<p>Hello all, </p>
<p>I am a high school sophomore particularly interested in linguistics. Seeing as Swarthmore is one of the few LACs that actually has a ling department, I was wondering if anyone could provide info about the department here, course offerings, strengths, weaknesses, etc. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>You can find a lot of information on the department’s website: [Swarthmore</a> College :: Linguistics](<a href=“Linguistics :: Swarthmore College”>Linguistics :: Swarthmore College). </p>
<p>Generally I think the department is great, and is probably the best option if you want to major in linguistics and want to go to a small liberal arts college. </p>
<p>Department strengths:
-Nice course selection (core classes, Structure of Tuvan/ASL/Navajo, Field Methods, etc.)
-Flexible major: only 8 credits required for the course major and not many prerequisites. Lots of time to pursue other interests as well, or even double major.
-Excellent support and mentoring from faculty to do independent projects. </p>
<p>Department weaknesses:
-Small department. It’s just never going to have the depth and breadth of curriculum that larger schools might have.
-Mostly Chomskyan professors. You’ll be swimming upstream if you happen to subscribe to cognitive linguistics or another non-Chomskyan view.
-Not very much tracking/leveling of classes. The department has a very “flat” structure, meaning that as a ling major you’ll take classes in the order you want. This is a plus and a minus: it means you have a lot of freedom in scheduling, but it also means you need to take at least 4-5 classes that have no prerequisites & are the first Ling class for some others in the class.</p>
<p>thank you for your insight! this is very helpful</p>
<p>The Department also has some very interesting professors:</p>
<p>[K</a>. David Harrison](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._David_Harrison]K”>K. David Harrison - Wikipedia) has been called the “Indiana Jones” of linguistics, for his role in the documentary film, [The</a> Linguists](<a href=“http://www.thelinguists.com/]The”>http://www.thelinguists.com/).</p>
<p>[Donna</a> Jo Napoli](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Jo_Napoli]Donna”>Donna Jo Napoli - Wikipedia) is a very well-known author of childrens books.</p>
<p>I would say that Linguistics is one of Swarthmore’s signature departments.</p>
<p>the linguistics department is generally placed on a D/D+ curve. 0/10 would not recommend.</p>
<p>I’m really confused by this previous poster. I find that the Linguistics department here at Swat is amazing and has some of the most caring professors. DJ and K. David Harrison are awesome individuals who everyone should eventually take a class with.</p>