Classes I teach or supervise:
LIN 401 Introduction to Linguistics (Fall, Spring)
This course is an introduction to contemporary linguistic theory. The goal is to become familiar with the basic methodology, tools, and results of modern linguistics, and to learn analytic reasoning through the scientific analysis of language data. This will involve developing, testing, and refining hypotheses about language in a precise and rigorous way. You will be given a basic tour of the following areas of linguistics: phonetics and phonology (sound/sign structure), morphology (word structure), syntax (sentence structure), and semantics and pragmatics (meaning). Throughout the course, we will consider how these structures are acquired by children and adults, how they vary across social parameters, and how they change over time. Where time allows, we’ll also look at how language is encoded in and processed by the brain.
Prerequisites: None.
LIN 471 Sociolinguistics (Fall, Spring)
Sociolinguistics is the study of language change and variation in the present and over time. It considers socially conditioned variation: that is, the way in which social factors such as age, social class, race and gender affect the likelihood of a speaker producing one variant (of a phoneme, morpheme, lexeme etc) at any given moment, rather than some other variant. Why do some people say runnin’ away but others say running away? Why do some people say pop but others say soda? The result of this kind of linguistic competition is sometimes long-term variation, and sometimes linguistic change.
Prerequisites and requirements: You must have LIN 200, LIN 401 or an equivalent introductory level class in linguistics in order to enroll in this course. It helps if you’ve taken LIN 424 Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Undergraduates who receive a 4.0 grade will be considered for entry to LIN 871. You should talk to me if you’re interested in LIN 871.
LIN 871 Advanced Sociolinguistics (Fall)
The format and content of this course change from year to year. Starting in 2014, the course has been most frequently offered as an advanced-level introduction to the study of language variation and change (LVC) in its social context. No prior knowledge of LVC or sociolinguistics is expected, so we will move very quickly through many of the core studies and methods.
Prerequisites: LIN 200, LIN 401 or another introductory course in linguistics. Please contact me if you have not previously taken a course in (socio)linguistics, or if you are joining us from a field that is not Linguistics.
LIN 225 Language and Gender (Fall, Spring, Summer)
I am the Faculty of Record for this course, which is usually taught by a TA. Gender and language in societies around the world. Issues such as status, power and politeness in monolingual and multilingual societies. The role of gender in language development, language variation and language change.
Other supervision: