Both undergraduate and graduate students in Language Sciences participate in the LSO, our student organization. The LSO provides important professional development experience for our students, as they engage in activities such as serving as official representatives on faculty committees, and planning and hosting an internationally attended academic conference. The LSO also helps build a community of shared interest on campus, and is a great way for our students to connect and learn from each other.
Mission of the LSO
The Linguistics Student Organization (LSO) takes as its main goals the representation of the student body to the faculty, and the promotion of scholarship, comradery, and peer support among the students.
Through organizing student representation on faculty committees, the LSO strives to maintain the highest level of participation possible by students in the immediate governance of, and policy development for, Language Sciences at UW-Madison. The LSO also works to plan and finance both academic and social events, such as an annual student conference, picnics, game nights, study sessions, information panels, and publication of working papers. A third major objective is to receive feedback from students and take action on their behalf if necessary; and, more formally, to provide an official voice through which the opinions of the student body may be expressed.
Membership
Undergraduate students enrolled at UW-Madison who have declared a Linguistics major, and graduate students who are in the Linguistics Ph.D. program are automatically members of the LSO. Any other UW students with an interest in linguistics are invited and welcome to join — simply submit a written request to one of the current co-presidents.
Meetings
Every LSO meeting is announced ahead of time, usually via e-mail to all members, and is open to anyone. Any member can place an item on the agenda by contacting a co-president prior to the meeting, or an issue can be brought up spontaneously at a meeting. If a student would like to express an opinion on an issue but is not able to attend that meeting, it is possible to send an email to a co-president, who will read the letter in front of those present.
Contact the undergraduate advisor for current co-president contact information, or to find out more about joining the LSO.