Linguistics is the scientific study of language and is concerned with the following questions (among others): What does knowledge of a language consist in and how is this knowledge acquired and put to use? What are the similarities and differences among languages? How is language represented in the human brain? How does language differ from animal communications systems? How does language function in society? How and why does language change over time? In addition, linguistics is applied in the teaching of languages and in education generally, in computer programming, in advertising, and in many other areas of study and activity in which language plays a central role.

The Linguistics Study Program is an interdisciplinary program incorporating not only courses offered within the department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics -- prefixed 'LIN' -- but also courses from the following academic units: Anthropology, Child and Family Studies, Cognitive Science, Communications Sciences and Disorders, Communication and Rhetorical Studies, Computer and Information Science, Reading and Language Arts, Information Studies, Philosophy, and Spanish.

The Linguistics Studies Program offers a Major and a Minor at the undergraduate level and a Master of Arts at the graduate level.

Students must complete 18 credits, 12 of which must be at the 300 level or above. Possible courses include:

• ANT 372 - Issues in Intercultural Conflict and Communication
• COG 301 - Introduction to Cognitive Science
• CRS 430 - Intercultural Communication
• LIN 202 - Languages of the World
• LIN 251 - English Words
• LIN 305 Linguistic Structure of English
• LIN 321 - Introduction to Methodology of Teaching Languages: English/Foreign Language Teaching 3 credit(s)
• LIN 371 - Dimensions of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism
• LIN 373 Language Variation and Changes
• LIN 374 - Topics in Sociolinguistics
• LIN 375 Forensic Linguistics
• LIN 381 Global Communication and World Englishes
• LIN 392 - Second Language Acquisition
• LIN 406 – Field Methods of Linguistics
• LIN 411 - Semantics of Human Languages 3 credit(s)
• LIN 412 - Pragmatics: Meaning and Context 3 credit(s)
• LIN 422 - Advanced Methods of Teaching Languages: English/Foreign Language Teaching
• LIN 426 Structure of Standard Arabic
• LIN 431 - Phonological Analysis
• LIN 451 - Morphological Analysis
• LIN 461 - Introduction to Historical Linguistics
• LIN 472 - Language, Culture, and Society
• PHI 251 - Logic
• SPA 435 - Spanish Phonetics and Phonology
• SPA 436 - The Structure of Spanish
• SPA 437 Intro to Spanish Linguistics