While SUNY New Paltz does not currently offer a formal Major in Linguistics, highly motivated students have the option of pursuing a Contract Major in Linguistics. The goal of a contract major is to enable students whose academic interests fall outside of existing majors to develop an individual program of study appropriate to their interests.
To pursue the Contract Major in Linguistics, a student will work closely with an advisor in the Linguistics program to design an individualized program of study in linguistics, including courses offered by the Linguistics Program and by affiliated departments. On graduation, the student’s transcript will show that she/he has completed a Contract Major in Linguistics.
The specific courses used to fill the Contract Major in Linguistics will depend on the individual student’s interests and goals. However, in order to have a competitive and well-rounded Contract Major in Linguistics, contract majors should complete 36 credits (12 courses) in the following 4 areas:
1. Required Courses (15 credits). Introduction to Linguistics plus the four core courses in the Structure of Language: Phonetics, Morphology, Syntax and Semantics.
2. Historical Linguistics, Psycholinguistics & Variation (9 credits). Three courses selected from a grouping that explores the development of languages over time (Historical Linguistics), the acquisition, representation, comprehension and production of language (Psycholinguistics), and the variation in language usage by speaker, group and situation; dialectology and code-switching; and the development of pidgins and creoles (Variation).
3. Electives (6 credits). Two additional courses selected either from the above grouping or from a list of approved electives in affiliated departments including Philosophy, Communication and Media, and Communication Disorders.
4. Language Requirement (6 credits). Two semesters of study in a foreign language, beyond the coursework used to fulfill the GEIII Foreign Language requirement. May be satisfied by any combination of the following:
- 1-2 additional semesters of study in the language used to satisfy the GEIII requirement
- 1-2 semesters of a different language or languages than that used to satisfy the GEIII requirement
- 1-2 semesters of American Sign Language
Contract Majors in Linguistics are strongly advised to gain experience in a non-Indo-European language.
Students interested in the Contract Major in Linguistics are encouraged to contact the Linguistics Program by the first semester of their Sophomore Year (for transfer students, the first semester of their Junior Year) to develop a Contract Major Plan.
» Download an example of a Contract Major Plan *
