Research Opportunities

Our department encourages a balance of theoretical and empirical work that gives our undergraduate students the opportunity to investigate several types of linguistic phenomena in a variety of linguistic subfields, focusing on hands-on data collection and analysis, good writing skills, and use of empirical evidence in theoretical constructions.

Getting Started

Getting involved in research is one of the most rewarding ways to deepen your understanding of linguistics beyond the classroom. There’s no single path into research, but there are many ways to begin. Some students start by attending lab meetings or department events, while others dive in through coursework or casual conversations with faculty. For more information on getting involved, check our research section of the website or visit our Get Involved webpage.

Opportunities for Students

All our classes involve hands-on approaches to learning linguistics. Often students undertake and complete research projects in our classes. These class projects are one of the best ways to get to know your professors and become involved in research.

The following are some of the opportunities that undergraduate linguistics students have taken:

  • Summer positions
  • TA and RA positions
  • Workshop Peer Leaders program
  • Independent studies
  • Cooperatives with other programs

Linguistics Undergraduate Council

The Linguistics Undergraduate Council (LUC) is a student run organization for undergraduates interested in any aspect of natural language. The LUC mission statement: To raise awareness of linguistics as an academic area of study on campus, as well as provide a community where people who are involved in the field as a major, minor, cluster, or hobby can meet people who have similar interests, as well as interact with the faculty.

Undergraduate Working Papers in Linguistics

The Undergraduate Working Papers in Linguistics is an annual publication produced by the Linguistics Undergraduate Council (LUC) which showcases student work in linguistics. LUC Working Papers mission is to create an annual publication of undergraduate work as well as to give the students additional experience writing in-depth linguistics research papers and/or squibs and descriptive fieldwork data sets. All works included in the Working Papers must follow the format outlined in this style guide and be submitted following these steps. For more information, please address the current LUC executive board through the email address above.