Elizabeth Dobbs, Chair, Janet Gibson, John Fennell, Brigittine French, Kelly Herold, Helen Scott, John Stone, Carmen Valentín


The linguistics concentration focuses on the systematic and scientific study of language. Core courses in the Departments of Psychology, Philosophy, English, and Anthropology offer various perspectives on different aspects of language and its uses. Some knowledge of a nonnative language is required. Each student will complete a 2- or 4-credit interdisciplinary research project, which is expected to build on some past work in the student's program.

Required: competence in a nonnative language, as certified by the relevant department (equivalent to, for example, Latin 222, French 222, German 222, Spanish 217, Russian 222) and 22 or 24 credits to be taken as follows:

1. 4 credits:

• Linguistics 114 Introduction to General Linguistics

2. Three 4-credit core courses chosen from the following:

• Anthropology 260 Language, Culture, and Society
• Computer Science/Mathematics 341 Automata, Formal Languages, and Computational Complexity
• English 230 English Historical Linguistics
• Philosophy 256 Philosophy of Language and Cognition
• Psychology 355 Psychology of Language

3. Elective courses (4 credits): a fourth core course; any 4-credit 300-level language course, not in translation; any second semester, or higher, 4- or 5-credit language course in a second nonnative language; or the following, provided permission is obtained from the instructor and the concentration chair:

• Anthropology 205 Human Evolution
• ComputerScience/Mathematics 341 Automata, Formal Languages, and Computational Complexity
• Philosophy 102 Symbolic Logic
• Philosophy 235 20th-Century Continental Philosophy
• Philosophy 257 Philosophy of Science
• Psychology 260 Cognitive Psychology
• Sociology 248 Self and Society
• Special topics and independent studies

4. Senior Research Project (2 or 4 credits): see Linguistics 495 below.

114 Introduction to General Linguistics (Spring) 4 credits

Scientific description of the language: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Contributions of various schools: traditional, descriptive, and generative-transformational grammars. Survey of the subdisciplines psycho- and sociolinguistics. For those who have a general interest in language and those who need some acquaintance with linguistics for their studies in other fields.

495 Senior Research Project (Fall or Spring) 2 or 4 credits

An interdisciplinary senior research project for students completing the concentration in linguistics. Besides the principal mentor, there will be one or, upon recommendation of the concentration committee, two additional readers. Prerequisites: Introduction to General Linguistics and at least two courses from Category 2 above.