Linguistics

Language is a medium for nearly all human activity. As such, it plays a salient role across many disciplines of study across the humanities, arts, history, the social sciences, and education, among others. The field of linguistics is concerned with the nature of human language, including its structure, acquisition and use, and how it changes over short (years) and long (centuries or more) periods of time. This dual-title degree at the MA level is designed to enrich students' major field of study through required courses in the scientific study of language and through integration of that training into the student's work in the major field (e.g. in the thesis or culminating experience). The specifications made here for the minor refer to a minor at the doctoral level only, and they are designed to cover the foundations of the discipline of linguistics by reviewing fundamental core areas such as phonology and syntax. Course work is also available in many additional areas of linguistics such as semantics, morphology, language variation, historical linguistics, and discourse analysis.

Admission Requirements

Applicants to this dual-title degree program should have a junior/senior cumulative average of at least 3.30 (on a 4.00 scale) and appropriate academic preparation. Preference will be given to those students who have an academic record that demonstrates experience in Linguistics and/or an ancient Mediterranean language (e.g., Greek, Latin, Hebrew, etc.) at the intermediate level. Where applicable, a minimum GPA of 3.5 (on a 4.00 scale) is requisite for graduate work previously undertaken. Prospective students seeking admission to this dual-title degree program are required to write a statement of purpose of approximately 500 words that addresses the ways in which their research and professional goals will reflect an interest in interdisciplinary research in their participating program and Linguistics.

Degree Requirements

To qualify for a dual-title degree, students must satisfy the requirements of the disciplinary graduate program in which they originally enrolled, as well as the degree requirements for the interdisciplinary dual-title in Linguistics.

In addition, for the dual-title M.A. in Linguistics, students must take six credits from among the following courses. Substitutions may be made with approval of the home program and Linguistics.

The M.A. capstone or culminating evaluations must incorporate disciplinary knowledge from Linguistics, and its evaluation (e.g. by an M.A. thesis committee) must include a faculty member from Linguistics as well as the student's home program.

Minor

The doctoral minor requires a minimum of 15 credits, 6 of which must be at the 500 level. Nine credits are prescribed in syntax (LING 402), phonology (LING 404), and a general introduction to linguistics (LING 401), although a linguistics course at the 500 level may be substituted for LING 401 with the approval of the director of the program in Linguistics.

Student Aid

Refer to the Tuition & Funding section of the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School's website. Students in this program are not eligible for graduate assistantships.

Courses

Graduate courses carry numbers from 500 to 699 and 800 to 899. Advanced undergraduate courses numbered between 400 and 499 may be used to meet some graduate degree requirements when taken by graduate students. Courses below the 400 level may not. A graduate student may register for or audit these courses in order to make up deficiencies or to fill in gaps in previous education but not to meet requirements for an advanced degree.

Linguistics (LING) Course List

Learning Outcomes

1. KNOW: Define and explain the major domains of linguistic structure (e.g., phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics), and describe and compare the major theoretical approaches to each.
2. APPLY/CREATE: Identify how Linguistics provides new perspectives on, or alternative explanations for issues in the major field of study.
3. COMMUNICATE: Explain concepts, data, or issues in linguistics to audiences in the major field without a background in linguistics, and to non-specialist audiences.
4. THINK: Integrate concepts and theories from Linguistics with their work in the major field.
5. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE: Adhere to established practices in Linguistics for describing data and constructing explanations.

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