Because the field of linguistics is so highly interdisciplinary, it’s an ideal discipline for study at a liberal arts college. Linguistics offers valuable insights to students of other social sciences such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, and social work. Students of English and classical and foreign languages also find knowledge about the structure, learning, and cross-cultural variation of language extremely helpful. Political science and business students benefit from insights on the politics of language, and physics, biology, and computer science students draw on linguistics to understand the physical properties of speech, neurolinguistics, and artificial intelligence.

Please note: A linguistics minor is no longer available as of Fall 2021.

For students currently minoring in linguistics, please complete the following 21 credit hours of course work:

• Linguistics 131 Introduction to Linguistics (4 cr)
• Two of the following courses: Ling. 133 Introduction to Syntax, Ling. 135 Words, or Ling. 220 Phonetics and Phonology (8 cr)
• Two other linguistics courses OR one other linguistics course and one of the following courses: Anthropology 103 Linguistic Anthropology, Philosophy 110 Logic, Math/Computer Science 220 Discrete Structures, Computer Science 451 Formal Languages and Automata (8 cr)
• Linguistics 389 Directed Research (1 cr)

Capstone Course

As a highly interdisciplinary field of study, linguistics offers students the opportunity to draw on linguistic knowledge to apply to and combine with other fields. Therefore, a key component of the linguistics minor at Luther is the Minor Capstone Paper. This is a one-credit directed research project that is designed to allow students to apply the knowledge gained in the minor to their major field of study. The Capstone paper should be taken after completion of the other five courses or during the completion of the fifth course for the minor.

Previous Capstone papers have focused on:

• Meskwaki Transitive Inanimate Present Indicative Inflection: A Teaching Methodology (In collaboration with the Meskwaki Nation in Tama, IA), Pablo Lopez Alonso
• Language Development, Narrative Production, and Morphosyntax in a Young Adult with Smith-Magenis Syndrome, Jamie Linert
• A synthesis of optimality theory accounts of Beijing third tone sandhi, Michael Moore
• Overcoming Fossilization in L2 Spanish Pronunciation, Ryan Goos
• Points of Origin and Influence in the Development of Chilean Spanish, Aaron Kvale
• Dyslexic Complexities Between Native English and Native French Students, Marlene Jones