Megenney, William W.

Professor of Hispanic and Brazilian Linguistics
(951) 827-1478
Office: HMNSS 2421
william.megenney@ucr.edu

Degrees

• BA Spanish 1962, Rutgers University
• MA Portuguese 1967, University of New Mexico
• PhD Spanish/ Portuguese/ Linguistics 1969, University of New Mexico

Biography

William W. Megenney is a professor of Hispanic Linguistics and Brazilian Linguistics and Literature. His interests lie in the general areas of African influences in the Caribbean and in Brazil, including the phenomena of Afro-American cult organizations such as santería, candomblé, and umbanda. His work includes studies of the Atlantic slave trade and its results in the formation of creole languages such as palenquero of Colombia’s northern coast, as well as other sub-Saharan influences in the Spanish and the Portuguese spoken in the Americas. He has also written on African elements in Caribbean and Brazilian literatures. His current projects include the study of the differences and similarities in African-derived Cuban and Brazilian texts.

Awards

• National Defense Education Act Fellowships for graduate study, 1962 – 63, 1965 – 68
• National Endowment for the Humanities summer fellowship, Puerto Rico, 1974
• National Endowment for the Humanities research grant, Dominican Republic, 1979
• Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship, Venezuela, 1987

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