Academics
The following goals and learning outcomes have been established for students pursuing a degree in English, Comparative Literature, or in Linguistics:
English, B.A.
The following goals and learning outcomes have been established for students pursuing a degree in English:
Read critically
- Analyze and interpret texts from a variety of genres, as informed by such critical traditions as rhetorical, stylistic, and formal analysis; theory; and historicism.
Write effectively
- Write clear, cogent and rhetorically effective prose for a variety of purposes and audiences.
Research
- Demonstrate the ability to locate relevant research materials, effectively integrate this information into one’s written work, and cite it appropriately.
Knowledge of literary works and traditions
- Demonstrate a familiarity with the major periods and genres of Anglophone literature, including works representing a diversity of perspectives amd backgrounds.
Structure of the English language
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of the structure of the English language.
English, M.A.
The following goals and outcomes have been established for students pursuing the MA degree in English:
Read critically
• Demonstrate sophistication in analyzing and interpreting texts, as informed by such critical traditions as rhetorical, stylistic, and formal analysis; theory; and historicism.
Write effectively
• Demonstrate a mastery of the techniques and conventions of scholarly, persuasive, and/or creative writing.
Conduct high-level research
• Demonstrate the ability to find relevant research materials, evaluate scholarly arguments, and contribute to current scholarship.
Advanced knowledge within the discipline
• Demonstrate an appropriate level of expertise in literary studies, composition-rhetoric, or creative writing, including an in-depth understanding of major writers, movements, stylistic trends, forms, and concepts.
Professionalization and preparation for further study
• Demonstrate competence in professional skills and practices necessary to pursue careers in a variety of fields, including teaching, editing, publishing, and writing, and/or to pursue further graduate study.
Comparative literature, B.A.
Read critically
- Analyze and interpret texts from a variety of genres, as informed by such critical traditions as rhetorical, stylistic, and formal analysis; theory; and historicism.
Write effectively
- Write clear, cogent and rhetorically effective prose for a variety of purposes and audiences.
Research
- Demonstrate the ability to locate relevant research materials, effectively integrate this information into one’s written work, and cite it appropriately.
Knowledge of two literary traditions
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of major writers, periods, and genres of at least two literary traditions (one tradition can be an Anglophone tradition), and be able to place important works and genres in their historical context.
Ability to compare interlinguistic and interdisciplinary texts
- Demonstrate ability to analyze literary, cultural, historical, and linguistic relations between two linguistically distinct literary traditions (one tradition can be an Anglophone tradition), highlighting especially the diversity and interconnectedness of literary traditions, as well as the significance of translation.
- Demonstrate ability to make an informed comparison of literature and another discipline or field (including but not limited to: visual arts, literary and cultural theory, philosophy, religion, anthropology, history, communications, etc.).
Knowledge of approaches to comparative literature
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of the various theories of comparative literature and the major works of literary theory that have informed comparative literature as a discipline.
Linguistics, B.A.
The following goals and learning outcomes have been established for students pursuing a degree in Linguistics:
Knowledge of language organization, usage, history and learning
- Understand how language is structured, particularly to what extent languages share a universal structural base and to what extent they differ from one another.
- Understand how language is used, and the factors accounting for variation in language use.
- Understand how language is learned by children in first language acquisition and by adults in second language acquisition.
- Understand how language changes over time and the principles of historical linguistics.
Think critically
- Demonstrate the ability to analyze problems, both linguistic and otherwise, and to find and critically evaluate alternative solutions.
Write effectively
- Demonstrate the ability to present ideas in effectively written form.
Research
- Demonstrate the ability to find in textbooks and research materials — paper and electronic — the kinds of information relevant to a given problem or issue, linguistic or otherwise, and to integrate that information into one’s own written work to support one’s argument while giving appropriate credit to the source of the information.
Knowledge of linguistics subdisciplines
- Have a working knowledge of the subdisciplines of linguistics dealing with the organization of language, i.e., phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics.
- Have a working knowledge of the subdisciplines of linguistics dealing with language use, change and acquisition, especially sociolinguistics, historical linguistics and psycholinguistics.
Linguistics, M.A.
The following goals and learning outcomes have been established for students pursuing the MA degree in Linguistics:
Develop a rigorous concept of language in all its aspects, as well as an interdisciplinary sensibility demonstrating an advanced understanding of connections among the social sciences and the humanities.
- Develop an advanced interdisciplinary interpretive framework for studying language in ways that will enable students to solve practical and theoretical problems.
- Develop an advanced understanding of the nature of language structure, language use, language acquisition, and language change.
- Have an advanced knowledge of the history of the field of Linguistics—its theories, methods, and intellectual justifications.
- Develop an advanced understanding of the theoretical and methodological approaches used in Linguistics and interdisciplinary scholarship.
Gain a thorough understanding of linguistic diversity and commonalities by examining both, the internal variation in a given language, particularly in English, as well as cross-linguistic variation
- Identify a variety of examples of linguistic diversity and commonality in American English as well as in other languages, demonstrating an advanced understanding of the similarities, differences, and relationships among the multitude of language varieties.
- Explain how differences in language use among different language communities—including race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality—are culturally constructed and vary according to historical, regional, and social contexts.
- Understand the shared genetic basis of all languages regardless of the socio-political status of their speakers.
- Articulate a critical awareness of the conceptual approaches to the study of linguistic diversity and universals.
Demonstrate advanced research, writing, and expressive skills to see connections among complex materials, and to clearly communicate an understanding of their underlying meanings.
- Design and carry out original research projects in Linguistics.
- Discover primary and secondary sources (hard copy as well as digital) using the library's resources, including inter-library loan.
- Analyze and synthesize material from primary and secondary sources in order to create a coherent argument based on evidence.
- Develop an original thesis and support that thesis through the thoughtful use of a variety of properly cited sources.
- Communicate research findings through clear, well-organized written and oral presentations.
- Develop advanced critical thinking, writing, and interpretive skills.
- Develop the ability to adhere to scholarly conventions in research, writing and documentation.
