Graduate Program Resources
Our top-ranked doctoral program focuses on educating a small number of PhD students as high quality researchers and teachers.
Since most people holding a PhD in linguistics become university teachers, it is important for a graduate program to set up a framework within which teaching skills can be developed. The department therefore requires that every student acquire some teaching experience, either through faculty/student team teaching or by being responsible for teaching a section of one of our introductory courses. In addition, most seminars are structured in such a way as to provide maximum student responsibility and opportunity for classroom participation.
The typical graduate student begins preparation for a teaching career by apprenticing with a faculty member teaching introductory linguistics (either Linguistics 101, "People and their Language," or Linguistics 201, "Introduction to Linguistic Theory").
Students gradually take on greater responsibility and prepare to teach independently. This may involve leading discussion sections of Ling 101 or teaching a section of Ling 201. Ling 201 is the ultimate responsibility, which nearly all of our students undertake. Graduate student instructors in Ling 201, called "teaching associates," have almost complete control over the content, evaluation, and instructional methods for a 30-student section of this course. Needless to say, this experience is essential preparation for an academic career.