Conflict!

[catastrophy]

I am conflicted!

Sali is teaching a LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

I initially designed this "sexy" course for undergraduate students.
Having now articulated its topical outline, I realize it may interest
graduate students too, for reasons that you will find obvious. So I am
sharing this tentative syllabus with readers of this list. So far I have
found no textbook that comes close to covering (adequately) most of
these topics that I believe should interest non-linguists (and some
linguists) who are curious about social and phylogenetic aspects of
language. Fortunately, there is plenty of informative and accessible
literature in diverse places that can be put together as a reading
packet for the course.


*How do human languages (spoken and signed) differ from means of
communication used by other animals?*

* "Design features" of human languages
* Innateness and (social) learning -- “copying" and the spread of
cultural phenomena
* Patterns /vs/ rules /vs/ analogies
* What language “acquisition" and “transmission" really mean
* Structural complexity of spoken languages--­ the significance of
modularity
* Speaker-indexicality --­ language and identity (race/ethnicity,
socio-economic class, gender, age group, education, professional
affiliation, etc.)

*Spoken /vs/ signed languages*

* Signed language /vs/ gesture
* How the medium constrains structure -- the question of linearity

* Contact of spoken and signed languages
* Is there really a phonology of signed language?

*The origins of human language(s)*

* Gradualism /vs/ punctuated equilibrium
* Why the evolution of language is likely to have been gradual
* Why it can be claimed that modern languages are not the end of the
process yet
* Why are there more spoken than signed languages? Why are there
more people speaking than signing? -- non-structural, "ecological"
aspects of language evolution
* Why are there so many different languages in the world?
(Preliminary considerations)

*Humans /vs/ other animals (again)*

* Can humans learn to communicate with animals in the latter’s means
of communication?
* Can animals be taught to communicate with humans in spoken or
signed language?
* Cross-species communication barriers

*Why do human languages differ structurally, despite their architectural
similarities? Trying to make sense of typology.*

* The significance of variation in populations -- a population
genetics perspective
* The effects of population dispersals on variation
* Variational /vs/ transformational evolution
* Implications for the proto-language -- Was there ever a
proto-language for mankind? (The Nostratic /vs/ the Out-of-Africa
hypotheses!)

*Language change/evolution*

* How do languages change/evolve?
* Why do languages change/evolve?
* Variation and the “actuation question" (Why it need not be
considered a "problem"?)
* The ecology of language evolution
* Language genetic families: what do they reflect?
* Genetic /vs/ typological classifications of languages
* Typological heterogeneities within languages and language families

*The coexistence of languages*

* Societal /vs/ individual multilingualism
* Societal multilingualism and language competition
* Ecological factors leading to language endangerment and loss
* Globalization vs glocalization -­ the real causes of language
endangerment and loss (the significance of "population structure")

*Language and communicative media/modalities*

* Writing systems -- The variation that matters or does not matter
* The impact of writing on communication
* The impact of other media/modalities on communication
* Can animals benefit from communication technology?

*Other forms of communication*

* Traffic signs
* Professional sign conventions
* How norms/conventions arise
* Pattern emergence -- "rule-governed" phenomena -­ systems
ling course...

On the one hand it sounds awesome...
On the other... it's Sali.

Pro: I really do like linguistics. And certain linguists who names begin with J and end with eremy.
Con: I don't know if it's crosslisted as Anth... if it's not, it would be my 4th course while I'm hardcore BA-writing...

I am conflicted!!!
but, in a good way?

Comments

[satyreyes.livejournal.com]

I'm right there with you. Maybe you could poison Sali? Not much, you know... just enough that he couldn't teach his class for ten weeks and they had to find someone to cover for him. Almost worth it to take this class from someone who could teach.

[dakeeni.livejournal.com]

Heh, they'd probably just cancel it... you know how the university is about cancelling all the classes that have real potential....

[summercomfort]

You have until the 3rd week to decide, right? So if enrollment is tight, grab a place during lottery and then drop it after you realize that you hate the class/hate the prof/have no time. If enrollment is not tight, then just sit in.... The good thing about the enroll-then-drop is that sometimes the prof doesn't even know you're not taking the course, cause who looks at a roll sheet after the first week anyways?

I think 3 classes is a goodly amount if you're writing your BA, though. :D

[dakeeni.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm leaning in that direction (esp because it's not anth)... maybe I'll snag a syllabus and go look at the readings on my own time.

[summercomfort]

:D Sounds like a plan! (Maybe you can return the syllabus to him at the end of class, perhaps dusted with some sort of benign-stay-at-home powder...)