When she was a child, MIT senior Olivia Honeycutt would spend summers on her grandparents’ farm in rural Alabama outside Birmingham. The practical and cultural differences between farm and city life became more pronounced by comparison. “Life and the way we lived it slowed down on the farm,” she says. “It was a nice change of pace.”
These days, Honeycutt, a double major in computation and cognition and linguistics, still finds herself moving between several worlds that are simultaneously connected and distinctly different. Her research interests lie at the intersection of human thinking and awareness, language learning and acquisition, technology, and social group interaction and impact.
Honeycutt’s interest in language and the ways it can shape how we think and live grew alongside lifelong investments in math and science. She learned French from her relationships with Haitian family friends, and American Sign Language because of another friend’s deaf sibling. She was fascinated with how speakers from those groups communicated and how the brain can reorganize itself when confronted with a lack of auditory input.
“There are so many things that are different about sign language and spoken language,” she says. “Speaking in multiple languages and dialects while managing the emotional and cultural nuances multilingualism presents can shift your experience of the world and of yourself.” Operating in these areas creates research opportunities in disciplines as diverse as neurology, large language models (LLMs), psychology, and public policy.
“There’s fascinating work underway in neurolinguistics,” Honeycutt notes, “along with trying to better understand the differences between neural networks, AI, and how each processes information.” She’s wanted to study these for a long time, she says. “When people have to manage language deficits like aphasia, for example, and you’re immersed in several areas of investigation to find answers, you get to learn cool things like how the brain ‘does’ language.”
An MIT approach to study
Honeycutt chose MIT, in part, because the computation and cognition major was “not something I could find elsewhere.” Her affinity for math and English, alongside a desire to pursue the kind of computer science work that “centered people,” increased the likelihood that she could continue in her preferred areas of investigation with the support of the Institute’s faculty and other students.
She found class 9.59J (Laboratory in Psycholinguistics), taught by professor of brain and cognitive sciences Ted Gibson, to be especially enlightening. “It laid the foundation for my work,” she says.
Her decision to major in linguistics along with computation and cognition meant she could connect her interests in brain function and technology with a data-driven approach to language study and processing. “Majoring in linguistics highlighted the power of scientific rigor to organize and analyze a vast amount of chaotic, human-centric data,” she says. Her coursework reinforced the value of her decision.
Honeycutt lauds the freedom MIT’s focus on interdisciplinary study provides. “Researchers are exploring differences between human and LLM language models and processing, and a lot of that work is happening at MIT,” she says. “MIT provides a rigorous flexibility that allows me to indulge multiple academic interests.”
It’s this flexibility that Honeycutt values most. “It’s the only reason I’m on the path I’ve chosen,” she continues, one that features a focus on language acquisition, education policy, LLMs’ computational possibilities and limitations, and education reform.
Honeycutt’s research continued on a series of MISTI trips in 2025. She traveled to South Africa in the summer, where she worked on the South African Human Rights Commission’s “Right to Read” campaign. She explored connections between language processing and brain function and supported research to aid in developing legislation to help increase literacy among South Africans.
“Linguistic diversity presents significant challenges in South Africa,” she asserts. “One of the impacts of colonization on indigenous Africans, for example, is that children are often pushed out of schools because they can’t use the languages they’re learning — like Afrikaans — with their families at home.”
In fall 2025, she took a MISTI trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, where she studied sociolinguistics. She learned the value of considering alternative approaches to the brand of linguistics offered at MIT. “MIT’s approach to linguistics centers words and approaches its study like a math problem, while sociolinguistics includes important cultural context,” she says. Connecting the two made for a more complete, holistic approach to the work.
Honeycutt values a balanced approach to her studies, creating time for extracurricular activities that allow her to both investigate her research goals and create community. “I completed a policy internship in Washington, D.C. in 2024,” she recalls.
She’s a member of Theta Delta Chi, a fraternity comprising a diverse group of undergraduates from a variety of academic backgrounds. She plays women’s club soccer and is an officer with the MIT Undergraduate Association. As a co-chair of the Community Service committee, she’s leading efforts to create connections with students living off campus.
Honeycutt also volunteers with the Community Charter School of Cambridge, working to improve outcomes for underachieving students. As a volunteer, she’s able to pilot some of the education ideas being developed in her coursework. “I want to help underperforming students in the same way some institutions aid high-performing students,” she says.
The human element
Language shapes the ways its users view the world, according to Honeycutt. “I’m interested in how language can constrain thought,” she says. Language mastery is also a valuable tool in gauging emotional intelligence. “It’s important that people acquire and understand language in school,” she argues. “People should have access to a language that allows them to effectively communicate what they’re thinking.”
Having words for emotions can help people process them, Honeycutt believes. This is important in areas like translation and psychology, where nuance can be important. She also believes that reading and language acquisition are essential tools in developing effective self-awareness. Language is a medium for thought and provides guardrails to improve understanding.
“Access to a large vocabulary, including words for emotions, can increase your emotional intelligence,” she says.
With a solid academic foundation focused on cognition, language, and AI in place, Honeycutt plans to pursue studies in law and policy after graduation. That means law school and public policy programs, perhaps at an institution that offers a dual degree track.
“I want to extend opportunities to underserved students,” she says. “Problems in policy spaces are difficult, in part, because they defy easy categorization and involve multiple stakeholders.” Education, Honeycutt says, “is a fun problem to try to solve.” She wants to support efforts to enact lasting change by improving literacy, ensuring linguistic diversity, and centering science and research when crafting and implementing effective legislation that benefits learners, institutions, families, and communities.
There’s no single study in a field that will answer all the questions, Honeycutt argues. By combining the science of brain function with the social and mathematical aspects of linguistics, she can continue investigating language, its usage, and impacts on people and their lives. We can’t solve education challenges, improve AI and access to AI-enabled tools, and further the study of linguistics without institutional and community support.
“Support research,” Honeycutt says. “Don’t give up on trying to solve these problems.”