FAQ

During the initial registration period, we reserve some seats in our classes for Linguistics majors. If space permits, reservations may be lifted at the end of the initial registration period or during add/drop. When that happens, a class will show as "open" rather than "open; reserved."

Please also check if the class is cross listed (i.e. shared between two or more departments). For example, LIN 312C and ANT 307 are cross listed. It's possible for one side of a class to be open, while the other is "open; reserved" or closed.

If the class is open; reserved, check back towards the end of the registration period. If the class is closed, reach out to gulliver@austin.utexas.edu for assistance.

No. Unless the course specifically requires "permission of instructor," please reach out to our advising team (gulliver@austin.utexas.edu) for assistance. 

Yes, all major core courses are offered each long semester.

LIN 306: Introduction to the Study of Language.

Linguistic majors may wish to use the summer term to take courses in a minor area or a foreign language. Other summer offerings may vary. 

Typically four semesters. Let's suppose you decide to be a Linguistics major at the beginning of your junior year and that, up until that point, you have taken no linguistics courses. An optimal plan for completing the required linguistics courses is as follows (please see Major Requirements page for further details):

• Junior Year
  • Fall: LIN 306
  • Spring: LIN 344K, a LIN course of your choosing (can be lower-division)
• Senior Year
  • Fall: LIN 372K (prerequisite LIN 344K), two upper division LIN courses of your choosing
  • Spring: LIN 345, LIN 372L
  • plus an additional upper-division LIN course

An undergraduate major in linguistics provides training that can be extremely helpful in a variety of careers. For example, if combined with mastery of a foreign language, a linguistics B.A. can be of great use to those planning careers in translating or in the teaching of foreign languages.

Likewise, the linguistics major at UT provides a strong foundation for those students who intend to seek a master's degree in other language-related fields, such as speech pathology, deaf education, audiology, or the teaching of English as a second language. Liberal Arts Career Services graduate school resources can help you learn more about liberal arts advanced degrees, prepare for an eventual application and navigate the application process. 

Finally, a linguistics major, if combined with training in computer science, can be useful to those pursuing careers in the computer industry, which is grappling with many technical problems related to natural language processing, such as automatic speech recognition, speech synthesis, and machine translation.

Highly-motivated students in linguistics may choose to enter graduate programs in linguistics. In recent years, the doctoral students from our own department have been following two career paths: they have either gone on to teaching positions in universities or they have elected to pursue careers in the computer industry.