Pilot ASL program to be offered in Spring 2018
Yale will offer two undergraduate courses next semester in American Sign Language — the first to be offered for course credit.
In the Media
Media articles that report on achievements or publications from our faculty and staff, as well as media articles written by departmentmental members.
Signs of change
The Yale Herald reports on a recent comedy show at Yale by D.J. Demers. Demers is hard of hearing and incorporates jokes about his experiences growing up and wearing hearing aids. On his website, Demers describes the tour as “a cross-country road trip to shatter stigmas and raise awareness about hearing loss through the power of laughter.” Disability Empowerment for Yale (DEFY), founded in 2016, helped bring Demers to Yale’s campus as part of a larger move to give more visibility for Yale’s disabled community.
Sign of the times
Noah Macey (Linguistics ‘09) reports on a new pilot American Sign Language (ASL) program at Yale, with courses taught by Jessica Tanner. The pilot program begins in the spring, when the university will offer two ASL classes through the Linguistics Department, which petitioned the Language Study Committee last spring for the course’s approval.
Claire Bowern publishes an editorial on the origins of Pama-Nyungan
Claire Bowern adds an article on the origins of Pama-Nyungan to The Conversation.
Claire Bowern creates a TedEd talk about the origins of the English language
A lesson by Claire Bowern on the basics of historical linguistics and the origins of the English language has been turned into a TedEd animation. Watch and listen to the animation to see English has evolved through generations of speakers. (Director: Patrick Smith; Narrator: Addison Anderson.)
Katie Martin (Yale '18) publishes an article on linguistic prejudice in Slate
Katie Martin (Yale ‘18) published a Slate article called “How ‘Sounding White’ Helps Get You Ahead—on Film and in Real Life”. The piece is about linguistic prejudice and also talks a little bit about the Yale Grammatical Diversity Project, which Katie contributed to.
Emily Finn (Yale 2009) publishes a NYTimes article
Emily Finn (Yale ‘09) published a NYTimes article called “How I learned to stop worrying and love linguistics”.
Claire Bowern on RadioLab
Historical Linguist Claire Bowern was one of the contributing experts on WNYC’s postcast RadioLab, in their “Asking for a Friend” segment. She, along with Wilbur Cross Medalist and Yale Alum Sally Thomason, answered questions about how far back in time one can go to find a word that is unchanged, that would be understandable to people far in the past.
Graduate Program Webinar Held
Yale’s Linguistics Department, in conjunction with Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Office of Student Development and Diversity (OGSDD) hosted a free webinar for prospective graduate students. Students and faculty from the department discussed the admissions process, life in the department, research opportunities, and living in New Haven. The webinar was recorded and is now available for later viewing here.
Claire Bowern receives Graduate Mentor Award
The award “honors faculty members at Convocation for their exemplary qualities as mentors.”
Stephanie Fielding featured in YaleNews
As a Presidential Visiting Fellow, Stephanie has spent the past year at Yale teaching the Mohegan language and raising interest in language revitalization.
Sign language courses in full swing
The ASL pilot program proves to be a resounding success as all spots in Jessica Tanner’s introductory-level course are filled.
Stephanie Fielding interviewed on WNPR
Incoming Lecturer Stephanie Fielding discussed the extinction and rebirth of the Mohegan language in an interview with Connecticut Public Radio.
Grammar Boot Camp featured in YaleNews
Language diversity research featured in The Conversation
Joint work by Professor Claire Bowern on the geographical distribution of Australian languages was featured in The Conversation.
Claire Bowern speaks at Tilde Cafe
Professor Claire Bowern spoke to science enthusiasts at the Tilde Cafe about the historical study of language.
YGDP inspires Tom McCoy's latest New York Times crossword puzzle
The crossword puzzle that appears in today’s New York Times is the creation of senior linguistics major Tom McCoy, a member of the Yale Grammatical Diversity Project.
Kevin Tang co-authors article in the International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders
Hannah Haynie and Claire Bowern publish article in PNAS
Their paper, ”Phylogenetic approach to the evolution of color term systems,” was also featured in this week’s YaleNews.
Claire Bowern's research featured in Nature and Science
She is one of several authors on an article in Nature about the genomic history of Aboriginal Australia, and her contributions to that paper were profiled in Science.
Steve Anderson gives public lecture at University of Geneva
Earlier this month Professor Steve Anderson gave a public lecture titled “The Place of Human Language in the Animal World“ to inaugurate the new “Language and Communication” Research Network at the University of Geneva.
Yale Grammatical Diversity Project featured in Boston Globe, Columbus Dispatch, and Slate
YGDP was featured in articles in the Boston Globe, the Columbus Dispatch, and on Slate’s Lexicon Valley blog.
Raffaella Zanuttini publishes op-ed on language change
The article discusses language change as something that should be celebrated rather than feared.
Jason Zentz featured in GSAS newsletter
The profile focuses on Jason’s work on wh-questions in Bantu languages.
Raffaella Zanuttini and Claire Bowern publish op-eds on language prejudice, research funding, multilingualism
Professor Raffaella Zanuttini and Associate Professor Claire Bowern have recently written op-ed articles for a number of media outlets.
Interview with Claire Bowern featured in LSA Member Spotlight
The LSA Member Spotlight highlights the interests and accomplishments of Claire Bowern.
Australian media coverage features Andy Zhang and Yale Linguistics
ABC Goldfields runs a story on Andy Zhang’s fieldwork on Tjupan, an extension of his work in the Yale Linguistics Grammar Group.
Yale Grammatical Diversity Project featured in Yale Alumni Magazine cover story
Positive anymore, drama so, needs washed, multiple modals, and negative concord are among the phenomena highlighted.
Why Major in Linguistics?
Yale’s Office of Public Affairs and Communications has recently produced a video on our linguistics major. Thanks to Julia Myers ’12 and the class of 2013!
Grammatical Diversity on National Grammar Day
Yale Grammatical Diversity Project gets recognition on National Grammar Day.
