The field of linguistics does tend to attract people who speak more than one language, or people who are interested in learning new languages. But linguistics is much more than being multilingual--it is the scientific study of language. 

Students in our program discover topics--like formal grammar, language and culture, language acquisition, cognition, and bilingualism--in the context of a broad liberal arts experience. UVM linguistics students have continued on to distinguished graduate programs. Many others join the private sector in jobs ranging from technology, medical research, education, translation and teaching as a second language. Students who major in linguistics are equipped with a broad range of transferable skills, enabling them to succeed in any profession.

Meet just a few of our recent graduates here.

  • Andrew Collins

    Discovering the Neuroscience of Language

    When Londonderry, N.H., native Andrew Collins ’18 got a close look at UVM, he saw the campus and city of Burlington as the perfect “Goldilocks” scenario—“not too close to home, but not too far; a lot of student activity but with a small town feel,” he recalls. Collins was originally set on studying neurology but a curiosity about language continued to tug at him. “I ended up taking courses in Latin, which I thought would help me in the medical field. I also took classes in German—then some French and Mandarin.” Collins concluded he was mostly interested in the study of language development itself and discovered a deep connection between his original STEM interests and learning languages. “Linguistics is one of the most important cognitive sciences because it can tie together findings in neuroscience and psychology with language,” he said.

    Read more of Andrew's story.

    He found a mentor in Associate Professor Guillermo Rodríguez, who specializes in morphosyntactic processing in a second language and how executive function might affect language acquisition. After graduation, Collins worked at the Aphasia Research Laboratory at Boston University to study structural changes in the brain and patterns in language processing of stroke survivors. He recently began a five-year PhD program at the University of Kansas, a leading institution in neurolinguistics. Based on current psycholinguistic research and sophisticated brain imaging techniques, he’s working on developing predictive models for ultimate second language attainment by using a person's neurocognitive individual differences. “It’s a really exciting time in the field. With all the technology and unexplored data that’s available, we’re on the verge of substantial advances—it feels like a powder keg ready to go off.”

     

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"I came to UVM undecided, but took some linguisitcs courses right away, though I had no idea what that really meant. After two semesters, I declared it as my major! . . . Linguistics helps you become aware of the intricacies/patterns in language that you hear and use on a regular basis."

Shannon Foley '19
Predoctoral Research Fellow at Dartmouth College

 

"I really loved phonetics. I appreciated how it was more on the 'sciency' side of things. I liked being able to pick out differences in speech – now my party trick is to test people for the 'cot/caught merger' and then talk about dialectal differences."

Meghan McClure '19

 

"I’ve always loved languages, and linguistics is a perfect blend between the 'hard' and 'technical,' and the more abstract nature of languages and art."

Yovita Poerwanto '19

 

Many of our students take advantage of the variety of learning opportunities our program and the university offer - from on-campus clubs and residential learning communities to study abroad programs.