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Undergraduate Program The Undergraduate Program in Linguistics Preparation Application to UC Berkeley Transfer students How to declare the linguistics major The Program Honors Program The Minor program Careers Advisors and Office Hours Society of Linguistics Under-Graduates (S.L.U.G.) Undergraduate electives Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program THE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM IN LINGUISTICS [top] Linguistics is the general study of language. It addresses those features which all 5,000 languages have in common, and the ways in which languages may differ from one another, and the ways in which languages change over time. In Linguistics, you will learn how language is processed in the brain (cognitive science), sounds and their patterns (phonetics), word structure (morphology), sentence structure (syntax), meaning (semantics), how languages evolve over time (comparative and historical linguistics) and how language is used in society, (sociolinguistics). The study of Linguistics teaches students to think analytically and to solve problems enabling them to successfully pursue diverse career tracks. Linguistics at Berkeley offers students a unique opportunity to study an interesting and challenging discipline in one of the world’s leading intellectual centers. While the Linguistics Department is a relatively small department, our faculty are leaders in their specialized fields. This means that UC Berkeley students get the best of both worlds—a world-class university located in a sophisticated urban environment, and, at the same time, easy access to faculty and staff for help in the major or advice on how to deal with classes, grades, and the university environment in general. All this makes Linguistics at Berkeley an excellent learning environment. PREPARATION [top] There are a number of lower division courses and seminars on important aspects of language available to freshmen and sophomores: Linguistics 5—Language and Linguistics; Linguistics 11—Writing Systems; Linguistics 16—The English Vocabulary; Linguistics 21—Languages and Peoples of the World; Linguistics 51—The Politics of Language; Linguistics 52—Languages and You; and Linguistics 55AC—American Languages. Since the study of language draws from and contributes to many other fields of study, students choosing the Linguistics major are strongly urged to study some related, but independent field, such as anthropology, mathematics, computer science, psychology, cognitive science, philosophy or rhetoric. We also encourage students to develop an in-depth proficiency in one or more foreign languages. APPLICATION TO UC BERKELEY [top] Students who wish to attend UC Berkeley must apply to the University in November for the following fall semester; there is no application required for study in the Linguistics department. Application packets can be obtained in October from most California high school or community college counselors’ offices, from any UC campus, or by contacting the Office of Undergraduate Admission and Relations, 110 Sproul Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-5800, (510/642-3175). The application also is available on-line at: www.ucop.edu/pathways. TRANSFER STUDENTS [top] All transfer students must meet UC eligibility requirements and the College of Letters and Science "Essential Skills" requirements for admission. Please consult your community college advisor for details. Transfer students will be required to take Linguistics 100 (Introduction to Linguistic Science), Linguistics 110 (Phonetics and Phonology) and Linguistics 120 (Syntax and Semantics) at UC Berkeley. In all other cases, with written approval of a major advisor, courses equivalent to these UC Berkeley courses may count toward completion of the major. Since transfer students are usually in the position of having to complete the major in four semesters, it is recommended that they complete courses in the following order:
HOW TO DECLARE THE LINGUISTICS MAJOR [top] Most students petition to add the major in their junior year. You must complete Linguistics 100 with a grade of "C" or better before submitting to the "Petition to Declare a Major" the Undergraduate Student Advisor, 1205 Dwinelle Hall. THE PROGRAM [top] The major consists of a five–course core: Linguistics 100—Introduction to Linguistic Science; Linguistics 110—Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology; Linguistics 115—Morphology; Linguistics 120—Introduction to Syntax and Semantics; and Linguistics 130—Comparative and Historical Linguistics. Linguistics majors must receive a grade of C or better in all five core courses; undeclared students who receive a lower grade in any core course will not be permitted to declare the major, and majors who receive a lower grade in any core course may be dropped from the major. In addition to the above, 10 upper division units of electives are required. At least five of those 10 elective units *must* be selected from upper-division course offerings within the Linguistics Department; the remaining five units may be *either* upper division linguistics courses *or* courses from other departments that have been pre-approved by the Linguistics Department. For a list of pre-approved electives, please see the section below titled "Courses Acceptable As Electives for the Linguistics Major." Frequently chosen groupings of elective courses are: linguistic methods and theory, Indo-European studies, the structure of a language or language group, an area connecting linguistics with some related discipline such as anthropology, philosophy, sociolinguistics, computer science or rhetoric. All courses for the major must be upper-division courses and must be taken for a letter grade. Because the focus of the major may vary greatly from student to student, it is important that students plan their program of study with an undergraduate advisor. After declaring a major, students will need to obtain an advisor code from a Faculty Undergraduate Advisor each semester before they can register for classes on TeleBears. PLEASE NOTE:
Participating in the department’s honor program provides students with a great opportunity to learn how to put together a major research paper. The program consists of enrolling in 2-4 units in the Linguistics Honors (H195) course for 2 continuous semesters. Under the direction of a faculty member, students carry out research and submit a thesis critically summarizing the material that has been covered. Honor students will have an opportunity to present their research at a department colloquium toward the end of the spring semester. A student with a minimum grade point average of 3.5, both overall and in the upper-division requirements for the major, may apply for admission to the honors program. Please note: To graduate in the fall with honors, your thesis must be submitted by the last day of finals. THE MINOR PROGRAM [top] Many students find it useful to take several courses in Linguistics to complement their major work. A minor in Linguistics gives students official recognition for having completed a Linguistics sub-specialization. Students must complete Linguistics 100 with a grade of "C" or better before declaring the minor. They also must complete two of the following core courses: Linguistics 110, Linguistics 115, Linguistics 120, Linguistics 130, plus an additional two upper-division elective courses, one of which must be a Linguistics Department course. Three of the (five) upper-division courses used to satisfy the minor must be taken at Berkeley. Only one upper-division course may be used to satisfy the requirements of both a major and a minor. All courses for the minor must be upper-division courses and taken for a letter grade. CAREERS [top] Although most careers in Linguistics are in teaching and require education beyond the B.A., the major provides a good variety of career possibilities. Specialization outside the major (in language teaching, communication services, journalism, computational methods, psycholinguistics, or speech therapy) is more likely to improve employability than specialization within the major. Linguists are hired to teach Linguistics, foreign languages, the English language, English as a second or foreign language, literacy, bilingual education, and psycholinguistics. Employment opportunities also are available in such fields as health services, computer science, legal consulting, writing and editing, language teaching, language automation, lexicography, translation, and speech pathology and therapy. In the academic job market, opportunities will be somewhat better for linguists than the national average for college teaching in the humanities, due to openings in related disciplines such as psychology, anthropology, and computer science. The professional linguist should continue at least to the M.A. in order to secure employment appropriate to the discipline. Many students continue their education working on advanced degrees in Linguistics, Speech Language Pathology, Information Management and Systems, Library and Information Studies, Accounting, Museum Studies, Neuroscience, and Law. Contrary to the belief that social science majors are unemployable, the number of liberal arts students being interviewed through on-campus recruiting has increased significantly in recent years. Liberal arts majors often find that they have many career options because of their broad academic background—in Linguistics, students develop writing, critical thinking and interpersonal skills that are highly valued by employers and that apply to a wide variety of professional jobs. Some representative job titles of recent Linguistics major graduates:
Equity analyst Bilingual first-grade teacher Legislative assistant Interpreter Librarian Actor Marketing manager ESL instructor Production artist (with advertising agency) Public relations manager UNDERGRADUATE FACULTY ADVISORS [top] Lynn Nichols, Assistant Professor 1217 Dwinelle Hall 510/643-9585 nichlynnadv@berkeley.edu Richard Rhodes, Associate Professor 1214 Dwinelle Hall 510/643-7325 rrhodes@berkeley.edu UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT SERVICES [top] 1205 Dwinelle Hall 510/642-2757 nbabler@berkeley.edu
1203 Dwinelle Hall Office hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00-12:00 and 1:00-4:00. Faculty and GSI mailboxes are located in 1203 Dwinelle; you may access the room Monday through Friday from 9:00 to 12:00 and 1:00 – 4:00. Faculty office hours are posted outside their office doors. SOCIETY OF LINGUISTICS UNDER-GRADUATES (S.L.U.G.) [top] SOCIETY OF LINGUISTICS UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS (S.L.Ug.S.) The Society of Linguistics Undergraduate Students, better known as SLUGS, was formed by students who wanted to foster positive relationships between undergraduates and faculty, as well as between graduates and undergraduates. The revamped Society has been an active part of the Linguistics Department for a number of consecutive years, and we have executed quite a number of activities each semester. For example, we coordinate The Annual SLUGS Symposium; an in-house affair featuring talks by some of our own fabulous faculty, graduates and up-and-coming student colleagues, concerning original linguistic research. We also, to express our artistic side, design SLUgS' attire such as t-shirts reflective of our college experiences. In between, we participate in numerous other activities of interest that may arise during the school year, such as visiting research centers and attending conferences in and around the Bay Area; putting on homework help sessions to detangle obscure patterns and round up some phonemes; planning fund raisers to obtain such things as money; and hosting many an informal gathering for the purposes of fun. Of course, all this and more is discussed and decided upon during our weekly meetings -Held this semester every Tuesday at 5pm, in 1229 Dwinelle Hall. -And who will be at these meetings? Why, you, of course! You dig Semantics and Morphemes? Maybe you're simply wondering what the heck a bleeding/counter-bleeding system is? It doesn't matter; we want to see you there! The direction and purpose of the society depends solely upon its members, and those members are all undergraduates passionate about language. Even if you are only slightly interested in Linguistics: Come check us out! For more information, our official website is http://slugs.berkeley.edu/index.php Courses Acceptable
as Electives for the Linguistics Major:* SCHOOL OF INFORMATION
INFORMATION C103 History of Information
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