- Multilingual America

Catalog description

An interdisciplinary exploration of language as a dimension of community, identity, and power in the United States. Explores the history of English and linguistic diversity in the U.S., with particular emphasis on contemporary multilingual communities. Draws on applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, and raciolinguistics to interpret contemporary representations of multilingual and multicultural American experiences created by people within the communities represented, considering the interplay of language with race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, regional identity, etc. Students will conduct ethnographic interviews to better understand the intersections of language, identity, and power in their own communities. The significance of English and of multilingualism in the globalized economy will also be discussed. The course will culminate with students using what they have learned to create a published review of a film or TV show, sharing with a broad public their critical reflections on the politics of how language is represented in contemporary American media.