Culture and Communication
The goals of this course are to introduce students to the study of language use cross-culturally and to develop student skills in investigating and understanding the role that language plays in the construction of culture and ways of thinking, for example, in producing commonly shared cultural practices, ideas, and interpretations of behavior and events. Each student collects everyday language data for several analytical exercises. This language data is used as a basis for examining and questioning concepts discussed in lectures and readings, such as ethnicity, identity, power, status, and gender as they emerge in everyday interactions between people.