Linguistics attempts to answer each of these questions and covers a surprisingly broad range of topics related to language and communication.
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. A growing and exciting field, it has links to diverse fields including cognitive psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, computer science, artificial intelligence, sociology, language teaching, anthropology, and education.
Linguistics is a key component of the emerging field of cognitive science, the study of the structure and functioning of human cognitive processes.
The courses in the linguistics program come from seven departments (African-American Studies, American Sign Language, English, Modern Languages, Philosophy and Religion, Psychology, and Sociology/Anthropology). Each course is cross-listed under LIN and its other departmental prefix, and can be used interchangeably in the two areas. Many linguistics courses can be taken for credit in the honors program. Linguistics offers a variety of co-ops, including positions at local companies involved in speech recognition and production, as well as in Northeastern’s own speech perception and language processing labs. Linguistics majors can also participate in a special foreign internship opportunity, doing research at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands.
Students with backgrounds in linguistics have pursued advanced degrees in fields including law, cognitive science, education, English, interpreting, business, speech pathology, computer science, and linguistics itself. Other graduates have gone on to work in research, translation, special education, and robotics. See pages 309–312 for course descriptions.