Caleb Everett is an American academic and researcher in the fields of anthropology and psychology, currently serving as the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Delaware. He is recognized for his interdisciplinary work on linguistic relativity, numerical cognition, and the interplay between language, culture, and cognition, with significant contributions from fieldwork in Amazonia.[3] Everett has authored influential books, including Numbers and the Making of Us (2017) and Linguistic Relativity: Evidence across Languages and Cognitive Domains (2013), and has received accolades such as the 2018 PROSE Award and 2023 PROSE Award.[4]
Early life and education
Caleb Everett is the son of linguist Daniel Everett and Keren Everett.[5] He spent much of his childhood in the Amazon rainforest, where his parents worked as missionaries and linguists with the Pirahã people. During this time, he lived in a hut and was home-schooled by his parents while also experiencing local indigenous culture, including learning traditional skills alongside Pirahã children.[6]
Everett earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh, followed by master's and doctoral degrees in linguistics from Rice University.[1] His doctoral dissertation focused on the Amazonian language Karitiâna. He later conducted post-doctoral research in linguistics at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo.[1]
Career
Everett joined the University of Miami in 2007 as a professor of anthropology.[1] He later expanded his role to include psychology and served in several administrative positions, including chair of the anthropology department from 2017 to 2021, and senior associate dean for academic affairs and subsequently for faculty affairs and college diversity.[1] He also served as a faculty member for the Semester at Sea program in 2015.[1]
Notably, Everett returned to the Amazon as a researcher to study the Pirahã people, investigating how the absence of number words in their language influenced their perception of quantity—research that would form the basis for his work on numerical cognition and linguistic relativity.[3]
In March 2025, he assumed the role of Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Delaware, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science.[7]
Research and Contributions
Everett's research centers on how language shapes cognition and culture, with a focus on linguistic anthropology and cognitive science.[8] His work on numerical cognition posits that numbers are a cultural invention, refined over time, as explored in Numbers and the Making of Us, based on fieldwork with indigenous Amazonian communities.[3] His studies on linguistic relativity, detailed in his 2013 book, investigate how language influences thought across cognitive domains, challenging universalist theories.[9]
His interdisciplinary methods include computational analyses, experimental studies, and fieldwork, with recent work examining aerosol particles in speech, linking anthropology to environmental science. His publications, cited over 2,274 times,[10] reflect his broad impact across multiple disciplines.
Publications
Everett's key works include:
- A Myriad of Tongues: How Languages Reveal Differences in How We Think (2023) – Winner of a PROSE Award and selected as one of the top 10 science books of fall 2023 by Publishers Weekly[11]
- Numbers and the Making of Us (Harvard University Press, 2017) – Explores the cultural evolution of numbers; winner of the 2018 PROSE Award and named one of the 10 best science books of the year by Smithsonian.[3][4][1]
- Linguistic Relativity: Evidence across Languages and Cognitive Domains (De Gruyter Mouton, 2013) – Analyzes language's role in cognition.[9]
Additional articles appear in journals like Scientific American and Nature Communications. His research has been covered by major media outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Science, Nature, National Geographic, PBS, and the BBC.[1] A comprehensive list of his publications is available on his personal website.[12]
Awards and Honors
| Award/Honor | Year | Details |
|---|---|---|
| PROSE Award for Best Book in Language & Linguistics | 2023 | For A Myriad of Tongues: How Languages Reveal Differences in How We Think[1] |
| Publisher's Weekly Top 10 Science Books | 2023 | A Myriad of Tongues: How Languages Reveal Differences in How We Think[13] |
| PROSE Award for Best Book in Language & Linguistics | 2018 | For Numbers and the Making of Us[4] |
| Smithsonian Top 10 Science Books | 2017 | Numbers and the Making of Us[1] |
| Andrew Carnegie Fellow | Inaugural Class (2015-17) | Recognized for research on linguistic differences influencing nonlinguistic thought[14][1] |
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "New Dean Appointed for College of Arts & Sciences". UDaily. Dec 20, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
- ^ "Caleb Everett". University of Delaware. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Numbers and the Making of Us". Harvard University Press. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
- ^ a b c "2018 PROSE Award Winners". Association of American Publishers. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
- ^ Everett, Daniel (2008). Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle. Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-0-375-42502-8.
- ^ Everett, Daniel L. (2005). "Cultural Constraints on Grammar and Cognition in Pirahã: Another Look at the Design Features of Human Language" (PDF). Current Anthropology. 46 (4): 621–646. doi:10.1086/431525.
- ^ "New Dean Appointed for College of Arts & Sciences". UDaily. Dec 20, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
- ^ "Caleb Everett". University of Miami. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
- ^ a b Everett, Caleb (2013). Linguistic Relativity. De Gruyter Mouton. doi:10.1515/9783110308143. ISBN 978-3-11-030780-1. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
- ^ "Caleb Everett - Google Scholar". Google Scholar. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
- ^ Greenawalt |, Marc. "Fall 2023 Adult Announcements: Science". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
- ^ "Caleb Everett". Caleb Everett. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
- ^ Greenawalt |, Marc. "Fall 2023 Adult Announcements: Science". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
- ^ "Andrew Carnegie Fellows". Carnegie Corporation of New York. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
You must be logged in to post a comment.