Program Overview

Introduction to the MIT Indigenous Languages Initiative Master’s Program

The MIT Indigenous Languages Initiative Master’s Program is a two-year graduate program in Linguistics with a special focus on endangered languages. The goal of the program is to provide its graduates with linguistics training that will empower them to contribute to community-based efforts to protect and maintain these languages.

Program Description

The program supports students in developing the theoretical and methodological skills necessary to make meaningful contributions to preservation efforts. This includes the conducting of traditional scholarly work, which is rooted in linguistic theory and focuses on the careful exposition of linguistic data. Beyond this foundation in linguistic theory, students may choose to design and develop pedagogical language materials and resources informed by their work on their focus language.

Entrance Requirements

• Expert knowledge of an indigenous or endangered language, or commitment to learning it as a second language.
• Demonstrated ability and interest in scholarly as well as practical work in the community relating to the language.
• Applications are encouraged from individuals who have demonstrated their ability in concrete ways recognized as valuable within the community, or who have a concrete and actionable idea for how to do so.

Program Requirements

The MITILI Master’s is a two-year program, with the following requirements:

• A MITILI student who has not completed formal coursework or its equivalent in one or more areas of formal linguistics will take 24.900 and one or more of 24.931, 24.932, and 24.933 in their first year in the program, in addition to an independent study focused on their research language. A student who has already completed coursework or its equivalent in the area covered by one or more of these classes will take a more advanced class in the same area.
• The second year will normally be devoted to the writing of a Master’s thesis under the supervision of the student’s advisor, alongside whatever additional coursework is judged to be relevant to that project. Upon the completion of the thesis during the student’s second year, the student will be recommended for a degree of Master of Science (S.M.) in Linguistics, which will be the final degree awarded in the program.
• Upon the completion of the first year of the Master’s program (or at any time thereafter), a MITILI student who wishes to continue graduate-level education in Linguistics beyond the Master’s level may, with the support of their advisor, request admission to the PhD program in linguistics. The successful completion of a Master’s may or may not be required as a precondition, depending on the student’s needs, desires, and progress at the time.

Student Support

• The MITILI program offers a full scholarship that covers tuition, fees, and health insurance, plus a stipend, at the same level as that offered to students in the Linguistics PhD program. For more detailed information regarding the cost of attendance, including specific costs for tuition and fees, books and supplies, housing and food as well as transportation, please note that the program provides comprehensive support to its students.