Linguistics Spring 2025: Intro Classes, No Prerequisites
What is linguistics?
Linguistics is the study of the human capacity for language. What properties of the human mind allow us to learn and use language in a way that is unique to us as a species? What can the similarities and differences found across human languages tell us about how language is stored and organized in our brains? What role does social context and other nonlinguistic factors play in how humans create meaning with language?
Spring 2025 courses open to all students
Examine the relationships between language and social variables (age, sex, gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, etc.). Discuss implications on social and societal dimensions like government policy, contact between speakers of different languages, processes of language loss and preservation, discrimination and language attitudes, and programs for social justice.
Explore the linguistic questions that arise concerning the many varieties of English that are spoken around the globe, including English-based creoles. Tackle questions like: Who is a native speaker? What is a standard? What value judgments do people ascribe to different varieties of English?
Our planet hosts around 7000 human languages. What do diverse languages across the world have in common and where exactly do they differ? What do these underlying similarities and differences between languages teach us about the human mind?
What is language? What does it mean for a human to “know” a particular language? How do children acquire this knowledge? How do we use language to communicate? These are some of the important questions addressed by linguistics, the scientific study of the human capacity for language.
