Linguistics Major

Major Requirements

All students completing an interdisciplinary major in linguistics are required to take LING 100 , LING 104 , LING 200 , and LING 205 . After this, they may follow either a cultural or a cognitive track.

Major in linguistics with added emphasis in cultural and language studies.

Students with a strong interest in languages and the humanities may wish to consider the cultural track. This includes:

Language courses: three language courses beyond the college-wide four semester requirement
Two more courses in one other discipline as it relates to language. Two courses in a sequence can be chosen from:
PHIL 231 - Modern Philosophy and
PHIL 364 - Philosophy of Language (Same as LING 364 ); OR
JAPA 235 - Communicative Strategies in Japanese Society (Same as LING 235 ) and
JAPA 335 - Analyzing Japanese Language (Same as LING 335 ) or
JAPA 488 - Translating Japanese: Theory and Practice ; OR
ASIA 494 -Translating Chinese: Theory and Practice
HISP 309 - Intro to Hispanic Linguistics and
HISP 435 - History of Spanish Language
HISP 436 - Spanish Dialectology
HISP 437 - Applied Linguistics: Spanish Second Language Acquisition
HISP 494 - Spanish in the United States

Or, an alternative pair approved by the department chair including courses such as:

POLI 170 - Theories of Rhetoric
MCST 110 - Texts and Power: Foundations of Media and Cultural Studies
SOCI 175 - Sociolinguistics (Same as LING 175 )
MCST 128 - Film Analysis/Visual Culture
MCST 234 - New Media Theories and Practices
RUSS 265 - Translation as Cross-Cultural Communication (Same as INTL 265 )
Two more courses chosen from the following:
LING 103 - Advertising and Propaganda
LING 201 - Historical Linguistics
LING 202 - Origins/Evolution of Language
LING 301 - Language and Alienation (Same as
SOCI 301
)
LING 206 - Endangered/Minority Languages
LING 225 - 100 Words for Snow: Language and Nature (Same as ENVI 225 )
LING 204 - Experimental Linguistics
The Capstone Sequence:
LING 300 - Linguistic Analysis
LING 400 - Field Methods in Linguistics

Students in this track are required to complete six courses offered by departments other than linguistics, chosen in consultation with the department chair.

Major in linguistics with added emphasis in cognitive studies.

Students with a strong interest in cognitive science frequently approach linguistics from a background in mathematics, psychology, logic or computer science, rather than natural languages. Such students may wish to consider following the cognitive track.

A sequence in psychology:
PSYC 180 /NEUR 180 (Brain, Mind, and Behavior)
PSYC 242 (Cognitive Psychology)
PSYC 378 /LING 378 (Psychology of Language)
A sequence in computer science:
COMP 123 (Introduction to Computer Science)
COMP 484 /NEUR 484 (Artificial Intelligence)
Two more courses to be chosen from the following:
PHIL 120 (Introduction to Symbolic Logic)
PHIL 362 (Philosophy of Mind)
PHIL 364 (Philosophy of Language)
The capstone sequence:
LING 204 (Experimental Linguistics)
LING 614 (Independent Project: Capstone) an independent experimental project conducted in the linguistics, psychology, or computer science laboratory facilities.

Students in this track are required to complete six courses offered by departments other than linguistics, chosen in consultation with the department chair.