Department of Linguistics

Why major in Linguistics?

Click here to see how previous Georgetown Linguistics majors have answered.

Some of the reasons may apply to you!

LING 001-Introduction to Language

The Linguistics Department offers a major in Linguistics, a minor in Linguistics, and five-year Accelerated Bachelor/Master's programs.. It also participates in the Interdisciplinary Minor in Cognitive Science, allowing students to combine the study of language with the broader study of the human mind.  There are currently approximately 80 students majoring in Linguistics.

The Linguistics curriculum is designed to help Linguistics majors achieve a rigorous set of learning goals.  Each course in the curriculum addresses a subset of these goals.

Linguistics Majors and Minors. Linguistics majors must satisfy the degree requirements in the College Bulletin of the year in which they formally declared the Linguistics major. The Linguistics Department ratified a new curriculum beginning in Fall 2010.

Students who declared the Linguistics major or minor before July 2010 must satisfy the degree requirements outlined here.

Students who declare the Linguistics major or minor after July 2010 must satisfy the degree requirements outlined here.

Students should contact their advisors, or the Director of Undergraduate Studies (Prof. Elizabeth Zsiga) for further information on requirements and for consultation on course selection and scheduling.  

How to become a Linguistics Major. A student who wishes to change to a Linguistics Major or add Linguistics as a double-major needs to fill out a "Change of Program Form", available from the Deans' Office, or online, here: http://college.georgetown.edu/persona/current/43895.html

This form needs to be signed by the student and the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Please contact Prof. Elizabeth Zsiga for an appointment to discuss our program requirements, be assigned an advisor, and get your form signed. Signed forms are then returned to the Deans Office.

Senior Honors Thesis. Third-year Linguistics majors with cumulative 3.5 GPAs may be invited to write an Honors Thesis in their senior year, pending approval of a preliminary proposal.

General Education Social Science Requirement. Courses in Linguistics also satisfy the social science general education requirement for undergraduates in Georgetown College. Dr. Elizabeth Zsiga, Director of Undergraduate Studies, is happy to answer questions about our undergraduate programs and direct you to other linguistics faculty whose interests may closely match your own. The excellent academic counselors of the Faculty of Language and Linguistics are also at your service: Sue Lorenson and Tad Howard.

Georgetown Undergraduate Resources

Georgetown Undergraduate Linguistics Society
Office of Undergraduate Admission
Undergraduate Bulletin
Student Access+
Blackboard
Current Students