This class will meet once a week.
Linguistic anthropology is a subfield of anthropology that studies the relationship between language and culture, examining how language shapes and is shaped by social life. It focuses on how language influences human interactions, identity, power dynamics, and worldviews across different societies.
Key Areas of Study:
- Language and Culture – Investigating how language reflects and constructs cultural norms, beliefs, and values.
- Language and Identity – Exploring how language is tied to ethnicity, nationality, gender, and social class.
- Language Change and Evolution – Studying historical language development, dialects, and the impact of globalization on language.
- Language and Power – Analyzing how language is used to exert control, reinforce hierarchies, or resist authority.
- Language and Thought (Linguistic Relativity) – Examining the extent to which language influences cognition and perception (e.g., the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis).
- Sociolinguistics and Discourse Analysis – Understanding language use in different social contexts and interactions.
Linguistic anthropologists use ethnographic methods, participant observation, interviews, and recordings of natural speech to analyze language in real-world contexts. Their work often intersects with other fields, such as sociolinguistics, cognitive science, and political science.
To receive credit for this class, you must complete all assigned readings, turn in all notes, complete assignments, and relay research information.