LARTS 302 — Language, Culture, and Society

3 credits
Spring
Robert Wilson

This course will allow students to examine the complex relationships among language, culture, and society. Drawing on scholarship from the sociolinguistic and anthropological study of language, discourse, and communication, students will explore theories positing how language is shaped by, and in turn shapes, identity and interactions. Topics of investigation include how language influences our perception of the world, how new languages emerge, how children learn to use language appropriately, and how verbal communication reveals biases toward identities based on race, gender, age, sexual orientation, and ability.