• the role of language in the production of power and social conflict
• minority languages and communities
• folk linguistics and language ideology
• social and economic inequality
• language and migration
• language and the media
• pragmatics and prosody
• ethnography of communication
• critical discourse analysis
• (critical) intercultural communication 

Linguistic Anthropology, Sociolinguistics, Minority Languages, Applied Linguistics, Cultural Theory, Language and Globalisation, CDA, Race Theory, Gender Studies, Pragmatics, Language and Media, Research Methods

Maria Hickey is Assistant Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Limerick. Her research is concerned with the critical study of language in situations of social and economic inequality. Her main current project is the 'Tell your own story' project, a media-based research and intervention project which aims to reduce stereotypes and promote diversity in society (see tyos.ie for further details). Further, she is involved in research on media and social protest, issues of immigration and asylum, critical intercultural communication and minority languages and economics. Her published work focuses on social and economic inequality, human rights and minority communities, with a specific focus on the role of language, language perceptions and language ideologies in the production of power and social conflict. Maria is a member of the Centre for Applied Language Studies (CALS) and of the Centre for Irish-German Studies. She lectures in the areas of Critical Discourse Analysis, Linguistic Anthropology, Cultural Theory, Applied Linguistics, and Research Methods.