Spring Term Schedule
Spring 2026
| Number | Title | Instructor | Time |
|---|
|
LING 404-01
Ash Asudeh
TR 4:50PM - 6:05PM
|
|
This course looks at key ideas in linguistics, starting in Babylon and Ancient China and working towards the study of meaning in modern linguistic theory and philosophy of language. Among the topics we will look at are: writing and its influence on grammatical traditions; the advent of historical linguistics, linguistic phylogeny, and the comparative method; European structuralism; American structuralism; variation within and across languages; the rise of generative grammar; Chomsky's philosophy of linguistics, including competence and I-language; literal meaning and beyond. Students will be expected to read a selection of primary literature and participate actively in class discussion. The course will be assessed by essays (essay questions and reading lists for each essay to be provided).
|
|
LING 416-01
Laurel Carney
MW 9:00AM - 10:15AM
|
|
The focus of this course is on neural representations of speech sounds; introduction to basics of speech phonetics and responses from the auditory nerve through the brainstem, midbrain, and cortex; techniques for analyzing speech and neural responses. Students from BME, LING, BCSC, NSCI and other programs will work in interdisciplinary teams on a final project.
|
|
LING 420-01
Mary Moroney
TR 3:25PM - 4:40PM
|
|
This course examines the grammatical structure of sentences from the standpoint of transformational grammar. The course develops the basic techniques of syntactic analysis in order to develop a working theory of a (fragment of) English. The theory is then tested against data from other languages and revised accordingly.
|
|
LING 424-01
Aaron White
MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM
|
|
This course covers foundational concepts in computational linguistics and is designed for students with a strong background in formal linguistic methods but only rudimentary programming experience. Major focus is placed on the use of formal languages as a tool for understanding natural language as well as on developing students' ability to implement foundational algorithms pertaining to those formal languages. Topics include basic formal language theory, finite state phonological and morphological parsing, and syntactic parsing for context free grammars and mildly context sensitive formalisms. Students who have taken the CSC17X series should consult with the instructor prior to enrollment, since there is overlap with a subset of the technical material covered in those courses. Conversely, while it is possible to enter this course with no programming experience and do well, students new to programming may wish to take CSC161 or to attend a CIRC programming bootcamp prior to taking this course.
|
|
LING 427-01
Jeremy Coburn
MW 2:00PM - 3:25PM
|
|
This course is intended to provide participants with an overview of research in an area of phonetics and phonology. Issues vary from term to term but may cover areas in segmental, metrical and intonational phonology and the phonology/phonetics interface.
|
|
LING 428-01
Scott Grimm
MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM
|
|
In this course we investigate the study of word-meaning in current linguistics and cognitive science. We examine the meanings of lexical items such as verbs, nouns, adjectives, and prepositions, and also other categories of words, including various function words and discourse particles. We examine theories of word-meaning, and examine how words and vocabulary may vary between languages.
|
|
LING 430-01
Norma Tourangeau
MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM
|
|
An examination of signed languages and the cognitive constraints that shape them, through a detailed consideration of the structure of American Sign Language and other natural signed languages of the world. Includes training in sign language notation and analysis.
|
|
LING 447-01
Hangfeng He
MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM
|
|
This introductory course in Natural Language Processing (NLP) explores the AI techniques enabling computers to understand and communicate with humans. Divided into four main sections—Statistical NLP, Neural NLP, Foundation Models, and Advanced Topics—the curriculum covers essential language tasks, from syntax and semantics to complex applications like question answering. We'll also touch on current trends in Large Language Models, such as emergent abilities and human-alignment techniques. Ideal for those interested in the intersection of AI and language, the course tackles challenges at the word, sentence, and document levels.
|
|
LING 450-01
C.M. Downey
MW 9:00AM - 10:15AM
|
|
This course addresses linguistic research questions through data science techniques. The course will focus on developing skills to (i) acquire and process a variety of language data, from using established corpora to capturing data in the wild, and (ii) to investigate language use, particularly syntactic and semantic phenomena, through descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. A significant part of the course will be devoted to hands-on projects and will include developing familiarity with using the programming languages Python and R to acquire and explore linguistic data. Familiarity with statistics and/or computational linguistics is advantageous, but not necessary.
|
|
LING 465-02
Ash Asudeh
TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM
|
|
This course is an in-depth introduction to the formal analysis of natural language meaning, employing techniques that have been developed in language and formal philosophy over the last century. Issues include intensionality, quantification, tense, presupposition, plurality, the analysis of discourse, and other current issues. Familiarity with syntax, logic, and/or computation are helpful.
|
|
LING 466-01
Mary Moroney
MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM
|
|
Within theoretical linguistics, pragmatics is (broadly speaking) the study of how language users convey meaning. This course covers three general areas: (1) How meaning carried by linguistic elements (such as sentences) interacts with meaning that arises from inferences about speakers intentions; (2) Ways of characterizing meaning, especially with respect to linguistic elements not easily handled in traditional semantic (i.e., truth-conditional) terms; (3) The role of context in determining meaning. Topics to be discussed include the relation between semantics and pragmatics, representations of context, truth-conditional and other types of meaning, presupposition; implicature and Grices Cooperative Principle.
|
|
LING 467-01
Scott Grimm
MW 9:00AM - 10:15AM
|
|
This course explores topics relating to the semantics of nouns, including the count/mass distinction, theories of plurality, relational nouns, and nominalizations. We will focus both on current literature exploring these topics and the methodologies used to investigate them. Students will participate in hands-on research to better explore these topics. Pre-requisites: LING 225/LING 425
|
|
LING 491-01
Ash Asudeh
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course is for master's students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study.
|
|
LING 491-02
Nadine Grimm
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course is for master's students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study.
|
|
LING 491-03
Scott Grimm
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course is for master's students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study.
|
|
LING 491-04
Joyce McDonough
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course is for master's students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study.
|
|
LING 491-05
Maya Abtahian
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course is for master's students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study.
|
|
LING 491-06
Joanna Pietraszko
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course is for master's students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study.
|
|
LING 491-07
Aaron White
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course is for master's students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study.
|
|
LING 495-01
Joyce McDonough
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides master’s students with the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their degrees.
|
|
LING 495-02
Scott Grimm
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides master’s students with the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their degrees.
|
|
LING 495-03
Nadine Grimm
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides master’s students with the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their degrees.
|
|
LING 495-05
Maya Abtahian
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides master’s students with the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their degrees.
|
|
LING 495-06
Joanna Pietraszko
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides master’s students with the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their degrees.
|
|
LING 495-07
Aaron White
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides master’s students with the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their degrees.
|
|
LING 501-01
Maya Abtahian
TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM
|
|
This course is intended to help graduate students in linguistics design and plan for independent research. Topics will include developing a research question, conducting a literature review, and designing a research plan. As necessary, we will also work on “research management,” or everything that researchers need to do alongside producing intellectual content, including presentation skills (different types of presentation), data collection techniques, writing an IRB proposal, managing research timelines, securing research funds, developing necessary software skills, maintaining a presence in the field, conducting a job search, and others. A secondary goal of the course is to provide an opportunity for graduate advising. Students may bring questions or concerns for discussion.
|
|
LING 590-01
Ash Asudeh
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
No description
|
|
LING 590-02
James Wamsley
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
No description
|
|
LING 590-03
Maya Abtahian
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
No description
|
|
LING 590-04
Joanna Pietraszko
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
No description
|
|
LING 590-05
Aaron White
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
No description
|
|
LING 590-06
Joyce McDonough
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
No description
|
|
LING 590-07
Scott Grimm
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
No description
|
|
LING 590-08
Mary Moroney
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
No description
|
|
LING 591-01
Scott Grimm
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course is for PhD students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study.
|
|
LING 591-02
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course is for PhD students that have made arrangements with a faculty member to complete readings and discussion in a particular subject in their field of study.
|
|
LING 595-01
Nadine Grimm
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations.
|
|
LING 595-02
Aaron White
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations.
|
|
LING 595-03
Ash Asudeh
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations.
|
|
LING 595-04
Scott Grimm
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations.
|
|
LING 595-05
Joyce McDonough
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations.
|
|
LING 595-06
Maya Abtahian
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides PhD students with fewer than 90 credits the opportunity to conduct, develop, and refine their doctoral research projects. Students will engage in research relevant to their field of study and make progress toward completing their dissertations.
|
|
LING 895-01
Maya Abtahian
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course is designed for master's degree students who have completed all required coursework but still need to finalize specific degree requirements under less than half-time enrollment.
|
|
LING 897-01
Maya Abtahian
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides master's students who are currently completing their final required coursework, or with special circumstances like an approved reduced courseload, with the opportunity to work full-time on their degrees. Students will make significant progress toward completing their degrees.
|
|
LING 999-01
Maya Abtahian
7:00PM - 7:00PM
|
|
This course provides PhD students who have completed or are currently completing 90 credits of coursework and have fulfilled all degree requirements (except for the dissertation) with the opportunity to work full-time on their dissertation. Students will make significant progress toward completing their degrees.
|
Spring 2026
| Number | Title | Instructor | Time |
|---|---|
| Monday | |
| Monday and Wednesday | |
|
LING 416-01
Laurel Carney
|
|
|
The focus of this course is on neural representations of speech sounds; introduction to basics of speech phonetics and responses from the auditory nerve through the brainstem, midbrain, and cortex; techniques for analyzing speech and neural responses. Students from BME, LING, BCSC, NSCI and other programs will work in interdisciplinary teams on a final project. |
|
|
LING 450-01
C.M. Downey
|
|
|
This course addresses linguistic research questions through data science techniques. The course will focus on developing skills to (i) acquire and process a variety of language data, from using established corpora to capturing data in the wild, and (ii) to investigate language use, particularly syntactic and semantic phenomena, through descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. A significant part of the course will be devoted to hands-on projects and will include developing familiarity with using the programming languages Python and R to acquire and explore linguistic data. Familiarity with statistics and/or computational linguistics is advantageous, but not necessary. |
|
|
LING 467-01
Scott Grimm
|
|
|
This course explores topics relating to the semantics of nouns, including the count/mass distinction, theories of plurality, relational nouns, and nominalizations. We will focus both on current literature exploring these topics and the methodologies used to investigate them. Students will participate in hands-on research to better explore these topics. Pre-requisites: LING 225/LING 425
|
|
|
LING 428-01
Scott Grimm
|
|
|
In this course we investigate the study of word-meaning in current linguistics and cognitive science. We examine the meanings of lexical items such as verbs, nouns, adjectives, and prepositions, and also other categories of words, including various function words and discourse particles. We examine theories of word-meaning, and examine how words and vocabulary may vary between languages. |
|
|
LING 447-01
Hangfeng He
|
|
|
This introductory course in Natural Language Processing (NLP) explores the AI techniques enabling computers to understand and communicate with humans. Divided into four main sections—Statistical NLP, Neural NLP, Foundation Models, and Advanced Topics—the curriculum covers essential language tasks, from syntax and semantics to complex applications like question answering. We'll also touch on current trends in Large Language Models, such as emergent abilities and human-alignment techniques. Ideal for those interested in the intersection of AI and language, the course tackles challenges at the word, sentence, and document levels. |
|
|
LING 424-01
Aaron White
|
|
|
This course covers foundational concepts in computational linguistics and is designed for students with a strong background in formal linguistic methods but only rudimentary programming experience. Major focus is placed on the use of formal languages as a tool for understanding natural language as well as on developing students' ability to implement foundational algorithms pertaining to those formal languages. Topics include basic formal language theory, finite state phonological and morphological parsing, and syntactic parsing for context free grammars and mildly context sensitive formalisms. Students who have taken the CSC17X series should consult with the instructor prior to enrollment, since there is overlap with a subset of the technical material covered in those courses. Conversely, while it is possible to enter this course with no programming experience and do well, students new to programming may wish to take CSC161 or to attend a CIRC programming bootcamp prior to taking this course. |
|
|
LING 430-01
Norma Tourangeau
|
|
|
An examination of signed languages and the cognitive constraints that shape them, through a detailed consideration of the structure of American Sign Language and other natural signed languages of the world. Includes training in sign language notation and analysis. |
|
|
LING 427-01
Jeremy Coburn
|
|
|
This course is intended to provide participants with an overview of research in an area of phonetics and phonology. Issues vary from term to term but may cover areas in segmental, metrical and intonational phonology and the phonology/phonetics interface. |
|
|
LING 466-01
Mary Moroney
|
|
|
Within theoretical linguistics, pragmatics is (broadly speaking) the study of how language users convey meaning. This course covers three general areas: (1) How meaning carried by linguistic elements (such as sentences) interacts with meaning that arises from inferences about speakers intentions; (2) Ways of characterizing meaning, especially with respect to linguistic elements not easily handled in traditional semantic (i.e., truth-conditional) terms; (3) The role of context in determining meaning. Topics to be discussed include the relation between semantics and pragmatics, representations of context, truth-conditional and other types of meaning, presupposition; implicature and Grices Cooperative Principle. |
|
| Tuesday and Thursday | |
|
LING 465-02
Ash Asudeh
|
|
|
This course is an in-depth introduction to the formal analysis of natural language meaning, employing techniques that have been developed in language and formal philosophy over the last century. Issues include intensionality, quantification, tense, presupposition, plurality, the analysis of discourse, and other current issues. Familiarity with syntax, logic, and/or computation are helpful. |
|
|
LING 501-01
Maya Abtahian
|
|
|
This course is intended to help graduate students in linguistics design and plan for independent research. Topics will include developing a research question, conducting a literature review, and designing a research plan. As necessary, we will also work on “research management,” or everything that researchers need to do alongside producing intellectual content, including presentation skills (different types of presentation), data collection techniques, writing an IRB proposal, managing research timelines, securing research funds, developing necessary software skills, maintaining a presence in the field, conducting a job search, and others. A secondary goal of the course is to provide an opportunity for graduate advising. Students may bring questions or concerns for discussion. |
|
|
LING 420-01
Mary Moroney
|
|
|
This course examines the grammatical structure of sentences from the standpoint of transformational grammar. The course develops the basic techniques of syntactic analysis in order to develop a working theory of a (fragment of) English. The theory is then tested against data from other languages and revised accordingly. |
|
|
LING 404-01
Ash Asudeh
|
|
|
This course looks at key ideas in linguistics, starting in Babylon and Ancient China and working towards the study of meaning in modern linguistic theory and philosophy of language. Among the topics we will look at are: writing and its influence on grammatical traditions; the advent of historical linguistics, linguistic phylogeny, and the comparative method; European structuralism; American structuralism; variation within and across languages; the rise of generative grammar; Chomsky's philosophy of linguistics, including competence and I-language; literal meaning and beyond. Students will be expected to read a selection of primary literature and participate actively in class discussion. The course will be assessed by essays (essay questions and reading lists for each essay to be provided). |
|
| Wednesday | |
| Thursday | |
| Friday | |