Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

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  • GRS LP 951: Directed Study: Portuguese
    Hours arranged. Consent of instructor and department.
  • GRS LP 952: Directed Study: Portuguese
    Hours arranged. Consent of instructor and department.
  • GRS LS 606: Spanish Transla
    This course description is currently under construction.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
  • GRS LS 621: Reading Spanish for Graduate Students
    Designed to prepare graduate students for the Spanish reading exam. Develops a knowledge of the fundamentals of Spanish grammar. Practice in translating passages. No previous knowledge of Spanish required.
  • GRS LS 850: Seminar: Theories of Literature
    May be repeated for credit if topic is different. Satisfies department theory requirement. Topic for Fall 2023: Literary Theories & Critical Practices. Traces, explores, and equips students to work with literary theories and critical methodologies, from influential twentieth-century works to the most recent trends in gender and sexuality studies, ecocriticism, disability studies, and critical race studies.
  • GRS LS 951: Directed Study in Hispanic Language and Literatures
    Hours arranged.
  • GRS LS 952: Directed Study in Hispanic Language and Literatures
    Hours arranged.
  • GRS LX 642: 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. Effective Spring 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • GRS LX 645: Languages in Contact: The High Stakes of Grammatical Border-Crossing
    Examines the mechanisms and outcomes of language contact by surveying cases around the globe from the past and present. Topics include lexical-borrowing, code-switching, pidgins and creoles, language death, and the emergence of entirely new language systems. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS LX 515.
  • GRS LX 646: Language Variation and Change
    Why do languages change over time? Who leads and who follows in situations of language change? The course answers these questions by examining the link between language change and linguistic variation, focusing on how synchronic variation leads to diachronic change. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • GRS LX 649: 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. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS LX 545. Effective Fall 2019, 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
  • GRS LX 650: Crosslinguistic Approaches to Language Acquisition
    Exploration, within the framework of generative grammar, of how similarities and differences in the acquisition patterns of syntax, semantics, and morphology across typologically diverse languages provide key evidence about the essential nature of first and second language acquisition. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course entitled "Language Acquisition and Linguistic Theory" that was previously numbered GRS LX 700.
  • GRS LX 655: Second Language Acquisition
    Overview of second language acquisition at all linguistic levels. Topics include the role of the native language; markedness; universals; environmental variables; cognitive and affective factors; social dimensions; individual differences among learners; and application of theory to third language acquisition. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS LX 542.
  • GRS LX 659: Interrupted Acquisition and Language Attrition
    Examines native language knowledge and change in speakers who have become dominant in another language. Topics include differences among heritage speakers, international adoptees, and adult second language learners; language change in expatriates; and environmental and affective factors conditioning language loss. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course entitled "Incomplete Acquisition and Language Attrition" that was previously numbered CAS LX 546.
  • GRS LX 660: Historical and Comparative Linguistics
    Introduction to language change and the methodology of historical linguistic analysis, using data from a wide array of languages. Investigates genetic relatedness among languages, language comparison, historical reconstruction, and patterns and principles of change in phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Carries humanities divisional studies credit in CAS. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS LX 535. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness, Creativity/Innovation.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Creativity/Innovation
  • GRS LX 664: The Linguistics of Contemporary English
    Systematic introduction to the linguistic analysis of modern English (phonology, morphology, syntax) from the perspective of generative grammar. Other topics include: English and its West Germanic relatives, non-standard varieties and the development of standard English, varieties of World Englishes.
  • GRS LX 665: Variation in Dialects of English
    Exploration of how dialects of English differ from each other, focusing on grammatical variation in the US, with occasional forays into other dialects. Students come to appreciate how linguists investigate grammatical diversity scientifically, revealing the complex structure of non-standard dialects. Students must also register for GRS LX 666.
  • GRS LX 666: Variation in Dialects of English Discussion
    Required discussion section for students registered in GRS LX 665. Students must also register for GRS LX 665.
  • GRS LX 667: Indigenous Languages of Latin America
    Exploration of the structure, history, and varieties of indigenous languages of Latin America, and of the communities that speak them. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy. Students must also register for GRS LX 677.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • GRS LX 668: Structure of African Languages
    African language structure and status from the perspectives of theoretical and comparative linguistics (within the generative grammar framework), typology, and sociolinguistics, with focus on South African Nguni languages, especially IsiXhosa, and comparisons to its sister languages in that language group. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS LX 505.

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