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Linguistics and English, BA

2023-2024 Edition

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In the combined major in linguistics and English, students study the structures and analysis of human languages across multiple levels (sounds, words, phrases and sentences, meaning) and apply this knowledge to understanding how the English language works, its rhetorical forms, how it has changed over time, and its cultural context. Students hone their writing skills, develop substantial language-analysis skills, and apply them particularly to English.

Complete all courses listed below unless otherwise indicated. Also complete any corequisite labs, recitations, clinicals, or tools courses where specified and complete any additional courses needed beyond specific college and major requirements to satisfy graduation credit requirements.

Universitywide Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the Universitywide Requirements.

BA Language Requirements

All BA students are required to complete the BA degree language requirements, for a total of 12 semester hours of language study or demonstrated equivalent proficiency, as described in Additional Requirements for BA students. Successful demonstration of proficiency does not reduce total minimum semester hours of study required to earn the BA degree.

NUpath Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the NUpath Requirements.

Linguistics Requirements

Course List
Code Title Hours
Linguistics Requirements
LING 1150Introduction to Language and Linguistics4
LING 2350Linguistic Analysis4
LING 3412Language and Culture4
LING 3442Sociolinguistics4
Linguistic Structure
Complete three of the following:12
LING 3420
Phonetics
LING 3422
Phonology
LING 3424
Morphology
LING 3450
Syntax
LING 3452
Semantics
Linguistics Electives
Complete two of the following that have not already been taken to fulfill other major requirements:8
LING 3000 to LING 4999 1
DEAF 2700
ASL Linguistics
1

Please visit the Linguistics Courses page within this catalog to review the list of courses in the LING 3000–LING 4999 range.

English Requirements

Course List
Code Title Hours
English Course-Level Requirement
At least two of the courses chosen from the English requirements lists below must be numbered 3000–4999.
Foundational Courses
ENGL 1160Introduction to Rhetoric4
or ENGL 1410 Introduction to Research on Writing
ENGL 1400Introduction to Literary Studies4
Diversity
Complete one of the following:4
ENGL 2150
Literature and Digital Diversity
ENGL 2296
Early African-American Literature
ENGL 2455
American Women Writers
ENGL 2760
Writing in Global Contexts
ENGL 3678
Bedrooms and Battlefields: Hebrew Bible and the Origins of Sex, Gender, and Ethnicity
ENGL 3685
Modern and Contemporary Jewish Literature
or JWSS 3685
Modern and Contemporary Jewish Literature
Pre-Nineteenth-Century Literature
Complete one of the following:4
ENGL 1600
Introduction to Shakespeare
ENGL 1700
Global Literatures 1
ENGL 2296
Early African-American Literature
ENGL 3101
Early Literatures
ENGL 3120
17th- and 18th-Century Literatures
ENGL 3618
Milton
ENGL 3678
Bedrooms and Battlefields: Hebrew Bible and the Origins of Sex, Gender, and Ethnicity
or JWSS 3678
Bedrooms and Battlefields: Hebrew Bible and the Origins of Sex, Gender, and Ethnicity
Nineteenth-, Twentieth-, and Twenty-First-Century Literature
Complete one of the following:4
ENGL 2301
The Graphic Novel
ENGL 2330
The American Renaissance
ENGL 2440
The Modern Bestseller
ENGL 2600
Irish Literary Culture (Abroad)
ENGL 2610
Contemporary Israeli Literature and Art Abroad
ENGL 3140
19th-Century Literatures
ENGL 3619
Emerson and Thoreau
ENGL 3685
Modern and Contemporary Jewish Literature
or JWSS 3685
Modern and Contemporary Jewish Literature
ENGL 3720
19th-Century Major Figure
ENGL 3730
20th- and 21st-Century Major Figure
Theories and Methods
Complete one of the following: 4
ENGL 1140
Grammar: The Architecture of English
ENGL 1160
Introduction to Rhetoric
ENGL 1410
Introduction to Research on Writing
ENGL 2150
Literature and Digital Diversity
ENGL 3325
Rhetoric of Law
ENGL 3340
Technologies of Text
ENGL 3381
The Practice and Theory of Teaching Writing
ENGL 3400
Opening the Archive
ENGL 3700
Narrative Medicine
Comparative Literature
Complete one of the following:4
ENGL 1450
Reading and Writing in the Digital Age
ENGL 1502
American Literature to 1865
ENGL 2150
Literature and Digital Diversity
ENGL 2420
Contemporary Poetry
ENGL 2430
Contemporary Fiction
ENGL 2455
American Women Writers
ENGL 2510
Horror Fiction
ENGL 2520
Science Fiction
ENGL 2600
Irish Literary Culture (Abroad)
ENGL 2620
What Is Nature?
ENGL 2690
Boston in Literature
ENGL 3487
Film and Text (Abroad)
Writing
Complete one of the following:4
ENGL 2700
Creative Writing
ENGL 2710
Style and Editing
ENGL 2740
Writing and Community Engagement
ENGL 2760
Writing in Global Contexts
ENGL 2770
Writing to Heal
ENGL 2780
Visual Writing
ENGL 2850
Writing for Social Media: Theory and Practice
ENGL 3375
Writing Boston
ENGL 3376
Creative Nonfiction
ENGL 3377
Poetry Workshop
ENGL 3378
Fiction Workshop
ENGL 3380
Writing Seminar
ENGL 3384
The Writer’s Marketplace
Electives
Complete one additional ENGL elective at the 2000 level or higher.4

Linguistics/English Combined Major Requirements

Course List
Code Title Hours
Integrative Course
LING 3454History of English4
Junior/Senior Seminar
ENGL 4710Capstone Seminar4
or ENGL 4720 Capstone Project
or LING 4654 Seminar in Linguistics
Experiential Learning
Complete one of the following options. Courses used to satisfy this requirement may simultaneously satisfy a requirement above.0-8
Study Abroad (not a Dialogue)
International Co-op
LING 4891
Research Seminar in Linguistics
LING 4970
and LING 4971
Junior/Senior Honors Project 1
and Junior/Senior Honors Project 2
LING 4991
Directed Study Research

Linguistics/English Combined Major Credit Requirement

Complete 80 semester hours in the major.

Program Requirement

128 total semester hours required

Sample Four Years, Two Co-ops in Summer 2/Fall

Year 1
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
ENGW 11114ENGL 14004Elective4Elective4
LING 11504LING 23504Elective4Elective4
MATH 12154LING 3412 or 34424  
Foreign language core course4Foreign language core course4  
 16 16 8 8
Year 2
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
ENGL 1410 or 11604EESC 20001ENGL elective4Co-op0
LING 34544Diversity course4Elective4 
LING structure course4LING structure course4  
LING elective4LING elective4  
 Theories and methods course4  
 16 17 8 0
Year 3
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
Co-op0LING 3412 or 34424ENGW 33154Co-op0
 Comparative literature course4Elective4 
 LING structure course4  
 Pre-19th-century literature course4  
 0 16 8 0
Year 4
FallHoursSpringHours  
Co-op019th-, 20th-, and 21st-century literature course4  
 Foreign language core course4  
 Junior/senior seminar4  
 Writing course4  
 0 16  
Total Hours: 129
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