LINGUIST List | Program Information

Program Information

Program Name:	Department of Linguistics
Program Homepage:	http://linguistics.georgetown.edu/
Institution:	Georgetown University
Address:	37th & O Streets, NW
City:	Washington
Zip/Postal Code:	20057-1051
State/Province:	US
Country:	USA
Application Deadline:	January 2
Contact Person:	Deborah Schiffrin , Dr
Email:	click here to access email
Phone:	202-687-5956
Fax:	(202) 687-6174
Linguistic Subfield(s):	Applied Linguistics Computational Linguistics Discourse Analysis General Linguistics Historical Linguistics Language Acquisition Linguistic Theories Morphology Phonetics Phonology Pragmatics Semantics Sociolinguistics Syntax Text/Corpus Linguistics
Other Program Specialties:	Linguistics laboratory.
Program Size:	Large (over 25 students)
Program Description:	The Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University is unique among linguistics programs in its size and in the breadth of its research and curriculum. The department's 18 regular faculty are organized into four concentrations--Applied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, and Theoretical Linguistics--and are supported by Associated Faculty in many other departments across the University. Our size has allowed faculty and students to develop many areas of specialization and expertise. Faculty teach most of their courses in their main areas of interest and offer seminars in their current research nearly every year; consequently, students learn from enthusiastic experts and have many opportunities to work on research with professors. Graduate students develop a primary research expertise in their chosen concentration, but are encouraged to cultivate secondary competences in other concentrations as well. As a result, Georgetown graduates are well-rounded linguists and are very competitive in both academic and non-academic job markets. Nearly half of our students come from outside the United States, contributing to a culture of linguistic and cultural diversity which enriches the department's intellectual and social life. Georgetown Linguistics alumni can be found all around the country and the world in positions of leadership and responsibility, in academia and in business. Undergraduate linguistics majors have their own foundational curriculum but can develop and apply their linguistic knowledge and analytical skills in elective courses with graduate students; many proceed to top graduate programs in linguistics and related fields. Georgetown Linguistics faculty and students frequently present at the conferences of the American Association for Anthropology, the American Association for Applied Linguistics, New Ways of Analyzing Variation, the North East Linguistics Society, and the Linguistic Society of America. They publish in such journals as Applied Linguistics, Foreign Language Annals, Journal of Phonetics, Journal of Pragmatics, Language, Language in Society, Language Variation and Change, Linguistics and Philosophy, Natural Language Semantics, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, and TESOL Quarterly. Current grants include a study of how couples talk at home and at work about their families, sponsored by the Sloan Foundation; a student-run business (Strategic Language Services) begun with start-up funding from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation; a study of language change on Smith and Tangiers Islands sponsored by the Maryland Historical Trust; the FLIRT Online database of instructed second language learner performances; and the Asian Sociocultural Research Project. In addition, the department sponsors the Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics each year.
Available Financial Aid:	The Linguistics Department receives an annual merit-based financial aid budget from the Graduate School (for 2001-2002, our allocation is 31 doctoral stipends and 25 tuition scholarships). Each Spring, the department's Assistantship Committee makes financial aid decisions for the following academic year. Awards are based on the recommendations of concentration heads and are highly competitive. Applicants who wish to be considered for financial aid must meet the January 1st application deadline, and should present very strong application materials. In particular, applicants should outline a strong research program in their statement of purpose, and should include a relevant sample of original research (for undergraduate applicants, a research paper or senior thesis would be appropriate; for graduate applicants, a Master's Thesis or major research paper would be appropriate). University Fellowships: Each department may nominate two applicants to its PhD program for the prestigious University Fellowships, which provide four years of full funding (tuition and stipend). Recipients of these awards are designated 'University Fellow' and participate in a special program that includes mentoring, special lectures, and other activities. Doctoral Assistantships provide a stipend ($12,696 for 2001-2002) and cover thesis research fees or tuition (typically for three courses a semester). Recipients must be full-time students; they work 15 hours a week as Research Assistants (RAs) or Teaching Assistants (TAs)assigned to individual faculty, or may be assigned to teach a section of an undergraduate course such as Introduction to Language. Assistantships are normally renewable for three years, based on review of performance. Only PhD students are eligible for these awards. Scholarships cover tuition for between one and four courses or thesis research fees, with no work requirement. Scholarships are awarded for a term of one or two semesters. MS and PhD students are eligible for scholarships. Six Traineeships in Bilingual Education are available for each of the academic years 2002-2003 and 2003-2004. For more information, contact Dr. James Alatis. A limited number of RAships are also available in connection with individual faculty grants. Please see our Faculty Research page for information about faculty grants. Other departments: Graduate students are also engaged as teaching assistants or instructors by language departments in the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics. These positions are usually announced on GULINGUIST, the department mailing list.

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