College of Arts & Sciences: Linguistics

The listing below reflects the Hub units fulfilled by courses in the 2019/2020 academic year.

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  • CAS LX 110: Say What? Accents, Dialects, and Society
    Exploration of how variation in accents and dialects interacts with various aspects of society and human life. Students examine how dialect variation arises, how it can be described, and how it interacts with literature, film, humor, and music. Cannot be taken for credit by students who have previously taken, or are currently taking, CAS LX 250 or a higher-level linguistics course. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, The Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • The Individual in Community
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS LX 120: Language and Music
    Is the co-occurrence of music and language in human societies coincidental or inevitable? This course examines this question by defining what language and music are, exploring their structural similarities and differences, and surveying global diversity in musical and linguistic expression. Carries humanities divisional studies credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Scientific Inquiry I, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS LX 205: Origins of Writing
    Overview of the world's major writing systems: Egyptian and Mayan hieroglyphs; Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform; West Semitic consonantal scripts (abjads); East Asian scripts; runes; Greek and Roman alphabets. Considerable linguistic component supplemented by historical information about ancient languages and cultures. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. Also offered as CAS CL 205. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS LX 235: Language in the Contemporary World: Language, Society, and the Law
    Exploration of the role of human language in society, focusing on language in legal settings. Addresses governmental policy on language; language crimes such as perjury, solicitation, and bribery; the meaning of consent; and the linguistics of legal interpretation. Carries humanities divisional studies credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS LX 250: Introduction to Linguistics
    Properties that languages share and how languages differ with respect to structure (sound system, word formation, syntax), expression of meaning, acquisition, variation, and change; cultural and artistic uses of language; comparison of oral, written, and signed languages. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking.
    • Scientific Inquiry I
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS LX 301: Phonetics & Phonology: Introduction to Sound Systems
    Introduction to the nature and patterning of sounds in human language. Presents articulatory and acoustic phonetics, and basic phonological analysis, focusing on cross-language typology and comparison. Hands-on development of practical skills, including IPA transcription, field techniques, and digital speech analysis. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning I, Critical Thinking.
    • Scientific Inquiry II
    • Quantitative Reasoning I
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS LX 331: Semantics & Pragmatics: Introduction to Linguistic Meaning
    Systematic examination of how meaning is encoded in words and sentences, and how it can emerge from the complexity of the grammar. Also touches on various aspects of pragmatics--the study of how meaning is shaped by context. Carries humanities divisional studies credit in CAS. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course entitled "Semantics I" that was previously numbered CAS LX 502. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking.
    • The Individual in Community
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS LX 342: Language, Race, and Gender
    Do women talk differently from men? How do race and ethnicity relate to the way people use language? This course examines these interrelated questions from the perspective of modern sociolinguistic theory, analyzing a range of languages and communities throughout the world. This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • CAS LX 349: Bilingualism
    The psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics of life with two languages. Topics include bilingual language use, processing, acquisition, organization; effects of bilingualism on cognition and development; the bilingual brain; the bilingual speech community; bilingual education; bilingualism in the media and public eye. Carries humanities divisional studies credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking.
    • The Individual in Community
    • Social Inquiry II
    • Critical Thinking
  • CAS LX 394: Introduction to Programming for Computational Linguistics
    Introduction to computational techniques to explore linguistic models and test empirical claims. Serves as an introduction to programming, algorithms, and data structures, focused on modern applications to Natural Language Processing (NLP). Topics include tagging and classification, parsing models, meaning representation, and information extraction. (Not intended for students with a background in programming or computer science.) Carries MCS divisional studies credit in CAS. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Quantitative Reasoning II
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS LX 496: Computational Linguistics
    Introduction to computational techniques to explore linguistic models and test empirical claims. Serves as an introduction to concepts, algorithms, data structures, and tool libraries. Topics include tagging and classification, parsing models, meaning representation, corpus creation, information extraction. [Students who have already taken CAS LX 394/GRS LX 694 are not eligible to take this course.] Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Quantitative Reasoning II
    • Research and Information Literacy

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