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Summer 2026

LING 1000: Language in U.S. Society
Instructor:��Chase Raymond and Emma Bornheimer

Humans use language as part of almost everything we do in social life. Whether it’s an everyday activity such as chit-chatting with a friend or family member over dinner, or something as globally significant as a presidential election or UN Summit, language provides us with many of the tools we use to make it happen. And yet, while we live our lives through language (or perhaps because of that fact), most of us rarely take the time to critically examine its influence on us, nor our influence on it. This course provides an occasion for this sort of critical thinking by offering an introduction to language in U.S. society. As such, our aims are as much sociological as they are linguistic. We begin with some foundational topics, including language acquisition, regional and dialectal variation, register and style (including shifting between them), prescriptivism and descriptivism, and some pervasive ideologies about the nature of language and how language ‘should’ be. We then explore the relationship between language and some specific social phenomena and institutions, taking as cases-in-point race/ethnicity, Deaf/Hearing communication, criminal justice systems, politics, and various forms of media. Next, we discuss language in everyday interaction—specifically how, in and through our use of language, we consistently go about categorizing, labeling, and evaluating the world, and how we use language in our everyday lives to construct our identities and build relationships. We then conclude by exploring a few phenomena in which we see some interesting similarities as we compare language use in the U.S. with language use across the globe. Students are encouraged to reflect on their own personal experiences with regard to each of these topics as we proceed through the course.

This course can be applied toward fulfillment of either the Arts & Sciences Distribution Requirement (for Social Science), or the Arts & Sciences Diversity Requirement (for U.S. Perspective).

LING 1020: Languages of the World
Instructor: Gayatri Oke

This course offers a general introduction to the world's languages. It covers topics such as the origins of language, the origins of individual languages and language families, and the relationships between the world's languages (did you know that English is related to Hindi?). It provides a brief introduction to the major languages and language groups of the world, and the interesting features of these languages, many of which are radically different from English. It also discusses the processes of historical change in languages, the origins and development of writing systems, and the ways that certain languages have spread around the world and the reasons why, as well as the fact that many smaller languages are now endangered. Finally, we'll also look some at artificial languages (Klingon, Esperanto, Lord of the Rings), and the future of the world's languages.

LING 2000: Introduction to Linguistics
Instructor: Rai Farrelly

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. In this course you will learn about structures of human language(s) and their functions. The central question in linguistics is “how does language work,” in all of its variation and complexity? You will learn what one needs to “know” to speak a language, and how language is used in social contexts. You will learn that all languages vary and change - languages are not static, and linguistic varieties differ from each other in a myriad of ways. However, there are systematic methods that we can use to analyze linguistic data in every language and linguistic variety. All languages rely on the human body and cognitive system’s capacity to make and perceive sounds or signs, the study of phonetics. All languages have a specific inventory of sounds or signs, and the study of how they systematically behave is called phonology. All languages have words, and the study of their internal structure in each language is called morphology. All languages have particular rules and patterns for how words combine, which is the study of syntax. Crucially, the function of all languages is to communicate meaning. The study of meaning conventionally encoded in lexical items is called semantics, and the study of inferential meaning in context is called pragmatics. In addition, language is always used within a dynamic sociocultural context, and thus language use informs identity construction and social meaning, the study of sociocultural linguistics. At the end of the semester you should be able to: use the basic tools of linguistic analysis to understand the fundamental properties of language(s), reason about the issues involved in the social use of language, draw generalizations based on accurate and concise observations about linguistic data, and provide explanations for observed linguistic patterns.

LING 2400: Language, Gender, and Sexuality
Instructor: Maureen Kosse

Familiarizes students with the effects of gender and sexuality on language use; discusses popular beliefs and scholarly theories about language and communication. Provides students with tools for exploring the role of language and gender.
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LING 3100: Language Sound Structures
Instructor: Izzy Altman

This course is about sounds in language, introducing the areas of linguistic study called phonetics and phonology. We will consider such fundamental questions as:

• What are the sounds that people use in languages?
• How do we produce those sounds?
• What are the physical properties of those sounds?
• How are these sounds used in human languages?

Along the way, we will acquire practical skills in perceiving and transcribing speech sounds, and we will learn some basic analytical techniques that enable us to address these (and other) questions.

LING 3430: Semantics
Instructor: Kanupriya Kale

In this course we will explore how we use language to convey meaning. This enterprise raises a number of interesting questions: What are the kinds of meanings conveyed by the lexical and grammatical devices available in a language? Do languages differ in how they convey meaning? How much does context contribute to our understanding of meaning? What methods can we use to study meaning? We will investigate these and a range of other issues in semantics and pragmatics, focusing on both data and theory.

LING 3800: Special Topics in Linguistics: Language and Social Media
Instructor: Velda Khoo

This course explores how language is used and transformed on social media platforms. We will explore online sociality through the growth and spread of meme culture, consider how new media and technology affords new communities, communicative roles, and forms of politics. Through shared discussions and an online ethnography project, we will gain critical awareness and understanding of issues of identity and power in digital spaces.