How does language matter to you? What does your language allow you to do and what does it prevent you from doing?
This course will introduce the surprising structure behind language, a facet of our lives we usually take for granted. We will discover how hidden mental rules manipulate the building blocks of language from the smallest gesture or sound to the most complex conversation. And we will illuminate how our language connects us to society at large, from the careers we choose, to the communities we create, to the way we are perceived in daily life.

Our studies will be shaped by viewing language through three critical lenses:

• The Brain Creates Language - Understand Yourself

  Linguistics is a cognitive science, studying how the brain produces and understands language. Linguists employ standard scientific methods to analyze the rules and structures underlying this unique human ability

• Language Shapes Society - Connect with Others

  Language is present in every aspect of life. Among its many purposes, it is a social tool, with the power to comfort, deceive, demean, persuade, and uplift. The language we use everyday has the power to establish or reflect connections with others and act as a component of our identity.

• All Language is Good Language - Promote Justice

  Everyone signs or speaks a complete, expressive, and complex language. Throughout our schooling and our social lives, we are often taught that some language is good or correct and the rest is not. From a linguistic perspective, though, the many varieties of both signed and spoken language found in the world — not to mention this classroom — are equally valid.

Intended Audience:

Open to all undergraduates

Course Email Address 

PLEASE DIRECT ALL NON-WAITLIST QUESTIONS TO linguistics111@umich.edu