Catalog of Courses for Linguistics
Through diverse academic/theoretical readings and spoken, written, and visual material, students will learn to analyze, evaluate, and construct arguments as related to critical linguistic and cultural analysis of primary and secondary source material. This course examines complex relationships among American language and cultural practices, American history, race, gender, and class ideologies, and social identities.
This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the investigation of how language both shapes and is shaped by American society with a focus on New Media. Draws on critical and analytical tools and socio-cultural theories to examine this dynamic relationship in Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, texting, Instagram, YouTube, and more.
This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the investigation of how language both shapes and is shaped by American society with a focus on New Media. Draws on critical and analytical tools and socio-cultural theories to examine this dynamic relationship in Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, texting, Instagram, YouTube, and more.
Introduces the interrelationships of linguistic, cultural, and social phenomena with emphasis on the importance of these interrelationships in interpreting human behavior. No prior knowledge of linguistics is required.
Reviews key findings in the study of language variation. Explores the use of language to express identity and social difference.
Examines the evolution of our capacity for language along with the development of human ways of cooperating in engaged social interaction. Course integrates cognitive, cultural, social, and biological aspects of language in comparative perspective. How is the familiar shape of language today the result of evolutionary and developmental processes involving the form, function, meaning and use of signs and symbols in social ecologies?
Studies how differences in pronunciation, vocabulary choice, non-verbal communication, and/or communicative style serve as social markers of gender identity and differentiation in Western and non-Western cultures. Includes critical analysis of theory and methodology of social science research on gender and language.
An introduction to the study of language relationships and linguistic structures. Topics covered the basic elements of grammatical description; genetic, areal, and typological relationships among languages; a survey of the world's major language groupings and the notable structures and grammatical categories they exhibit; and the issue of language endangerment. Prerequisite: One year study of a world language or permission of instructor.
Looks historically at speech and language in Hollywood movies, including the technological challenges and artistic theories and controversies attending the transition from silent to sound films. Focuses on the ways that gender, racial, ethnic, and national identities are constructed through the representation of speech, dialect, and accent. Introduces semiotics but requires no knowledge of linguistics, or film studies.
In this course, students rethink assumptions about what "language" and "environment" are. Both depend on living systems to be rendered meaningful, and together we will wrestle with how these two ideas can be brought into relation and the implications associated with different frames of understanding. There are many perspectives on the issues raised in this course, and you will receive a broad introduction to that diversity.
Covers Jewish languages Yiddish, Judeo-Arabic, Ladino, and Hebrew from historical, linguistic, and literary perspectives. Explores the relations between communities and languages, the nature of diaspora, and the death and revival of languages. No prior knowledge of these languages is required. This course is cross-listed with MEST 2470.
Topics to be announced prior to each semester, dealing with linguistics.
The study of pidgins and creoles emerged as a subfield of linguistics in the latter half of the 20th century. Its ideas have been borrowed, notably by anthropologists, to analyze the increased diversity and fusion we confront in a globalizing world. Where did such ideas come from? What are their (un)intended consequences? This course will trace the epistemological development of Creole studies and consider its historical and contemporary impacts.
Introduces the native languages of North America and the methods that linguists and anthropologists use to record and analyze them. Examines the use of grammars, texts and dictionaries of individual languages and affords insight into the diversity among the languages.
An introduction to the linguistic diversity of the African continent, with focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Topics include linguistic structures (sound systems, word-formation, and syntax); the classification of African languages; the use of linguistic data to reconstruct prehistory; language and social identity; verbal art; language policy debates; the rise of "mixed" languages among urban youth.
Introduction to peoples, languages, cultures and histories of the Middle East. Focuses on Israel/Palestine as a microcosm of important social processes-such as colonialism, nationalism, religious fundamentalism, and modernization-that affect the region as a whole. This course is cross-listed with MEST 3470. Prerequisite: Previous course in anthropology, linguistics, Middle East Studies or permission of instructor.
This course covers the basic principles of diachronic linguistics and discusses the uses of linguistic data in the reconstruction of prehistory.
Language and Thought
Topics to be announced prior to each semester, dealing with linguistics.
Survey of modern schools of linguistics, both American and European, discussing each approach in terms of historical and intellectual context, analytical goals, assumptions about the nature of language, and relation between theory and methodology.
Investigates the grammatical structure of non-European language on the basis of data collected in class from a native speaker. A different language is the focus of study each year.
An introduction to the theory and analysis of linguistic sound systems. Covers the essential units of speech sound that lexical and grammatical elements are composed of, how those units are organized at multiple levels of representation, and the principles governing the relation between levels.
Considers how languages change as part of social systems and affected by historical processes. We will contrast language change through internal processes of drift and regular sound change with contact-induced language change involving multilingualism and code switching, language shift and lexical borrowing, the emergence of pidgin, creole, and intertwined languages, language endangerment, and computational tools for historical linguistics.
This course explores the theoretical, practical, and ethical foundations of language documentation and linguistic fieldwork, forms of research that can hardly be separated in this era of global language loss.
This course introduces students to the literature pertaining to the development of Artificial Intelligence, especially as this pursuit entails questions of Language, Data, Ecology, and Epistemology. Together we will discuss touchstone pieces tied to these issues and work towards developing resources that will eventually inform the development of an undergraduate gateway course on Language, AI, and Society.
Why save endangered languages? What makes this work compelling to the diverse stakeholders involved? What kinds of obstacles do language preservation projects repeatedly encounter and why? This seminar explores language preservation as a cultural phenomenon in which issues of temporality, ownership, identity, and authenticity come to the fore.
There is more to language acquisition than learning vocabulary and grammar; one also becomes an appropriate user of language as one is socialized into being a competent member of a speech community. This course explores learners¿ understandings of what speech is and how it functions, and how communicative encounters shape speakers sense of who they are and how they should act or feel, thereby serving as a locus for the transmission of culture.
In anthropology, where identity has become a central concern, language is seen as an important site for the construction of, and negotiation over social identities. In linguistics, reference to categories of social identity helps to explain language structure and change. This seminar explores the overlap between these converging trends by focusing on the notion of discourse as a nexus of cultural and linguistic processes.
Students build knowledge and practice of analysis of peoples' joint-engagement in embodied interactions. How does action weave together multiple sensory modalities into semiotic webs linking interactions with more durative institutions of social life? Course includes workshops on video recording, and the transcription and coding of verbal and non-verbal actions. Prior coursework in Linguistics, Anthropology or instructor permission recommended.
This course surveys ethnographic and linguistic literature on literacy, focusing on the social meanings of speaking vs. writing (and hearing vs. reading) as opposed communicative practices, looking especially at traditionally oral societies.
Discourse analysis looks at the patterns in language and language-use above the level of sentence grammar and seeks to apply the micro-level analysis of communicative interactions to understanding the macro-level processes of social and cultural reproduction. Topics include: symbolic interactionism, conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, discourse prosody, and digital analysis techniques.
This graduate-level seminar seeks to understand variation in language (and its significance for social relations and social hierarchies) by focusing on forms of language that are aesthetically valued (whether as powerful or as poetic) in particular communities. The course assumes some familiarity both with technical analysis of language and anthropological perspectives on social formations.
Topics to be announced prior to each semester, dealing with linguistics.
An advanced introduction to the study of language from an anthropological point of view. No prior coursework in linguistics is expected, but the course is aimed at graduate students who will use what they learn in their own anthropologically-oriented research. Topics include an introduction to such basic concepts in linguistic anthropology as language in world-view, the nature of symbolic meaning, language and nationalism, universals and particulars in language, language in history and prehistory, the ethnography of speaking, the nature of everyday conversation, and the study of poetic language. The course is required for all Anthropology graduate students. It also counts toward the Theory requirement for the M.A. in Linguistics.
Survey of modern schools of linguistics, both American and European, discussing each approach in terms of historical and intellectual context, analytical goals, assumptions about the nature of language, and relation between theory and methodology.
The study of pidgins and creoles emerged as a subfield of linguistics in the latter half of the 20th century. Its ideas have been borrowed, notably by anthropologists, to analyze the increasing diversity and mixedness we confront in a globalizing world. But where did such ideas come from, and what are their (un)intended consequences? In this course, we trace the epistemological development of Creole studies and consider its historical and contemporary impacts.
Surveys the classification and typological characteristics of Native American languages and the history of their study, with intensive work on one language by each student. Some linguistics background is helpful.
An introduction to the linguistic diversity of the African continent, with focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Topics include linguistic structures (sound systems, word-formation, and syntax); the classification of African languages; the use of linguistic data to reconstruct prehistory; language and social identity; verbal art; language policy debates; the rise of "mixed" languages among urban youth. Taught concurrently with ANTH 3455.
Language and Culture in the Middle East
This course covers the basic principles of diachronic linguistics (the study of how languages change over time) and the uses of linguistic data in the reconstruction of prehistory. Considered is the use of linguistic evidence in tracing prehistoric population movements in demonstrating contact among prehistoric groups and in the reconstruction of daily life. To the extent that the literature permits, examples and case studies will be drawn from the Mayan language area of Central America, and will include discussion of the pre-Columbian Mayan writing system and its ongoing decipherment. Fulfills the comparative-historical requirement for Linguistics graduate students.
Analyzes particular aspects of language structure and use. Topics vary from year to year.
Describes spoken English and ASL (American Sign Language) on five levels: phonological, morphological, lexical, syntactic, and discourse and compares/contrasts them using real-world examples. Describes major linguistic components and processes of English and ASL. Introduces basic theories regarding ASL structure. Emphasizes ASL's status as a natural language by comparing/contrasting similarities and unique differences between the two languages.
Examines such topics as American deaf history; ASL linguistics; deaf education; cultural versus pathological views of deaf people; controversies over efforts to eliminate sign language and cure deafness; ASL poetry and storytelling; deafness in mainstream literature, film, and drama; deafness and other minority identities; and the international deaf community.
Languages as superficially different as English, Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit in fact all developed from a single "proto-language," called Proto-Indo-European. This course will explore the following questions: What was this proto-language like? How do we know what it was like? By what processes did it develop into the various daughter languages? How can we trace words as diverse as wit, idea, video, and Veda back to a common source?
This introduction to the Celtic inhabitants of Gaul and Britain unites two approaches, one literary, one linguistic. First, we will compare descriptions of the Celts found in Greek and Latin authors with readings of Celtic literature in translation, notably Ireland's great prose epic, the Táin Bó Cúailnge. Second, we will explore how the Celtic languages work, focusing on the basics of Old Irish as well as touching on Middle Welsh and Gaulish.
Languages as superficially different as English, Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit in fact all developed from a single "proto-language," called Proto-Indo-European. This course will explore the following questions: What was this proto-language like? How do we know what it was like? By what processes did it develop into the various daughter languages? How can we trace words as diverse as wit, idea, video, and Veda back to a common source?
The course examines principal concepts and procedures for the study of physiologic, perceptual and acoustic aspects of voice, speech and hearing. The course leads the student into the fascinating world of new applications in daily life, in business, and especially in education and clinical work.
This course focuses on the psychological processes that underlie the acquisition and the use of language. There is an emphasis on the interaction between linguistic skills and other cognitive skills. Topics include learnability, microgenesis of speech, bilingualism and variation, and a psycholinguistic approach to breakdowns (i.e., language pathology).
This course uses the students' personal experience and perceptions as a starting point to interpret and understand theories. The course introduces central concepts such as language contact, language dominance, language policies, creolization, bilingualism, language diversification, language dispersal, dialect, idiolect, and sociolect. The course also includes a focus on policies that can influence linguistic variation.
Examines principal concepts and procedures for the study of physiologic, perceptual, and acoustic aspects of voice, speech, and hearing. Prerequisite: EDHS 5010 and 5050.
This course provides an introduction to discourse analysis theory and methodology as they relate to classrooms and other educational settings. Readings will provide an overview of discourse analysis approaches used in educational research, with a particular focus on micro-ethnographic and conversation-analytic approaches. Fieldwork and hands-on analysis of discourse will form a significant portion of the course.
This course is designed to provide you with an overview to key issues related to the education of linguistic minorities (labeled "English Learners," or "ELs") in K-12 settings in the United States. We will explore second language acquisition theory, language policy, pedagogical approaches, and the practices of ELs and their teachers.
Studies the development of English word forms and vocabulary from Old English to present-day English. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at https://english.as.virginia.edu/.
This course examines the communicative practices of African American Vernacular English (AAEV) to explore how a marginalized language dynamic has made major transitions into American mainstream discourse. AAEV is no longer solely the informal speech of many African Americans; it is the way Americans speak.
Studies the development of English word forms and vocabulary from Old English to present-day English. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at https://english.as.virginia.edu/.
Studies the Old English language and the literature of early Medieval England. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://english.as.virginia.edu/.
Reviews pronunciation, phonetics, and phonology for undergraduates.
This course will include topics such as French outside France; regional French varieties; Romance dialectology; French socio-linguistics. Prerequisite: FREN 3031 and 3030.
Surveys the main currents of the French language in its development from the earliest to present times. Taught in French. Prerequisite: FREN 3030 or the equivalent or instructor permission.
Topics of specific interest to faculty and advanced undergraduate students. Prerequisite: FREN 3030, 3031, and one 4000-level course in French.
An introduction to the study of language relationships and linguistic structures. Topics covered the basic elements of grammatical description; genetic, areal, and typological relationships among languages; a survey of the world's major language groupings and the notable structures and grammatical categories they exhibit; and the issue of language endangerment. Prerequisite: One year study of a world language or permission of instructor.
Studies the theory, problems, and methods in teaching English as a second language, with attention to relevant areas of general linguistics and the structure of English.
Through this course, students focus on teaching oral English as another language, while gaining experience in the practice of English-language teaching to international students, faculty, and staff at the University. This is an excellent opportunity to gain teaching experience under the supervision of an experienced mentor. For every 1 hour of credit, students must meet with an instructor for 5 classroom & practice 33 hours.
Through this course, students focus on culture in ESL, while gaining experience in the practice of English-language teaching to international students, faculty, and staff at the University. This is an excellent opportunity to gain teaching experience under the supervision of an experienced mentor. For every 1 hour of credit, students must meet with an instructor for 5 classroom & practice 33 hours
Through this course, students focus on the topic of writing in an L2, while gaining experience in the practice of English-language teaching to international students, faculty, and staff at the University. This experience is an excellent opportunity to gain teaching experience under the supervision of an experienced mentor.
Introduces students to the descriptive grammar of English and applied methods for reasoning about linguistic structure through community-engaged group research introducing linguistics to Virginia High School students. Covers units of sound and phonemic transcriptions, word building and inflection, lexical categories, basic sentence types, common phrase and clause patterns, and syntactic transformations structural analysis and use of evidence.
New course in the subject of linguistics
New course in the subject of linguistics.
Linguistic typologists study the patterns of grammatical forms and relations as they vary and converge across the diversity of the world's languages. Students in this course examine and critically evaluate definitions, methods and results of typological research, and gain practice analyzing linguistic data through typological lenses.
Conducted by students under the supervision of an instructor of their choice.
In this course students will work closely with a professor on an ongoing research project.
Conducted by students under the direction of an instructor of their choice.
A two-semester course in which the student prepares a thesis under the supervision of a Linguistics faculty member. Prerequisite: Participants in the Distinguished Majors Program in Linguistics.
A two-semester course in which the student prepares a thesis under the supervision of a Linguistics faculty member. Prerequisite: Participants in the Distinguished Majors Program in Linguistics.
Studies the theory, problems, and methods in teaching English as a second language, with attention to relevant areas of general linguistics and the structure of English.
Through this course, students focus on the topic of language in an L2, while gaining experience in the practice of English-language teaching to international students, faculty, and staff at the University. This experience is an excellent opportunity to gain teaching experience under the supervision of an experienced mentor. For every 1 hour of credit, students must meet with an instructor for 5 classroom & practice 33 hours. Prerequisite: 3250
Through this course, students focus on the topic of culture in ESL, while gaining experience in the practice of English-language teaching to international students, faculty, and staff at the University. This experience is an excellent opportunity to gain teaching experience under the supervision of an experienced mentor. For every 1 hour of credit, students must meet with an instructor for 5 classroom & practice 33 hours. Prerequisite: 3250
Through this course, students focus on the topic of writing in an L2, while gaining experience in the practice of English-language teaching to international students, faculty, and staff at the University. This experience is an excellent opportunity to gain teaching experience under the supervision of an experienced mentor. For every 1 hour of credit, students must meet with an instructor for 5 classroom & practice 33 hours.
Investigates the grammatical structure of non-European language on the basis of data collected in class from a native speaker. A different language is the focus of study each year.
In this course on phonetics, students will explore the acoustic properties of different segment types, formants, pitch, intensity, spectra, and voice pulsing, among other phenomena. The emphasis is on parameters that influence speech intelligibility, the correlates of language variation (comparison between languages, effects of dialects), as well as some aspects of phonetic pathology. Prerequisites: LNGS 3250 or Instructor Permission
An introduction to the theory and analysis of linguistic sound systems. Covers the essential units of speech sound that lexical and grammatical elements are composed of, how those units are organized at multiple levels of representation, and the principles governing the relation between levels.
Independent study conducted by the student under the supervision of, and with agreement of, instructor.
New course in the subject of linguistics.
Linguistic typologists study the patterns of grammatical forms and relations as they vary and converge across the diversity of the world's languages. Students in this course examine and critically evaluate definitions, methods and results of typological research, and gain practice analyzing linguistic data through typological lenses.
This course focuses on the psychological processes that underlie the use of language and speech. Is language competence different from other human skills? Is language a biological, a psychological, a cultural phenomenon, or all of these? Why do people speak with an accent? Why do we forget words (and why do we remember them)?
This course provides students with a foundation in the grammar of the English language. Topics include phonology, morphology, syntax, with a focus on structural analysis. Students will gain confidence in discussing the form, function, & usage of linguistic structures. These topics will also be related to the teaching & tutoring of English as a second language including error correction & feedback which will be reflected in advanced final papers.
New course in the subject of linguistics.
Examines such topics as American deaf history; ASL linguistics; deaf education; cultural versus pathological views of deaf people; controversies over efforts to eliminate sign language and cure deafness; ASL poetry and storytelling; deafness in mainstream literature, film, and drama; deafness and other minority identities; and the international deaf community.
Preparation for Master's Research, no thesis director.
For Master's thesis, taken under the supervision of a thesis director.
Special Areas Students should choose electives in one or more of the following areas: anthropology, Asian and Middle Eastern languages and Cultures, comparative Latin and Greek, English language study, Germanic linguistics, Indic linguistics, philosophy, psychology, Romance linguistics, Slavic linguistics.
Introduces the history and structure of what has been termed Black English Vernacular or Black Street English. Focuses on the sociolinguistic factors that led to its emergence, its present role in the Black community, and its relevance in education and racial stereotypes.
An examination of the structure, history, and sociolinguistics of the English spoken in the southeastern United States.
Introduces sign systems, language as a sign system, and approaches to linguistics description. Emphasizes the application of descriptive techniques to data.
An introduction to the nature and causation of variation in linguistic systems over time, with attention to the comparative and internal reconstruction of systems no longer attested but assumed to have existed. LNGS 3250 or Instructor Permission
Provides prospective language teachers with background in descriptive and theoretical linguistics, thus helping them to make informed pedagogical decisions, set realistic pedagogical goals, and read scholarship in pedagogy of the type that appears in relevant scholarly journals (e.g. The Modern Language Journal). Considers trends in Second Language Acquisition and the relevance thereto of Applied Linguistics in recent years.
Syntax and Semantics
This course introduces students to language as a system and the theoretical underpinnings of the analytic procedures used by linguists. It proceeds from the assumption that the goal of language is to communicate (i.e., to convey meaning via messages), and investigates assumptions relating to the manner in which it accomplishes this goal.¿This course is required for all Linguistics graduate students.
An introduction to the nature, causation, and theory of variation in linguistic systems over time, with attention to the theoretical underpinnings and implementation of the methods of internal and comparative reconstruction. Prerequisite: LNGS 7010 or instructor permission.
Introduces the history and structure of what has been termed Black English Vernacular or Black Street English. Focuses on the sociolinguistic factors that led to its emergence, its present role in the Black community, and its relevance in education and racial stereotypes.
A discuss of the structure and history of the English spoken in the Southeastern United States. Prerequisites: Instructor Permission.
This course looks at the social life of languages in Israel. Beginning historically with the philosophical debates about language, identity, and nationhood swirling around the 19th century European Jewish communities, we examine how the revival of Hebrew contributed to the establishment of the Israeli state in the 20th century, and how processes of language change have influenced political and aesthetic life in Israel today.
Covers Jewish languages Yiddish, Judeo-Arabic, Ladino, and Hebrew from historical, linguistic, and literary perspectives. Explores the relations between communities and languages, the nature of diaspora, and the death and revival of languages. No prior knowledge of these languages is required. This course is cross-listed with ANTH 2470.
Introduction to peoples, languages, cultures and histories of the Middle East. Focuses on Israel/Palestine as a microcosm of important social processes-such as colonialism, nationalism, religious fundamentalism, and modernization-that affect the region as a whole. This course is cross-listed with ANTH 3470. Prerequisite: Prior coursework in anthropology, middle east studies, or linguistics, or permission of the instructor.
Introduces a broad spectrum of philosophical problems and approaches. Topics include basic questions concerning morality, skepticism and the foundations of knowledge, the mind and its relation to the body, and the existence of God. Readings are drawn from classics in the history of philosophy and/or contemporary sources. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/
This class explores the intersection of philosophy with issues concerning VR, computer simulation, AI, etc. Can traditional philosophical problems be seen through the lens of VR and AI- and do VR and AI raise new and distinctive philosophical issues? This will show how reflection on modern technologies can help with ancient philosophical questions and how philosophy can help in the development of new technologies and society's response to them.
Analyzes the structure of informal arguments and fallacies that are commonly committed in everyday reasoning. The course will not cover symbolic logic in any detail. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Discussion groups devoted to some philosophical writing or topic. Information on the specific topic can be obtained from the philosophy department at course enrollment time. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Examines a wide variety of theories of human nature, with the aim of understanding how we can fulfill our nature and thereby live good, satisfying and meaningful lives. Focuses on the questions of whether it is in our nature to be rational, moral and/or social beings. Readings are taken from contemporary and historical sources. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Examines some of the central problems of moral philosophy and their sources in human life and thought. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Studies the fundamental principles underlying contemporary and historical discussions of such issues as abortion, euthanasia, suicide, pacifism, and political terror. Examines Utilitarian and anti-Utilitarian modes of thought about human life and the significance of death. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
What is the meaning of life? Does a meaningful life presuppose the existence of a divine being, or can human beings somehow create meaning? Does the certainty of death rob life of meaning, or provide it? These and related questions will be pursued through contemporary and classic texts by such authors as Sartre, Nagel, Nietzsche, Bernard Williams, and Epicurus.
Art permeates our lives, yet it is hard to define what makes something a work of art, or what the purpose of art is. In tis course we will explore the philosophy of art. We will look at what some of the great philosophical figures of the past have thought about art, as well as looking at contemporary approaches.
Examines and evaluates some basic practices and principles of Anglo-American law. Discusses the justification of punishment, the death penalty, legal liability, good samaritan laws, and the legal enforcement of morality. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Knowledge and Reality. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Survey of the history of philosophy from the Pre-Socratic period through the Middle Ages. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Surveys the history of modern philosophy, beginning with Descartes and extending up to the nineteenth century. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Do computers think? Can a persuasive case be made for the claim that the human mind is essentially a sophisticated computing device? These and related questions will be examined through readings in computer science, the philosophy of mind, logic, and linguistics. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
This course will address the effects of rapid technological advances on a number of new & traditional philosophical topics (potential changes in our concept of personal identity as a result of biological & cognitive enhancements the loss of privacy changes in the status of scientific evidence & the diminution of the role of human scientists as a result of automated instrumentation, computationally based simulations, and computer proof methods).
This course surveys foundational issues in the philosophy of cognitive science. Part 1 asks, what is a mind? Are minds brains? Computers? Do minds extend into the body & environment? What it would take to make a machine with a mind? Part 2 turns to the problem of personal identity over time. Once you were a kid, now you're an adult, and one day you'll grow old. What (if anything) makes you the same person over your life.
Introduces the concepts and techniques of modern formal logic, including both sentential and quantifier logic, as well as proof, interpretation, translation, and validity. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Introduces the philosophy of science. Topics include experiment, casual inference, models, scientific explanation, theory structure, hypothesis testing, realism and anti-realism, the relations between science and technology, science versus non-science, and the philosophical assumptions of various sciences. Illustrations are drawn from the natural, biological, and social sciences, but no background in any particular science is presupposed. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
A lecture series on the various topics central to Philosophy.
Seminars aimed at showing how philosophical problems arise in connection with subjects of general interest. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
In this class, we will examine philosophical puzzles about our ability to make rational choices that affect or determine our own happiness. How can we rationally decide to undergo a significant experience - such as having a child or moving to a new country - when have no way of knowing what that experience will be like? How can we rationally choose to make decisions about our future?
Examines whether our actions and choices are free and whether or to what extent we can be held responsible for them. Includes the threat to freedom posed by the possibility of scientific explanations of our behavior and by psychoanalysis, the concept of compulsion, moral and legal responsibility, and the nature of human action. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Other species seem to represent objects in their environments, think about the thoughts of their conspecifics, and perhaps even use language. Some seem to have long-term memory, emotion, and self-awareness. Do they in fact do all of these things, and if so, how, and in what sense? We will engage philosophically with the best scientific evidence available to answer these and similar questions before considering their ethical implications.
Considers the problems raised by arguments for and against the existence of God; discussion of such related topics as evil, evidence for miracles, and the relation between philosophy and theology. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
A detailed examination of the philosophical concept of God and also of diverse arguments for and against His existence, including various ontological arguments, causal arguments, the arguments from design, and the argument from evil.
This course will study philosophical issues arising from the encounter and conflict between different cultures. Focusing on the Spanish conquest of the Americas will address the general question of whether there is a just war, relating this discussion to fundamental questions in contemporary ethics and political philosophy.
Considers some of the perennial questions in political philosophy through an examination of classical works in the field, including some or all of the following: Aristotle's Politics, Hobbes's Leviathan, Locke's Second Treatise of Government, and Rousseau's On the Social Contract. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
This course will consider three central questions in political philosophy: Why do political societies exist? What kind of political society is best? And, what is the proper role of the state in the social and economic affairs of its citizens? Rather than a comprehensive overview of the subject, this course will offer a chance to carefully examine some of the most influential attempts to answer to these core questions.
Almost simultaneously some 2500 years ago thinkers in Greece (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle) & China (Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, others) worked through what became the foundational philosophies of 2 great civilizations. Although at the time they enjoyed no contact whatsoever, the questions posed about the nature of the world & how human beings may best live within it are strikingly complementary and serve as something of a mirror for each other.
A survey of the political ideas and theories of the ancient Greeks and Romans, including such works as Plato's REPUBLIC, Aristotle's POLITICS and Cicero's DE RE PUBLICA. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Examines pressing issues of the examined life, especially those ethical (How should I live?), epistemological (how and what can I know?) & overlapping both. Authors include Plato, Mencius, Marcus Aurelius, Gautama, & Laozi. Topics include testimony; virtue; skepticism; the value of knowledge, society & systematic world views; moral progress; and epistemic injustice. Combines classics with contemporary work. Argumentative essays & creative writing.
This course investigates the history and the scientific and philosophical implications of Darwin's revolutionary idea that the wholly unguided process of natural selection could explain the magnificent variety and adaptedness of living things and their descent from a common ancestor. One of the philosophical topics we will explore is how scientific theories are supported by evidence and how science yields knowledge
Introduces the philosophy of Plato through careful examination of selected Platonic dialogues. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
An introduction to the philosophy of Aristotle, covering his major works in ethics, political philosophy, metaphysics, theory of knowledge, and literary theory. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Examines the continued development of philosophy from after Aristotle to the end of the Middle Ages. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Studies the central philosophers in the empiricist tradition.
Primarily a study of Kant's metaphysics and epistemology, followed by a brief look at the views of some of Idealist successors. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
A comprehensive study of the philosophy of Nietzsche, with an examination of his views on life, truth, philosophy, art, morality, nihilism, values and their creation, will to power, eternal recurrence, and more. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: instructor permission (previous course in philosophy preferred)
Examines central metaphysical issues such as time, the existence of God, causality and determinism, universals, possibility and necessity, identity, and the nature of metaphysics. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Studies problems concerned with the foundations of knowledge, perception, and rational belief. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Studies some basic problems of philosophical psychology. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
An introduction to systems of non-classical logic, including both extensions and revisions to classical logic.
Topics change from semester to semester and year to year. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Studies some recent contemporary philosophical movement, writing, or topic. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Critically investigates central philosophical issues raised by artistic activity: To count as an artwork must a thing have a modicum of aesthetic value, or is it enough that it be deemed art by the community? Is aesthetic value entirely in the eye of the beholder or is there such a thing as being wrong in one's judgment concerning an artwork? including Wittgenstein, Sartre, and Pears.
Science fiction is a distinctively philosophical genre. Science fiction stories can cause us to question the bounds of what is possible, explore ethical questions that arise in alien circumstances, explore the nature of the self and the very nature of reality, and so on. This course will investigate philosophical questions via science fiction literature, and use philosophy to explore the nature of science fiction.
This course will consider three central questions in political philosophy: Why do political societies exist? What kind of political society is best? And, what is the proper role of the state in the social and economic affairs of its citizens? Rather than a comprehensive overview of the subject, this course will offer a chance to carefully examine some of the most influential attempts to answer to these core questions.
Philosophical account of health care practices and institutions viewed against the backdrop of leading theories of justice (e.g., utilitarianism, Rawlsian contractarianism, communitarianism, libertarianism). Topics include the nature, justifications, and limits of a right to health care; the value conflicts posed by cost containment, implicit and explicit rationing, and reform of the health care system; the physician-patient relationship in an era of managed care; and the procurement and allocation of scarce life-saving resources, such as expensive drugs and transplantable organs. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: course in ethics of political philosophy from any department, such as RELG 2650, PHIL 1740, PLPT 3010, etc.
What is a normal human being? What is the natural course for the human species? What does justice have to do with our genes? The emergence of technology allowing the manipulation of the human genome raises a number of ethical social, and political problems. This class will explore these challenges through philosophical argument. In particular, we will attempt to wrestle with notions such as natural, human being, perfection, enhancement and cure. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
This course will examine the moral status of non-human animals and what the major ethical theories imply for our treatment of animals, including in scientific research and food. In an effort to examine their moral status, we will explore the questions of whether and to what extent animals experience pain and emotions.
History of modern ethical theory (Hobbes to Mill) with especial emphasis on the texts of Hume (Treatise, Book III) and Kant, (Grundlegung), which will be studied carefully and critically. Among the topics to be considered: Is morality based on reason? Is it necessarily irrational not to act morally? Are moral standards objective? Are they conventional? Is it a matter of luck whether we are morally virtuous? Is the morally responsible will a free will? Are all reasons for acting dependent on desires? For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Studies Anglo-American ethics since 1900. While there are selected readings from G. E. Moore, W. D. Ross, A. J. Ayer, C. L. Stevenson and R. M. Hare, emphasis is on more recent work. Among the topics to be considered: Are there moral facts? Are moral values relative? Are moral judgments universalizable? Are they prescriptive? Are they cognitive? What is to be said for utilitarianism as a moral theory? What against it? And what are the alternatives? For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
The focus of the course will be the exploration of various moral, legal and policy issues posed by efforts to curtail or enhance fertility through contraception, abortion, and recent advances in reproductive technology. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: One prior course in ethics from any department.
Canvasses the history of research scandals (e.g., Nuremberg, Tuskegee) resulting in federal regulation of human subjects research. Critically assesses the randomized clinical trial (including informed consent, risk/benefit ratio, randomization, placebos). Examines the ethics of research with special populations, such as the cognitively impaired, prisoners, children, embryos and fetuses, and animals. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: One course in ethics or bioethics, or instructor permission.
In this class, we'll first examine the question 'What is gender?' Then we'll look at ways in which gender can interact with traditional philosophical topics, including epistemology, philosophy of language, political philosophy, etc.
In this class, we'll be talking about philosophical issues at the intersection of sexuality, sexual experience, and gender experience. What is sexual consent? What is the relationship between sexual consent and sexual morality? What is sexual orientation, and what is its relationship to sex and gender? Is there such a thing as biological sex? Is there a difference between sex and gender?
This class explores philosophical issues in the nature of mental health and mental illness. Topics may include: What is the difference between a mental illness and a physical illness? How do we understand the difference between mental difference and mental dysfunction? Does our current approach to understanding mental health overly pathologize or medicalize people? What is a social contagion? What does it mean to be mentally healthy?
Examination of the nature and function of liberty in social theorists such as Adam Smith, JJ Rousseau, Ayn Rand, John Rawls, Robert Nozick. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Topic changes from year to year. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: Philosophy majors.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: Enrollment in the departmental honors program.
Independent study under the direction of a faculty member. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Independent study under the direction of a faculty member. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Examines various results in metalogic, including completeness, compactness, and undecidability. Effective computability, theories of truth, and identity may also be covered. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: PHIL 2420 or equivalent.
Comparison of various schools in the philosophy of mathematics (including logicism, formalism, and conceptualism) and their answers to such questions as 'Do numbers exist?' and 'How is mathematical knowledge possible?' For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/. Prerequisite: Some familiarity with quantifier logic or instructor permission.
A survey of the political ideas and theories of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
A survey of the most important philosophers of the Modern Age.
Seminar on an Ethics Topic
A seminar on the ethical implications of biomedical research.
A seminar on political theory and how the topics of rights and freedoms are incorporated.
A seminar on the nature of being and the world
A seminar on the nature and scope of knowledge.
A seminar on logic features and reasoning.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Seminar for First Yr graduate students. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Tutorial instruction. The student will attend lectures and cover the subjects of an undergraduate course, but will do additional reading and/or written work to strengthen their understanding of that philosophical area.
With the permission of the instructor, a student may arrange to take an undergraduate course for graduate credit under this designation. The student will attend lectures and cover the subjects of the undergraduate course, but will do additional reading and/or written work; the student's work in the course will be graded on a scale appropriate for graduate course work.
A survey of the political ideas and theories of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
A survey of the most important philosophers of the Middle Ages.
A survey of the most important philosophers of the Modern Age.
A survey of ethical theory and moral status.
A seminar on political theory and how the topics of rights and freedoms are incorporated.
A seminar on the nature of being and the world
A seminar on the various topics with in the Philosophy of Science.
A seminar on logic features and reasoning.
This seminar will examine the nature of and possible justifications for claims of right. Readings will be from both classical and contemporary sources. The works we read will be authored principally by philosophers, with a few pieces by political and legal theorists.
This course examines arguments for and against moral and legal "positive" duties (to assist others). We consider possible duties to give emergency aid (rescue), to improve the condition of the needy (charity), and to impose more equitable distributions of goods within and between nations (justice).
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Philosophy of Mind. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
The course addresses recent literature on the following questions: (1) what is the ontological nature of experience? (sense-data theories vs. state theories vs. disjunctivism); (2) is the phenomenal character of experience exhausted by its representational content? (representationalism vs. qualia realism); (3) does experience contain any nonconceptual representational content? (4) are the intrinsic features of experience introspectible?
A survey of the political ideas and theories of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
A survey of the most important philosophers of the Modern Age.
A survey of ethical theory and moral status.
A seminar on political theory and how the topics of rights and freedoms are incorporated.
A seminar on the nature of being and the world
A seminar on the nature and scope of knowledge.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.For master's research, taken before a thesis director has been selected.
For master's thesis, taken under the supervision of a thesis director. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
This course is designed for graduate students in their third or fourth year. It focuses on dissertation writing and the various skills relevant to professional development.
For doctoral research, taken before a dissertation director has been selected. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
For doctoral dissertation, taken under the supervision of a dissertation director. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.virginia.edu/philosophy/.
Topics include psychological and linguistic theory; experimental and empirical studies of linguistic usage; development of language in infants and children; cross-cultural studies of linguistic usage; and the biology of language.
Course will focus on language and cognitive development in persons with disabilities. Among the populations examined will be children with autistic disorder, children with Williams syndrome, deaf children, developmentally dysphasic children, adults with aphasia, and children with severe mental retardation. In addition to spoken language development, the course will examine the acquisition of sign communication skills. Prerequisite: 4th year psychology or cognitive science major status. Must have completed PSYC 3005 and PSYC 3006.
Analyzes the critical psychological experiments which have influenced the way that psychologists consider topics in reading, such as text comprehension, parsing, and sentence processing. Prerequisite: PSYC 3005
Examines current research and theoretical models of children's language acquisition. Topics include typically developing children's acquisition of spoken language skills, and the development of communication skills in deaf, autistic, and other groups of children with language disabilities.
An overview of the neural systems underlying production and perception of vocal signals, with a focus on animal models and their application to human communication. Course activities will emphasize discussion and critical review of the primary literature.
Examines the sound system of the Russian language with special attention to palatalization, vowel reduction, sounds in combination, and the relationship of sound to spelling. Prerequisite: RUSS 1020.
This course is a formal and systematic analysis of the basic syntactic structures of the contemporary Russian literary language with frequent comparison to English (and other, when possible) structures. The emphasis will be on data, not theoretical principles although the conventional theoretical machinery and language of syntax (phrase structure, complement, anaphora) will be used at all times in class and on assignments.
Introduction to Grammar and Textual attestation of the oldest attested Slavic Language and the relationship between this language, Old Russian Church Slavonic and Contemporary Standard Russian.
An introduction to the sound system of both Peninsular & Latin Am Spanish. Class discussions focus on how the sounds of Spanish are produced from an articulatory point of view, and how these sounds are organized & represented in the linguistic competence of their speakers. When appropriate, comparisons will be made between Spanish & English or Spanish & other (Romance & non-Romance) languages. Course seeks to improve the student's pronunciation. Pre-requisites SPAN 2020 or equivalent (it can be taken simultaneously with SPAN 3010).
This course provides an introduction to core areas of linguistic analysis using Spanish. Areas covered include sounds of Spanish (phonetics & phonology), word formation (morphology), sentence structure (syntax), meaning of words, phrases, sentences, & larger chunks of discourse, also in social context (semantics & pragmatics), history of the Spanish language, regional & social variation (dialectology & sociolinguistics), & language acquisition. Pre-requisites SPAN 2020 or equivalent (it can be taken simultaneously with SPAN 3010).
The main objectives of the course are: (1) to offer the student an introduction to the development of Spanish, focusing on the major changes from Latin to Spanish through the study of historical grammar; (2) to explain the irregularities of Modern Spanish grammar; (3) to facilitate the reading Old Spanish. Prerequisite: SPAN 3200 and 3010, or 3000 and 3010, or departmental placement.
This course examines the Spanish language within its social context by exploring--among others--the following topics: 1) language versus dialect; 2) the standard language; 3) linguistic variation and its main variables: geography, style, gender, age, etc.; 4) language acquisition as a social process; 5) language variation and language change. Taught in Spanish.
This is an advanced introduction to the study of fundamental aspects of the sound and grammatical systems of the Spanish language. The course will start by analyzing present-day (syllable, word and phrase) structures of the language and it will progress toward a more detailed examination of some of the linguistic processes and changes involved in the development of those structures. Prior coursework in linguistics is expected. Pre-requisites: SPAN 3000 Sounds of Spanish and SPAN 3200 A Linguistic Overview of Spanish.
The course examines the development of the Spanish language through texts produced from the Middle Ages to the present day. The main goal will be the interpretation of individual texts as a source of linguistic data and the analysis of language in its cultural, social and historical context. Including texts from Latin American and Spain, the commentary will cover the analysis of phonological, grammatical and lexical aspects.
Prerequisite: SPAN 3010 and 3300, or departmental placement; instructor permission.
The development of the Spanish language from its origins.
Covers modern teaching methodologies, trends in second language acquisition, and intercultural competence. Participants will shadow language instructors, observe, and engage in practical activities such as creating instructional materials, lesson planning, and assessment design. Also explores teaching methods for content courses, crafting Teaching Statements, and preparing students for various teaching contexts and their professional careers.