Dr. Tonia Bleam (tbleam _AT_ umd *DOT* edu). The very best way to contact Dr. Bleam is by email. To set up a meeting, make sure to include in your email a list of your available dates and times for the entire week. If you have sent an email and haven't heard back in 2 days, please send another email (and bear with me!). If you are having an emergency, you can try calling Dr. Bleam's office and leaving a message (5-4930) or call Kathi Faulkingham (the department assistant) at 5-7002. However, email is almost always faster (it's usually easier for me to return an email than it is to return a phone call).Dr. Peggy Antonisse is the advisor for the linguistics minor and she can also provide advising for the major.
Talk to someone. As the academic advisor for undergraduates in Linguistics, my main role is to help you with departmental matters, and to point you to the right people for academic issues at the ARHU or University level. But if you're having a really hard time with something, you should realize that part of my job, and that of every faculty and staff member on this campus, is to help you get the help you need. If you can't figure out who the right "someone" is to talk to, then talk to an undergraduate advisor and we'll help you figure it out.Unfortunately, it's really typical for students (and people in general!) to engage in denial about problems they're facing, to not recognize the early signs of psychological difficulties, or to feel uncomfortable getting help for cultural reasons. You probably don't realize it, but there are a lot of people on this campus whose job it is to help you deal with things. All day, every day. It's what they're paid to do. Use them.
You'll find a lot of those people at the University Counseling Center, including psychological and career counseling (x47651), disability support (x47682), and assistance with academic skills (x47693). There's also the university's Mental Health Service; the Family Service Center (x52273); the Career Center (x47225), and of course the Health Center (x48180). All that and more can be found in the Guide to Student Services.
But, like I said, if you're so totally overwhelmed you don't know who to talk to, talk to someone.
Well, the best thing is not to let anything go so long that it becomes urgent. If you can't reach the undergrad advisor or someone helping out with advising, try talking with Kathi Faulkingham, the Linguistics Dept administrator (kathif _AT_ umd *DOT* edu, or 301-405-7002). Here's a very important quote from the Arts and Humanities FAQ: It is worth repeating that you alone are responsible for informing yourself about and for following all requirements and procedures necessary to receive your undergraduate degree.
That's not covered in Linguistics advising. Here's a link to information for ARHU undergraduates. They have a really spiffy Frequently Asked Questions page.
Yes. If you're a Linguistics major, you should make
sure to be on the list. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or
post to the list, go to
this
Web page.
FYI, the Office of
Information Technology documentation includes a Basic
Guide to Listserv with more information about subscribing,
unsubscribing, posting, etc. (Those who truly want all the gory
details can look at
L-Soft's detailed
information for Listserv list users.)
Prescriptive rules of that kind are of little interest to linguists.
Although you can find a rather detailed discussion of this issue by
linguists on LanguageLog, a
(perhaps the) linguistics blog. See especially
this
entry by Mark Liberman, which addresses the fact that
"everyone who writes English needs to understand what 'preposition
stranding' is, if only for self-defense against misguided copy editors."
This
entry is also worth looking at, while you're at it. :-)
There are two parts to this. First, everyone majoring in Linguistics takes the Linguistics Core. This consists of:
- Ling240 Language and Mind
- Ling311 Syntax 1
- Ling321 Phonology 1
- Any two of the following courses:
- Ling312 Syntax 2
- Ling322 Phonology 2
- Ling410 Grammar and Meaning
- Ling330 Historical Linguistics
- HESP403 Intro to Phonetics
Note that if you decide to take HESP403, you should be aware of its official prerequisites; see below and talk to the HESP undergraduate advisor about this if you have any questions.
[Note: Officially, Ling 420 is also an option in the "any two of" category. However, because the department does not currently offer this course, we have removed it the list. If you are able to find this course at another college or university (and if it is accepted as an equivalent course and the credits transfer to UMD), it will count in this category.]
Second, as part of your linguistics major, you will choose one of following two tracks.
- Grammars and Cognition Track. This track requires 24 credits distributed as follows:
[Note: "electives" from other departments must be approved by your linguistics advisor.]
- Phil 170 or 271 (Logic)
- Ling 350 (cross-listed as Phil 360) Philosophy of Language
- Psych 100 Intro to Psych
- Psych 341 Intro to Memory and Cognition
- Ling3/4xx (upper level Linguistics elective)
- Ling3/4xx (upper level Linguistics elective)
- Elective in Ling, Psych, HESP, Phil, or CMSC
- Elective in Ling, Psych, HESP, Phil, or CMSC
- Language Track. This track requires 24 credits distributed as follows:
- 15 credits of a single language
- 3 credits in a course on structure or history of the language.
- Ling3/4xx (upper level Linguistics elective)
- Ling3/4xx (upper level Linguistics elective)
These requirements are neatly organized for you as checklists in the following documents:
We expect it to take a minimum of five semesters. It is unlikely that it would be possible to squeeze a Linguistics major into two years (because of how the classes are sequenced, possible course conflicts or possible difficulty getting into some of the intro courses). Please take this into account when you are deciding whether or not to choose Linguistics as a major.
If you have a facility for languages, then Linguistics MIGHT be a good major for you. However, it's important for you to realize that Linguistics is the scientific study of language, not the study of languages. This means that the focus of the program is on building detailed theoretical models of the mental computations involved in knowing, using, and learning a (first/native) language.Majors in Linguistics can choose the "Language Track", which includes significant study of a second language, but everyone in the major needs to do the Linguistics Core, which covers fundamental topics in the science of linguistics such as phonology, syntax, and semantics. See the requirements above.
The first thing you should do is to meet with the linguistics advisor. She will talk to you about your interests and goals, and she will provide the "declaration of major" form and the "four year plan" form that you will then take to ARHU. After meeting with your ling advisor, you will meet with an ARHU advisor (where you will go over general ARHU and University requirements) and then you will officially be a major.In order to make an appointment with your ling advisor, send her an email with your name, UID#, the reason for the appointment, and a list of your available times during the week. Do NOT just one specific time or day when you are available, because is is likely that the advisor will be unavailable at that time, which will result in more email back and forths. Please remember that your professors' time is limited and make the process as streamlined as possible. THANKS!
In preparation for the meeting with the ling advisor, you should:
- Make sure to read over this entire FAQ.
- Read over the linguistics roadmaps and think about which track you would like to do (if you need more information in order to decide, bring your questions to the advising meeting and your advisor can help you).
- Once you are officially a linguistics major, make sure to subscribe to the Linguistics Undergrad mailing list. If you don't, you're going to miss important announcements.
This is a worksheet that is required by ARHU in order to declare your major. It is a way to make sure that you fit in all of the things that you want or need to do (satisfy your major requirements, satisfy CORE, double major, study abroad, take some language courses, etc) before your desired graduation date. In other words, it's a way to make sure that you have a realistic idea about how long it will take you to graduate.
When you meet with your linguistics advisor, she will provide a copy of the worksheet and get you started by filling in the courses for your ling major (in PENCIL!). After that, you can play around with it, filling in other courses that you need or want to take, leaving a semester for study abroad if you want, and things like that. You will then meet with an ARHU advisor and that advisor will go over the plan with you again. Both advisors will keep a copy of the plan on file for later reference. You too should keep a copy and revise it as necessary.
When filling in the 4-year-plan, the goal is not to choose every single course for 4 years. The goal is to make sure that every slot on the appropriate Linguistics roadmap shows up somewhere in your 4-year plan, even if you haven't picked the specific course that's going to fill that slot.
Talk to me. We can substitute a linguistics course, such as one of the Ling419 advanced undergraduate seminars, for this requirement. In order for the course to count, your research project for the course needs focus on your language (the one you are using for the language track). After talking to your ling advisor and getting "pre-approval" (contingent approval), you should also talk to the instructor of the course at the beginning of the semester to make sure s/he thinks the project will be feasible. Then, at the end of the course, your research project must be submitted to me (the linguistics advisor) before the substitution can be officially approved. (A copy of the paper will be kept in our file for you in our records.)
No. Department policy is that a student must complete Ling240 (with a C or better) prior to taking any other of the Linguistics core courses. This is necessary because it is the gateway to the major and an important prerequisite.Note that if you barely scrape by Ling240 with a C or if the course was difficult for you or if you are not enjoying the material in the course, you should rethink being a linguistics major and come to talk to me about it. The material gets more technical in the advanced classes -- so if Ling240 wasn't "your thing", Ling311 and Ling321 will be worse!
On the flip side, if you take Ling240 and find that you love solving phonology problems and drawing tree structures and thinking scientifically about language, then a linguistics major may be just the thing for you!
Yes.
Unfortunately for convenience, there is no official and exhaustive list. Fortunately for flexibility, the undergraduate advisor has some discretion here, which means that you can propose a course and argue that it's relevant, e.g. by presenting its syllabus. Based on a quick perusal in Testudo, here are some courses in philosophy and psychology that are likely to meet with our approval. (Note, though, that you must check for approval. Don't assume a course is approved just because it appears on the list.)
Anyone who has been at UMD for more than a semester can tell you that even though a course is on the books, it might or might not be offered in any given year. It is your responsibility to make sure that your plans are taking into account the possibility that one or more courses might not be offered at the time you expect to take them. This is one of the reasons that it's useful to meet with your ling advisor regularly. I can usually give you an idea of when courses will be offered, so that you will have a realistic picture about this. Still, I can't control course conflicts that may arise at the last minute. So, it's best not to leave too many requirements for your last semester.I would also recommend making sure to meet with me the semester BEFORE you are planning to graduate, as you are registering, just to double check that everything is in place.
That said, if you find you're in a bind, talk to me. I'll do my best to help you figure it out.
In both cases, you will fulfill all of the requirements for both majors. Declaring a double major is just a matter of going through the regular process of declaring a major in each of the departments that you want to major in. You will need to choose which will be your "primary major" and which will be your "secondary major".According to the Undergraduate Catalog, a double degree requires 150 credits instead of the normal 120 credits for a single degree. Also, there is a restriction on how many credits may overlap between your two majors if you do a double degree, but not if you do a double major. See the Undergrad Catalog and/or talk to an ARHU advisor for more information.
Find a Linguistics faculty member who will supervise an honors thesis. Optionally register for Ling499 (Directed Studies) with that faculty member. Do good research and write a good thesis paper. Arrange a presentation of your work with the faculty member. Have the faculty member tell me that you are graduating with honors, at least a few weeks before the end of your last semester, so that I can inform the Registrar's office.Note that it is generally necessary to have your research project well-defined and underway during your junior year. I recommend getting involved in research in the department (i.e., working as a research assistant for a faculty member) as early as possible if you are thinking you'd like to do an honors project. Make sure to talk to me about your goals. I may be able to facilitate the process.
Information on the University Honors Program can be found here.
Information on the Honors Humanities Program can be found here.
Take a look at the President's Promise Initiative. This is a "virtual library" of special undergraduate experiences that includes international experiences, internships, living-learning programs, research opportunities, community service learning, leadership experiences, and much else. The President's Promise office staff can also be reached at presidentspromise@umd.edu or by telephone at 301-314-7888.The Linguistics Department encourages qualified undergraduates to become involved in on-going faculty research projects. Explore the Linguistics Department Web page to see what research is going on in the department and see what you might be interested in doing. You can either contact individual faculty members directly or work through your linguistics advisor to apply for a position as a research assistant in the linguistics department.
Yes.
NOTE: We are not currently accepting applications for new minors!
- Note the requirements for the minor: Ling200, Ling240, Ling311, Ling321, and one upper-level linguistics elective.
- Read the rest of the questions and answers in this section of the FAQ.
- Go to the Web page for the Linguistics Undergraduate Mailing List and join the list.
- Fill in the Roadmap for Linguistics Minors, tentatively identifying when you plan to take which courses. Include semesters and grades for courses you've already taken. If you'd like to discuss the Linguistics Minor requirements (or anything, for that matter), e-mail me to set up an appointment and I'll be happy to meet with you.
- Put the Roadmap in my mailbox in the Linguistics Department (1401 Marie Mount Hall). It would be a good idea to also keep a copy for yourself.
- E-mail me to let me know that you've left a copy of the Roadmap for me and that you have subscribed to the mailing list. You should not consider yourself enrolled for the minor until you have received confirmation from me.
- Contact the ARHU Office of Student Affairs (x52108) and inform them that you're doing the minor.
- Near the end of your graduating semester, contact me to make sure that everything is on track for the minor to be awarded (assuming successful completion of any courses you're still taking). It is your responsibility to contact me by the end of April to let me know that you have completed the requirements.
You should also look at more general info on minors at the University, including the full rules for minors. The last of these includes some things you'll want to know, including the fact that "minors will be posted on a student's academic transcript but not on the diploma" and "No course with an earned grade below 'C' may count towards a minor".
No. If you've already taken Ling240, it would not make sense for you to go back to a prior introductory course. Instead, take a different Linguistics course and we will substitute it for Ling200 in your minor requirements.
We would advise you to start with Ling240. As discussed in the previous question/answer, you can then substitute a different course in place of Ling200.
Yes.
Yes.
The University Web page for transfer students is available at http://www.transferfaqs.umd.edu/. It's very thorough: there are over 80 items with many links to key campus Web pages. The pages cover the period of "first look at UM" through the end of the first semester, and topics include admissions, credit, international student, housing, financial aid, and student affairs items.
If the course is already listed in the Transfer Equivalency Database as being equivalent to one of our required courses, then the answer is yes. If it's not listed, then I'll first need to know whether or not the Transfer Credit Center has assigned transfer credit for the course -- their FAQ has useful information.Much of the time, decisions about transfers and Linguistics requirements are a matter of judgment. You can help me evaluate your previous courses (and improve your chances) by providing me with as much information as possible -- preferably a full course description including the syllabus and what textbooks were used.
If courses were taken many years ago, the transfer credit FAQ includes a note worth thinking about: "If you are in a major that requires a solid foundation in recent developments ... it may be to your advantage to repeat the introductory level courses, even though you will lose transfer credit."
See the University's Study Abroad Web site, or send them mail. Also, take a look at the President's Promise Initiative, a "virtual library" of special undergraduate experiences that includes international experiences as well as internships, living-learning programs, and much else.
First, see if the course is already listed in the Transfer Equivalency Database as being equivalent to one of our required courses. If it is, then the answer is yes.If not, then I'll first need to know whether or not the Transfer Credit Center has assigned (or will assign) transfer credit for the course -- their FAQ has useful information. Assuming they do, the question of Linguistics requirements credit is likely to be a matter of judgment on my part. You can help me evaluate your courses (and improve your chances) by providing me with as much information as possible -- preferably a full course description including the syllabus and what textbooks were used.
It's usually the case that you won't have the syllabus, etc. in advance. For that reason, there's usually no way for me to guarantee in advance that a course abroad will satisfy a Linguistics requirement. If you want, tell me what you know about the course and I'll give you my best guess based on the information I have; it's not a promise but it's the best I can do.
I can't. To get permission to take over 15 credits, you will need to see one of the advisors in ARHU in the Student Affairs Office in the Francis Scott Key Bldg.
Prerequisites are listed as prerequisites for a reason. (Try typing that five times fast!) You should only consider this sort of thing if you're really having trouble fitting required classes into your schedule, and you're prepared to meet the extra challenges offered by a class where you don't have the expected background. (Without asking for extra help or special treatment from the instructor!) Even under those circumstances, as a general principle, whether or not prerequisites should be waived depends a lot on the individual. You must, repeat must talk with the person who will be teaching the class that requires the prerequisite. (If the catalogue says "Staff" is teaching the course, you can ask Kathi Faulkingham who the instructor will be.) If the instructor says it's ok, then it will be ok with me. (But you still need to let me know.)
Wrong. The University's registration system is not smart enough to lock you out of a course just because you don't have the prerequisites. See the answer to the previous question. It is your responsibility to either ensure that you have met the prerequisites for classes you take, or to get permission of the instructor to waive those prerequisites.
This turns out to be between you, the professor of the class, and ARHU. From the ARHU FAQ: "Students (usually Junior or Senior standing) need permission from the professor offering the graduate level class. If s/he does, then you need a letter from the professor, on letterhead, giving you permission to register for their graduate level class. Bring the letter to the ARHU Office of Student Affairs, 1120 Francis Scott Key Hall."
- ARHU Office of Student Affairs, x52108