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About the Department

The Northwestern Linguistics Department was founded in 1965 through the efforts of an interdisciplinary committee that included representatives of African Studies, Anthropology, German, Industrial Engineering, Psychology, and Spanish. Since its inception, it has emphasized an integrated approach to both cognitive and social aspects of language. Likewise, it has a long tradition of integrating formal analysis with innovative empirical investigations. The department now offers an undergraduate major, an M.A. degree, and a Ph.D. degree. Its distinctive strengths include laboratory phonology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and psycholinguistics. Active cooperation with many other departments provides students with a broad range of interdisciplinary opportunities in speech science, cognitive science, and complex systems.