Overview
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language, including similarities and differences among languages of the world; sound, word, and sentence structure; how language conveys meaning; how languages change over time; how languages are learned; the relationship between language and cognition; and the intersection of language, culture, and society. These concerns have relevance to many other fields. The B.A. in linguistics provides a useful background, not only for advanced work in linguistics itself, but also for graduate study in anthropology, law, sociology, language disorders, cognitive science, speech technology, artificial intelligence, psychology, philosophy, education, and applied linguistics.
Students with a bachelor’s degree in linguistics who are interested in pursuing a California Teaching Credential should contact the credential advisor in the Graduate School of Education as soon as possible.
The undergraduate advisor is available in South Hall 3432 and contact information also be found on our website www.linguistics.ucsb.edu. In addition, all faculty members are available for advising students. A list of courses offered is available each quarter, prior to registration, on the department website.
Honors Program in Linguistics
Majors with a minimum 3.5 grade-point average in linguistics courses are eligible to join the honors program during their senior year. The honors program consists of an independent research project carried out under the supervision of a faculty member, earning 6 units of Linguistics 195 over two or three quarters. The goal of the project is to write an original research paper, on a topic chosen by the student and approved by the supervising faculty member. Students successfully completing the program will be eligible for graduation with Distinction in the Major. Application to the program should be made to the undergraduate advisor of the Department of Linguistics early in the first quarter of the senior year.