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About the course:  
Borders, politics, social movements, science, love, technology, violence, comedy… What’s language got to do with it? And how can language help us better understand our social worlds?

This class is about the central role of language and communication in social life. To study the complex relationship between language and social life, we will develop a nuanced and critical understanding of how language works as a social practice by surveying different approaches developed by linguistic anthropology. Instead of assuming what language is, we will ask ourselves: What is language? In what ways do we use it? Why does language matter? Over the course of the semester, we will cover a variety of political, social, and historical issues and topics to help us explore the nature and function of language in social life.

Course objectives:
Our goal will be to acquire the fundamental tools to think anthropologically about the relations between language, culture, and society at various scales – from the individual level of everyday interactions to broader and larger contexts of social life at the local, national, or global levels. In addition, we will explore how the frameworks we learn in the classroom challenge our own assumptions or misconceptions about language. We will reimagine our relations to language in our everyday life, and think more critically about how language can be studied as a varied, heterogeneous, and multifunctional process. To that end, we will explore different types of languages and linguistic practices, and we will work on developing reading, writing, and critical thinking skills across different genres, perspectives, and disciplines that intersect in linguistic anthropology. We will identify key concepts and methods of linguistic anthropology and learn to critically analyze data, evidence, and arguments.

This course’s objectives satisfy the College’s Pathways College Option – Language QNSLANG  or the flexible core are of Individual and Society:

Language:

• Address how, in the discipline (or disciplines) of the course, data and evidence are construed and knowledge is acquired; that is, how questions are asked and answered.
• Position the discipline(s) in the liberal arts curriculum and the larger society.
• Understand and use the concepts and methods of a discipline or interdisciplinary field.
• Gather, interpret, and assess information from various sources, and evaluate arguments critically.
• Solve problems, support conclusions, or defend insights.
• Differentiate types of language and appreciate their structures.
• Appreciate what is lost or gained in translations among languages.
• Relate language, thought, and culture.
• Understand the processes involved in learning languages.

Individual and Society (IS): 

• Identify and apply the fundamental concepts and methods of a discipline or interdisciplinary field exploring the relationship between the individual and society, including, but not limited to, anthropology, communications, cultural studies, history, journalism, philosophy, political science, psychology, public affairs, religion, and sociology.
• Examine how an individual’s place in society affects experiences, values, or choices.
• Articulate and assess ethical views and their underlying premises.
• Articulate ethical uses of data and other information resources to respond to problems and questions.
• Identify and engage with local, national, or global trends or ideologies, and analyze their impact on individual or collective decision-making.

Course format and materials:
You will not need to purchase any material. All resources and materials are available through our course website and your college library. Please use the link in the syllabus and on our website to consult the resources. Our website is accessible here: https://linganth104.commons.gc.cuny.edu/ 

Class requirements and grading (assignments and assessments):
Learning journal (20%)
Participation (20%)
Discussion activities (about 20 activities = 20%)
3 unit response papers (10% each x3 = 30%)
1 final (15%)
1 meeting during office hours (5%)
TOTAL: 110%

Learning journal (20%): Using padlet, you will progressively fill a learning journal to reflect on each text or material discussed in class. There should be an entry for each class session, but you can complete your entry before, during, or after class. Think of the learning journal as a tool to help you understand and react to the course content, to reflect on where you are in the course, and to use the course content to think about things that you observe outside and beyond the course. You can refer to the handout that will be posted on the website to find some guiding questions to help write your journal entries. Your journal will be evaluated at the end of each unit. 

Participation (20%): Your participation in class is essential to its success, both for yourself and your classmates. It is therefore essential that you attend every class, that you arrive on time, and that you stay for the duration of the entire class. Come to class ready to listen and to talk. Be mindful of how you apportion your time and energy between them. 

Discussion activities (20%): In almost every class, we will complete individual or group activities to work on the course content. You will be randomly assigned to a group in the first class and will work together for the rest of the semester. Sometimes the discussion activities will require that you prepare for them in advance at home, or that you submit them after class (for example: you will be asked to share a media with the rest of your group before class for one of the activity). The activities will be posted on padlet and answers must be posted on the same day by 11:59 pm.

Unit response papers (30%): Unit response papers are take-home assignments and will be answering a prompt that will be posted on the course website. The papers will be due on March 9, April 14, and May 11. Each paper will help evaluate your understanding of the corresponding unit and train your reading and writing skills. The in-class discussion activities and the learning journal explained above are designed to help you review the unit before writing these papers. To increase your grade, you have the option to re-write your response papers at any point in the semester before May 15, provided that the re-write demonstrates that you engage with the feedback received on the original paper.

Final (15%): The final exam combines multiple-choice questions and short answers. The date and time will be determined later in the semester. 

Meeting during office hours (5%): At least once during the semester, please make an appointment with me through email. This is just a way for us to get to know each other better, with nothing required except showing up ready to talk! 

Course policies & services
Incompletes, extensions, and late work:
If you cannot complete a paper on time, please contact me ahead of time to request an extension. I will not grant after-the-fact requests for extensions. I will grade work submitted late, but I will not provide detailed comments. And because things happen, you have one virtual late pass that allows you to complete one of the unit response papers within one week after the deadline. Otherwise, late assignments will drop one-third of a letter grade per day (i.e., an “A” will receive an “A-” on the first day after the deadline; after two days, a “B+”; after three, a “B”; and so on).

Class attendance and tardiness: Class attendance is mandatory and active participation is a part of your grade. After 5 unjustified absences, your grade will be adversely affected. Latecomers will be marked absent if they are more than 15 minutes late, and three tardies is equal to 1 absence. If you are having difficulty attending class because of a COVID-19-related issue, please let me know immediately

Academic grading: 
You are guaranteed a passing grade in this course if you submit all assignments, participate accordingly (provided that absences as reasonably justified), and complete all the activities. For a breakdown and definition of grades, please refer to: https://www.qc.cuny.edu/aac/academic-and-grading-policies/

Academic dishonesty, plagiarism or cheating:
Academic Dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. This prohibition includes AI-generated assignments. You can consult the policy at: https://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/legal-affairs/policies-procedures/academic-integrity-policy/

Covid policy, reporting, and testing: 
If you get sick at any time during the semester, please email me to let me know. Illness is considered a university-excused absence, and you will not incur penalties if you get sick. You do not need to provide personal details, but you are required to inform me if you are missing a class. You are also expected to plan how to make up for your absence by reaching out to your peers and me.

If a positive result is found, please report your exposure to the Campus Coronavirus Coordinator using this form (https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=s_BgbwZfCU6XFZiduozH2KHkFXOsVs5Mmpwk8WUtYDtURTlQUjdJQTNQUjZXNjVJNThKSEdFRzNGUy4u). You must be logged into your Microsoft 365 account to access the form. If you have an issue accessing the form please email William.graffeo@qc.cuny.edu or Parmanand.Panday@qc.cuny.edu.

We will meet remotely via Zoom if a significant portion of the class needs to quarantine. Due to the uncertainties surrounding COVID, you are responsible for checking your emails regularly and to stay informed in case we need to switch to a remote option for our class meetings. 

Student wellness:
As a student, you may experience a range of challenges that can interfere with learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, substance use, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may diminish your academic performance and/or reduce your ability to participate in daily activities. QC services are available free of charge. You can learn more about confidential mental health services available on campus at: https://www.qc.cuny.edu/cs/

Accommodations for students with disabilities
If you have a disability and require accommodations, please contact the Special Services Office, Frese Hall, Room 111 (http://www.qc.cuny.edu/studentlife/services/specialserv). Once you have an accommodations letter from the Special Services office, I encourage you to discuss your accommodations and needs with me as early in the semester as possible. I will work with you to ensure that accommodations are provided as appropriate. For more information about services available to Queens College students, email: QC.SPSV@qc.cuny.edu​]

Technical support
If you require technical help with your Queens College email, Blackboard, or CUNYfirst account, please contact the Queens College helpdesk (https://www.qc.cuny.edu/Computing/helpdesk/Pages/Welcome.aspx) located in the I-Building, Room 151 – (718) 997-4444. Email: support@qc.cuny.edu

Course evaluations
During the final four weeks of the semester, you will be asked to complete an evaluation for this course by filling out an online questionnaire. Please remember to participate in these course evaluations. Your comments are highly valued, and these evaluations are an important service to fellow students and to the institution, since your responses will be pooled with those of other students and made available online on the Center for Teaching and Learning’s Course Evaluations site (http://ctl.qc.cuny.edu/evaluations/data/). Please also note that all responses are completely anonymous; no identifying information is retained once the evaluation has been submitted.