally but because he remained opened to what he calls “serendipitous opportunities”
Research Rooted in Relationship
Perhaps the most compelling chapter of Dr. Hanks’s academic story begins with a plane ticket to Indonesia. This planned short exploratory trip, unexpectedly transformed into a major ethnographic project. “I was supposed to go to Bali for a couple of weeks just to see what was happening”, he explains, “but once there something shifted, I became deeply absorbed in the community, the language practices and the complexities of English medium instruction.” Suddenly the field site he hadn't planned on became the foundation of his dissertation. What made it meaningful wasn't just the research possibilities but the human relationships that grew around it. “I ended up forming close connections with local teachers and before I knew it, I had built an entire project out of the relationships that developed organically”. This experience reflects the core principle he now carries into all his work: scholarship is not simply about data, it's about the people who open their lives, classrooms and stories to the researcher. And for Dr. Hanks it is that dimension that makes scholarly work matter.
A Warm Welcome into The Penn State Classroom
Transitioning into Penn State as a Visiting Assistant Professor has been in his words an “unexpectedly smooth and energizing experience”. He speaks with enthusiasm about the students he has met, students who are in his view engaged thoughtfully and eager to interrogate the complexities of language. “It's encouraging to walk into a classroom and see how willing students are to engage with each other”, he says. “Their enthusiasm mirrors my own excitement. It's a kind of feedback loop." He emphasizes the importance of building a classroom community where students learn not just from the instructor but from each other. It is this collaborative energy, mirroring his own research ethos, that makes teaching for him a source of genuine joy. Being part of the Penn State Applied Linguistics community has also been affirming. He describes the department as supportive, welcoming and intellectually invigorating - a place where his interests can grow and branch in new directions.
Advice To Students and Early Career Scholars
When asked what advice he would offer to students entering applied linguistics, Dr. Hanks leans into the wisdom shaped by his own journey. “Cast a wide net”, he says. “The field is vast and deeply interdisciplinary: linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, language policy educational linguistics, critical applied linguistics. Anyone of them can become a home.” He encourages students to allow their interests to evolve rather than force themselves into a narrow lane too early. He also emphasizes the importance of relationships: “talk to people! Build networks! Ask questions! Most of the opportunities I've had, came from conversations I didn't expect to be important”. In other words, stay open both intellectually and interpersonally. That openness he suggests “is what allows scholars to notice the opportunities that crossed their path and to follow them in meaningful ways”.
A Scholar Grounded in Openness and Care
Looking across Dr. David Hanks’s journey - from dropping out of high school to a multilingual explorer, from language enthusiast to ethnographer working in Bali and now to Visiting Assistant Professor at Penn State, one theme stands out: his commitment to staying open to possibilities. His path has never been linear, but it has been deeply intentional in its own way: guided by curiosity, achieved by human connection and strengthened by willingness to follow ideas wherever they lead. And it is precisely this spirit that enriches the teaching, research and community he brings to Applied Linguistics at Penn State.
By Rose Asantewaa Ansah
(RA, Head of Department)
