Kelly Harper Berkson is an associate professor of Linguistics at Indiana University, Bloomington (PhD 2013, Univ. of Kansas). She is originally from Keene, NH. She's particularly interested in the phonetics and typology of breathy and voiceless sonorants and has been working with Chin languages spoken in Indiana since 2017.

For a CV, click here.

Sui Hnem Par is a PhD student at Indiana University Bloomington studying Education. She received her Master’s degree in education in 2023, and her Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management in 2020. She has been involved with the CLRP since 2019 and has contributed to many projects including creating Lutuv literacy materials, producing YouTube videos, conducting research on community language attitudes, and more.

Amanda Bohnert is a PhD student in Linguistics at Indiana University who has been involved with the CLRP since 2019. She has been involved with numerous projects, including the Lutuv Folklife Survey and the YouTube video series, among many others. Her current research focuses on the articulation of vowel contrasts in Lutuv, but she has also investigated Lutuv verbal agreement, modality, and more.

Em Em is a former student at Indiana University, where she completed a degree in Community Health with minors in Gerontology & Global Health Promotion. She was born in a small village called Sun Thla, in the township of Falam. She joined CLRP in 2021, hoping to better understand and help spread knowledge of the diverse languages of the Chin.

Dr. Emily Hanink (Ph.D. UChicago, 2018) is an assistant professor of Linguistics at Indiana University. Emily’s primary research interests are syntax and morphology, with a focus on theoretically-informed fieldwork. Her current research engages with the Chin languages Falam and Lutuv, and she looks forward to continuing to learn about the grammar of Chin languages through community-based language work.

Stefon Flego is a PhD candidate in Linguistics and Germanic Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. He has been involved with the CLRP since its inception in 2018. In addition to working on the Common Voice project, he has also done work on valency, relative clauses, and typologically rare sound contrasts in Hakha Lai.

Elly Mercy Hnem is currently a sophomore at Indiana University (Class of 2026). She’s majoring in Political Science with a minor in Financial Literacy. Just a few years after being born in the Thantlang village of Leitak, Elly’s family emigrated to Malaysia, before immigrating to America in 2009. She speaks Leitak (Zophei), Hakha, and English. Elly joined CLRP in 2023 with the hope of bringing more resources for the lesser known elements of Chin languages and cultures.

Hannah Hunt is a sophomore at Indiana University Bloomington studying International Studies, Spanish, International Education, and TESOL. She is from Indianapolis, Indiana, and grew up surrounded by the Chin community and its culture. Hannah has been involved with the CLRP since August 2022. Since then, she has contributed to  CLRP's LUCAH project as well as the Chin Folklife Survey. 

Kenneth Van Bik is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Cal. State University, Fullerton (PhD Univ. of California at Berkeley, 2006). He is a comparative and historical linguist. Born and raised in Myanmar, he grew up as a bilingual speaker of Hakha Chin and Burmese. His love of teaching and linguistics was inspired by his parents—with his father a Bible translator and his mother a primary school teacher, dinner-table talk often included discussions about translating Greek and Hebrew words and phrases into Hakha Chin.

Dawt Iang is a junior at Indiana University. She is majoring in Political Science and minoring in International Studies. She was born in Hakha, Chin State. She speaks Hakha, Burmese and English fluently. She joined the team in 2021 and wants to preserve the Chin Language and spread awareness of its diversity outside the Chin community.

Samson Lotven is a field linguist with experience on the phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax of under- and undocumented languages. He is currently working with speakers of languages in the Maraic branch of Kuki-Chin, primarily Zophei and Lutuv. His research interests include language variation, syllable structure, and tone.

Grayson Ziegler is a PhD student in Linguistics at Indiana University. He has been involved with the CLRP since 2022. His research interests include verbal morphology and modality in Lutuv as well as the acoustics of voicing contrasts in Hakha Lai.

Van Nei Par is a student at Indiana University. As of 2023, she is a sophomore majoring in Community Health and minoring in Social Welfare Advocacy. She was born in a small village called Ngalang, in the township of Thantlang. In 2023, she became part of the CLPR with the goal of preserving Chin languages and sharing the richness of diversity that exists among Chin people with everyone.

J.C. Wamsley is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Rochester. He completed his PhD in Linguistics at Indiana University in 2023. His current research focus is nominal marking in Hakha Lai. He has been involved with the project since 2018 and has contributed to numerous projects, including the Common Voice project and an attitude study of Chin languages in the Indianapolis Chin community.

Sui Tin Par is enrolled at IU Bloomington to study Biology, with a minor in Public Health. She was an active part of the CLRP for several years, contributing to numerous projects including the Chin Folklife Survey. She was born in Hakha, Chin State. She speaks Hakha and English fluently. She joined the team with the hope of being a part of a team that works on preserving the Chin language and culture. 

Amalia Robinson is a PhD student in Linguistics at Indiana University. She is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her research interests include phonetics, sociolinguistics, and multilingualism. Amalia is passionate about engaging in collaborative, community-focused language work, especially in the Chin community in Indiana.

Dillon Tautunu Smith is a PhD student in Linguistics at Indiana University who has been a part of the CLRP since 2019. He has had the privilege of partaking in various projects, including the Lutuv Folklife Survey. His research interests include syntax and morphology, particularly the ways in which Chin languages encode motion events.