Program Overview

Linguistics, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

The Ph.D. program in Linguistics requires students to take at least 33 graduate-level credits of coursework, with a minimum of 9 credits at the 800-level (seminars) and 6 credits corresponding to the Minor area of specialization, possibly in another department. The student's first year is normally devoted to foundational coursework in the department's three primary research areas:

• Theoretical linguistics (syntax, semantics, phonology)
• Psycholinguistics
  eurolinguistics/language acquisition
• Computational linguistics

In addition to satisfying the seminar requirement, the next two years are devoted to satisfying 6 credits (beyond any core courses) in the Minor, as approved by the Graduate Director. Some students choose to pursue the Certificate in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, which may count as the minor area.

Advance to Candidacy

By their fifth semester, students write a substantial paper (LING888) under the supervision of a faculty member. This paper enables students to demonstrate a capacity for productive research and to make an original contribution to the literature, often forming the basis for the dissertation research. The paper is submitted to a three-member examining committee, defended publicly two weeks later, and must be approved by the committee after the defense.

In addition, by their seventh semester, students must also write a paper in their Minor area of specialization (or some other area that is not their major area). The paper must be prepared under the supervision of a member of the faculty.

Post-Candidacy

After satisfactory completion of the 895 paper, students are admitted to candidacy and write a proposal for a dissertation, which a faculty member agrees to supervise. Students enroll in LING899 while working on the dissertation and must take at least 12 credits of this course. The dissertation must make a substantial and original contribution to knowledge.

Course List

The required coursework includes:

• LING800-level electives (9 credits)
• Minor area courses (6 credits)
• LING888: Doctoral Research Paper (6 credits)
• Select one of the following sequences:
  • Syntax: LING610 and LING611 (Syntactic Theory and Issues in Syntax)
  • Phonology: LING620 and LING621 (Phonological Theory and Issues in Phonology)
  • Semantics: LING660 and LING661 (Introduction to Semantics and Issues in Semantics)
• Select one additional sequence from the following:
  • Psycholinguistics: LING640 and LING641 (Psycholinguistics and Issues in Psycholinguistics)
  • Computational Linguistics: LING723 and LING773 (Natural Language Processing and Computational Linguistics II)
• Select two additional courses from any unselected sequence
• LING899: Doctoral Dissertation Research (12 credits)

The total credits required for the program are 51.