Dr. Josh Brown

Biography

Josh Brown is a historical sociolinguist and Associate Professor in Italian Studies at the University of Western Australia. He completed his PhD at UWA and followed with a postdoctoral fellowship at Stockholm University, later teaching at the Australian National University before returning to Perth. He has served as the Acting Deputy Head of the School of Humanities, leading research in Italian Studies with specific focuses on language change, historical multilingualism in the Italian peninsula, and language contact during the Early Modern Period. His work often utilizes unpublished archival manuscripts to explore linguistic variation in the past. He authored a book examining early evidence of Tuscanization in non-literary texts from the late fourteenth century and co-authored research on Italian colonial correspondence preserved in the New Norcia Archive. He has edited scholarly volumes mainly on cross-cultural exchanges in Renaissance Italy and is active in several UWA research groups, contributing to studies on early modern language circulation. Brown also collaborates on initiatives related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in the field of education. His linguistic competence includes proficiency in Italian and French, along with conversational skills in German and Mandarin.

Research Interests