Linguistics Minor

Word cloud of words related to linguistics such as langauge and grammar

What Is Linguistics?

Linguistics is the scientific study of language, an in-demand field in the globalized world.

See Linguistics Minor details below.

Why Study Linguistics?

Language is

  • an essential aspect of humanity and diversity
  • a fundamental part of culture, identity, discrimination, politics, human rights, and more
  • a coherent, dynamic system that changes in response to society and over time

Critical awareness of how language works in the world we live in is necessary for solving the challenges that we face.

Students at the annual Mueller Lecture.
Students and faculty at the annual Mueller Linguistics Lecture.

Language as a singularly human element is fundamental to our societies and our humanity. In the Linguistics minor you will learn about how language affects all aspects of society and social relations. You will also learn about language itself as a coherent yet dynamic system that changes over time in response to its social environment.

Since language underpins how we interact and how we see ourselves and, critical linguistic study is key to understanding the world we live in and the human and ethical challenges we face.

Linguistics is an in-demand field for employers since language and communication are fundamental to all industries – a trend that is only growing with technology and globalization.

Q & A

YES!

Not all linguists are bilingual! The Linguistics minor can be done entirely in English. However, one of the minor’s strengths is that it draws on our rich WLC course offerings, and we encourage you to explore WLC language electives.

The Linguistics minor is designed to interface with our WLC majors and minors and is a great complement to majors in other departments.

Anthropology

Communications

Critical Race, Gender, and Cultural Studies

Education

International Studies

Psychology

Sociology

And more!

For More Information

News & Notes

Hello in multiple languages

In the Community ·

Multilingualism on Rise in US: Illusion or Reality?

Read More

Groups of people talking

The Power of Words: CAS Launches Linguistics Minor

Amelia Tseng talks about Linguistics as key to understanding humanity

Read More

Word cloud image source: Paapati | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International