Crafting a Major
The following curriculum is similar to proposals that have been accepted before, and acknowledges the desirability of both logic (which counts towards the mathematics/analytical philosophy requirement) and another language (counts towards language requirement).
There has been an average of one or more linguistics majors a year for several decades. A typical self-designed linguistics major requires two sponsoring departments and advisers chosen according to the student's interests. A good guide for planning is the following*:
- One introductory course in linguistics
- One logic course
- One year of a language
- At minimum, two more core courses in linguistics (syntax, semantics, phonetics, phonology, field methods)
- Six optional courses from an array of possible courses
- At least one of these courses should be a seminar or 400-level work, or a thesis
*Depending on how the student satisfies the requirements, this will be a total of eleven or twelve courses. See this pdf for a sample proposal: SampleLinguisticsMajor
Five College Courses
It will be necessary to take courses off campus in the Five Colleges, especially at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which has a world-class linguistics department.
Junior Year Abroad
Students often take courses in their Junior Year Abroad that satisfy the major.
