Associate Researcher, Université de Lomé, Togo (5 year agreement)

I am very happy to announce that I have just signed (as of today, Friday, September 18, 2026) an agreement with the Université de Lomé in Togo in Togo for the next five years. This is the realization of a dream that I have had for a very long time to try to give back academically to the Togolese community where I got started in linguistics as a Peace Corps volunteer in 1985-1987. I think this plan is a perfect way for me to start winding down my career doing fieldwork in Africa. I thank Komlan Essizewa, my student at NYU and my longtime friend, for making this possible.

Here is a summary of the agreement (produced by Gemini on the basis of the original signed agreement in French):

Under the Agreement for Scientific Collaboration and Affiliation as an Associate Researcher (Convention de Collaboration Scientifique et d'Affiliation en Qualité de Chercheur Associé), running from September 1, 2026, to August 31, 2031, I am officially partnering as an Associate Researcher with the Research Team on African Languages in Mutation (ERELAM) at the Université de Lomé in Togo. In collaboration with Professor Komlan Essowè Essizewa, this five-year partnership includes an extended residency in Togo from June 2027 through July 2028, followed by subsequent summer visits in 2029, 2030, and 2031 to co-teach intensive Master's-level generative syntax courses, lead research seminars, and mentor graduate students. Joint academic research produced through this initiative will proudly feature dual institutional affiliations with both New York University and the Université de Lomé.