College of Letters & Science
The schedule is out for our Linguistics Fridays series for the Fall! Come join us (almost) every Friday at 3:30 in 155 Van Hise* for colloquium talks and reading group discussions on various talks. Students of any level and faculty from any unit are welcome. Come hear about the latest research in linguistics at UW–Madison …
WisconsinLife.org produced a wonderful video about “Mill Talk” – the sign language that is used for communication among workers in the Menominee Reservation sawmill. As the video explains, this sign language is not based on either spoken language of the community (English or Menominee), but is a separate system that developed independently, and can be …
Professor Monica Macaulay has been elected as a Fellow of the Linguistic Society of America for 2020. This is an honor that recognizes distinguished contributions to the field of linguistics, including scholarly excellence, and service to the society and to speech communities. Eight other linguists were also honored this award cycle – LSA Fellows 2020. …
The article “The Shift from Finnish to English in Northern Wisconsin” describes the history of Finnish immigration and language use in our state. The article appeared on the Wisconsin Englishes Project website and was written by Scandinavian Studies graduate student Mirva Johnson.
Hoocąk (sometimes spelled Ho-Chunk) language classes will continue at UW–Madison’s American Indian Student and Cultural Center this Fall. These are non-credit classes that are open to both students and community members. Hoocąk is a Siouan language that has been spoken in Wisconsin since long before European settlers arrived. Anyone with an interest in learning more …
Professor Mark Seidenberg was invited to give the keynote address at the Science of Reading symposium at MIT on June 4, 2019.
UW–Madison linguist Cathy Stafford (Spanish, Second Language Acquisition) spoke about Heritage Languages in Wisconsin on the Morning Show with Wisconsin Public Radio. Listen to the full interview here: Heritage Languages in Wisconsin – Interview with Cathy Stafford
Recent Linguistics Ph.D. graduate Andrea Cudworth was one of several UW–Madison students who worked on a project to create a digital inventory of existing Ho-Chunk language resources. The resulting catalogue has helped connect teachers and learners of Ho-Chunk to helpful language learning materials. Read more about this project from Andrea in her feature article on …
Professor Valentine contributed to a Wisconsin Public Radio story on the Algonquian origins of the name of our state. The story is available to read or to listen to at the wpr website.
Members of the class of 2019 gathered at the top of Van Hise Hall to celebrate the completion of their degrees. In addition to the large ceremony at Camp Randall, Language Sciences hosts a small gathering each year for our graduates and their family and friends, where students receive their diploma cover from the Language …