Ph.D. Candidate Presidential Fellow Graduate Teaching Assistant Seaira’s research interests include language documentation and indigenous languages of Latin America. Her focus is on the morphosyntax and semantics of Chuj, a Mayan language spoken primarily in Guatemala. She has done fieldwork both in Guatemala and with diaspora speakers in the US. Seaira Lett has a B.A. in Spanish and linguistics from Emory University and a Master of Education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Seaira also previously served as a kindergarten teacher at a dual-language school in Kansas City, MO, where she taught core subjects in Spanish and English. Education Education: B.A. in Spanish and Linguistics, Summa cum laude, Emory University M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education, University of Missouri-St. Louis Research Areas of Interest: Language Documentation Semantics Syntax and Morphology Specific Research Areas: Mayan, Understudied languages, Tense/Aspect/Modality Grants: Comité International Permanent des Linguistes Travel Grant, 2025 Selected Publications Selected Publications: Lett, Seaira. 2025. A reanalysis of tense in Chuj (Mayan). Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America 10(1). 5887. https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v10i1.5887. Awards, Honors and Recognitions Awards and Special Recognitions: University of Georgia Dissertation Completion Award, 2026 University of Georgia ASCEND Award, 2025 Linguistics Society of America Linguistic Institute Fellowship, 2025 Willson Center Graduate Research Award, 2023 Best Graduate Paper, Conference on the Americas, 2023 Courses Taught Courses Taught: LING 2100
