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Undergraduate Studies
We offer several programs of study that provide both a solid foundation in the discipline of linguistic analysis as well as the opportunity to pursue independent research. Undergraduates may pursue a Bachelor of Arts or minor in Linguistics.
Graduate Studies
Learn about our cross-disciplinary PhD program in Linguistics and our three Master's programs: Master of Arts in Linguistics, Master of Arts in Language Documentation and Description, and Master of Science in Computational Linguistics.
Our Research
Linguistics research at Rochester is dynamic, diverse, and deeply interdisciplinary. With active research labs and wide-ranging collaborations, we're pushing boundaries and asking big questions about how language works and why it matters.
Feature Story
URochester Takes Leading Role in Organizing ACAL 57
The University of Rochester Department of Linguistics is helping bring one of the world’s premier conferences on African languages and linguistics to western New York this spring.
ACAL 57, the 57th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, will take place May 21–23, 2026, in Buffalo and is co-organized by the University of Rochester, the University at Buffalo, and Syracuse University. Rochester faculty members Asia Pietraszko, Scott Grimm, and Nadine Grimm are serving on the organizing committee, while multiple URochester PhD students and faculty will present their research during the conference.
Conference WebsiteWhat's Linguistics?
The field of linguistics explores the nature of languages, seeking to describe what human languages are like, how languages develop and change, and how people learn and use language. Unlike courses in a language, where the point is to gain an automatic, unconscious ability to use the language, courses in linguistics attempt to develop a fully explicit, scientific theory of how language works. Linguistics thus offers a unique combination of humanistic and scientific concerns.
Recent News
Featured Courses - Fall 2026
Check out some of our featured courses for the upcoming Fall 2026 semester. For a full and updated list of Linguistics courses and their descriptions, explore our course catalog.
LING 205 Intro to Historical Linguistics
This course is designed to give an introduction to the principles of linguistic variation and change, and to examine their practical application in the interdisciplinary subfields of historical linguistics and historical sociolinguistics. Topics covered include diachrony and synchrony, genetic relations, the...
LING 215/415 Languages of Africa
About 2,000 of the world’s 7,000 languages are spoken in Africa. The diversity that characterizes these languages is exceptional, but little known to non-specialists. In this course, we will learn about the languages of Africa: the diversity of their linguistic structures (including famous features that are...
LING 237/437 Phonology
This course introduces students to the core principles and analytical tools of phonology—the study of how speech sounds are organized in human language. Through examination of diverse phonological patterns from a typologically broad set of languages, students will explore the most active and exciting...
Center for Language Sciences
The Center for Language Sciences (CLS) is an organization at the University of Rochester that brings together faculty, postdocs, and graduate students who conduct research on any aspect of human language as a vehicle for active interdisciplinary work.
CLS fosters research and activities that reach across a very broad group of disciplines covering a wide research focus and range of interests. It's a continually evolving organization with a history of serving as a platform for training students and postdocs in interdisciplinary research and enhancing collaborations among members.
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Get in Touch
For more information about the Department of Linguistics, our programs, our research, or our courses, send us an email.