All people use language—it is a human universal. But language use is incredibly culturally-specific, differing across communities, groups, ages, and modes of communication, to name just a few. Linguistic anthropology, one of four fields in the discipline of anthropology, studies how people use language in their everyday lives. Like cultural anthropology, it is holistic and comparative in its approach to the study of humanity, and stresses qualitative research. This course will introduce students to the basic concepts, theories, and methods of linguistic anthropology, and demonstrate how language and culture are interrelated. Readings and lectures will explore important themes in linguistic anthropology and prepare students for work in more advanced courses in the major, as well as to understand human cultural and linguistic diversity better.

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