Vehicle City Voices

The Vehicle City Voices (VCV) research project will take a snapshot of language use in Flint while serving as an oral history archive for Flint residents.  We ask a range of questions including:  How is the dialect changing in Flint?  What are some unique features of Flint speech?  What positive stories do residents have to share about Flint’s history?

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(Photos By Erica Britt)

Back to the Bricks, Downtown Flint 2011

VCV Research Team:

Principle Investigator:  Dr. Erica Britt  (English Department, UM-Flint, [email protected])

Co-Investigator:  Dr. Kazuko Hiramatsu (English Department, UM-Flint)

Graduate Student Research Assistant:  Wallee Keating

Research Assistant:  Jenee’ Price

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) Assistants:

  • Andrew Slabchuck (Summer 2012-Winter 2013)
  • Samantha Scott (Summer 2013-Fall 2013)
  • Caitlin Kelly (Fall 2013-Winter 2014)
  • Candace Lester (Fall 2013-Summer 2014)
  • Jarren Hall (Winter 2014-Summer 2014)
  • Bryce Jefferson (Winter 2014-Present)
  • Wai Hohmann (Winter 2014-Present)
  • Anthony Taylor (Fall 2014-Present)

Many thanks to students in LIN 244 (The Structure of English:  Winter 2012) and ENG/LIN 409/509 (American English:  Fall 2012 and Winter 2014) for their hard work collecting interviews for this project.

The VCV project was made possible by support from the UM-Flint Office of Research and Sponsored Programs through the Research and Creative Activity (RCAC) Grant and the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP).  Additional funding was provided by the UM-Flint English Department.