Declaring a Major/Minor

Linguistics majors must satisfy the degree requirements in the College Bulletin of the year they formally declare. For further information, students should contact their advisors, or the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Jennifer Nycz.

To switch to a Linguistics Major or add Linguistics as a double major must fill out an Academic Program Changes Form, which can be found here or at the Dean’s Office. This form must be signed by the student and the Director of Undergraduate Studies and returned to the Dean’s office.

Knowledge of:
– seminal readings and approaches related to the analysis of language 
– the equality of languages and language varieties and commonly held misconceptions about them
– the complexity and underlying systematicity of language
– the role of variation (within and across languages) in linguistic theory and analysis
– the relationships between language and a variety of social contexts
– how first and second languages are learned
– how languages are structured and how they convey referential and social meaning
– how language is processed, cognitively and computationally


Ability to:
– analyze linguistic data at various levels of structure and use
– analyze, critically evaluate, and integrate classic and current research in linguistics and
– apply that understanding to contemporary theoretical and practical issues
– craft clear and coherent linguistic analytic arguments
– design, carry out, and report a small original research project on a current topic in linguistics
– relate linguistic constructs to other academic fields