Linguistics Department at UC San Diego

The Linguistics Department at UC San Diego is unique among leading doctoral programs. Three traits in particular contribute to its distinctive character and define its educational philosophy.

First, the faculty conduct research and offer in-depth instruction in a variety of theoretical and experimental frameworks. Students find their training in multiple perspectives to be both educationally beneficial and advantageous in seeking employment and conducting their professional careers.

Second, the program emphasizes the study of diverse languages, for their own sake as well as for the empirical testing of theoretical claims. The faculty have research interests in numerous, typologically varied languages. Theoretical courses emphasize cross-linguistic generalizations and the analysis of a wide range of languages.

Third, the department is an active and integral part of the cognitive science and neuroscience communities at UCSD, which rank among the world's finest. For example, many Linguistics faculty also have appointments in the Cognitive Science Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program, and are affiliated with the Center for Research in Language. Faculty and students engage in a spectrum of experimental research that encompasses phonetics, signed languages, psycholinguistics, event-related brain potentials (ERPs), and computational modeling.

These distinctive properties reflect the faculty's commitment to accurate, cognitively realistic analyses of language structure that are informed by linguistic theories, and make a substantial contribution to their development, but are not confined by the limitations of any particular theoretical formulation. With its instructional and research program, the department is actively working toward a synthesis of the basic insights and findings of diverse theoretical and experimental perspectives.