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Major & Minor
We offer degrees in Linguistics as well as many research opportunities for undergraduates
Graduate Studies
Information on our cross-disciplinary PhD program and our three MA programs.
Research
Our research investigates the structure, complexity and diversity of human languages.
Feature Story
CAREER awards recognize promising junior faculty
Four Rochester scientists have received prestigious NSF CAREER awards, presented to early-career faculty members for research and education initiatives.
Continue ReadingWhy Linguistics?
Linguistics training provides students with skills that are important in a rapidly changing society. They learn how to use analytic and theoretical tools, work in collaborative environments, and collect, document, and organize complex research data on human language. They also gain a deep appreciation and understanding of the value of a culturally and linguistically diverse environment.
Recent News
Spring 2024 Featured Course
LING 107
Language & Landscape: Water Is Life
Instructor: Professor Joyce McDonough
Day, time: Mondays/Wednesdays, 12:30pm - 1:45pm
Water is on track to be the most pressing environmental issue in the upcoming decades. But beyond its physical substance, what is water? How do we understand its value in our lives? Who controls it? This course will focus on the language and landscape of water, its geography and physical presence on the landscape, to examine how languages shape our actions, understanding and knowledge of what water is in human communities. In the course we’ll examine indigenous points of view around water in the Americas and in Australia and how they embody themselves in their landscapes in relation to water. We’ll examine the language of issues such as access to water, and water rights and the concept of ownership of water. We’ll focus on case studies of current communities coping with the value and role of water in their communities. We’ll touch on aspects of the geography of water: aquifers, rivers, water sources, and practices such as irrigation and mapping to understand the ways that languages embody us in place, using as tools linguistic concepts such place names and toponyms, spacial orientations. The goal of the seminar is to build a base for an informed understanding of how knowledge is coded in languages, and shapes concepts and environmental practices.The course will consist of readings, films and discussion, and final project.
Spring 2024 Featured Course
LING 389
Senior Seminar
Instructor: Professor Mary Moroney
Day, time: Tuesdays/Thursdays, 11:05 a.m.-12:20 p.m.
This is a hands-on class which allows you to work with a language consultant with the goal of writing a grammar sketch or a short research paper. At the end of this course, you will have acquired methods and techniques to describe a language not known to you previously. This includes recording and collection of data, data processing and analysis. The class is an opportunity to apply the knowledge of linguistic theory that you acquired during your major in linguistic research on an unfamiliar language. Another focus of this course is training in grammar writing skills. Ultimately, this course provides you with a solid basis to do fieldwork for language description and linguistic research in your own in the future. Prerequisites: LING 110, LING 210, LING 220, LING 225
Center for Language Sciences
The Center for Language Sciences (CLS) is an umbrella organization at the University of Rochester that brings together faculty, postdocs, and graduate students who conduct research on any aspect of human language as a vehicle for active interdisciplinary work.
CLS fosters research and activities that reach across a very broad group of disciplines covering a wide research focus and range of interests. It's a continually evolving organization with a history of serving as a platform for training students and postdocs in interdisciplinary research and enhancing collaborations among members.
Learn More About CLS