Faculty Spotlight: Kevin Samejon

When Dr. Kevin Samejon first stepped into a college linguistics class, he felt completely lost. The terminology was overwhelming, the concepts elusive, and the subject far more challenging than expected. But instead of walking away, he leaned in. “I knew I wasn’t dumb; I just needed more time to process things,” he recalls. That initial confusion became motivation, eventually carrying him through graduate school and into a PhD in Linguistics.

Today, Dr. Samejon specializes in language variation, post-colonial societies, and sound symbolism, blending fieldwork with experimental and quantitative methods to bridge human stories with scientific analysis. Yet academia wasn’t always the plan. Originally set on nursing, family circumstances shifted his path, and he chose English instead. That change, he says, was life-altering.

“I even spent three years as an elected official in our town, starting at age 17,” he says with a laugh. “But academia drew me in. I think it’s partly because of my own academic struggles, and partly because I genuinely enjoy teaching and research. In the end, academia just feels like the right fit.”

Graduate school deepened that calling. As a Teaching Fellow, Dr. Samejon learned how to translate complex ideas for students just starting out. “Those opportunities pushed me to step outside my own research and meet students where they are. That’s something I carry into every class I teach today.”

The road to his doctorate, however, was not easy. After completing a master’s degree, he worked in research labs and taught adjunct courses in Boston, only to be rejected from every PhD program he applied to. Instead of giving up, he returned home to the Philippines, kept teaching and publishing, and tried again; this time applying to just one program. He was accepted with a full scholarship. “It was a wild journey, but one I’m grateful for, because it affirmed the path I was meant to take, which is a career in academia.”

Connection has remained the cornerstone of his teaching. His philosophy can be summed up simply: “Building a supportive learning community where no one is left behind.” The most rewarding moments, he says, are when students truly engage with the material and with one another. The challenge, however, comes when students feel distant. “I understand many take the class for requirements, but I see it as my role to help bridge that gap.”

Like many educators today, Dr. Samejon is also navigating how artificial intelligence fits into the classroom. His approach is pragmatic: use it strategically, but don’t let it replace human creativity. “If we rely too heavily on AI, we risk reinforcing the idea that our work is AI-replaceable. In the humanities, we have to stay human.”

Though new to UNO, Dr. Samejon has already found support in his department and colleagues. Outside the university, he mentors high school students from historically underserved backgrounds across the globe and has delivered guest lectures at universities abroad.

Faith, family, and the academic community he has built along the way have been steady sources of encouragement. But at the heart of his work is a simple goal: to grow in grace, empathy, and humanity while inspiring students to embrace both success and failure.

Looking ahead, Dr. Samejon is eager to explore Omaha’s sociolinguistic landscape and develop new courses in linguistics for UNO students. His hope for them is clear: “I want them to see that even in linguistics, there are more questions than answers, and that’s okay. When they try to answer any one of them, I hope they embrace failure with the same gusto as success and know that I’ll be there to support them through both.”