Spring 2022 Courses

Information from this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.

Instructor: Maria Lepowsky

Day(s) and Time: Wednesdays, 9:30 am -12:00 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Junior standing

Description: Survey of psychologically oriented approaches in cultural anthropology: ethnopsychiatry, the ethnography of emotion, conceptions of the self, cognitive development, and culturally defined deviance and mental illness.

This course is not on the electives list. Please talk to your advisor before enrolling.

Instructor: Weihua Zhu

Day(s) and Time: Thursdays, 3:30 – 6:00 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Junior standing

Description: Development and exchange of scholarly information on specific topics in the field of linguistics. It rotates between various topics about the Chinese language from contemporary perspectives. It may focus on phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, second language acquisition, or discourse analysis. The mastery of the knowledge learned in this course is essential for further study in Chinese linguistics.

This is a topics course so please be sure to talk to your advisor about the appropriacy of this topic.

Instructor: Naomi Geyer

Day(s) and Time: Thursdays, 3:30 – 6:00 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Graduate standing

Description: Pragmatics and Language Teaching

This course helps you understand key concepts of pragmatics and provides opportunities to discuss prominent issues in L1/L2 pragmatics. Topics include speech acts, pragmatic markers, facework, appropriateness and im/politeness, indexicality, metapragmatic discourse, and teaching of pragmatics. Empirical studies introduced in this course are not limited to works dealing with L1/L2 Japanese, and the principles, issues, and practical applications emphasized in this course apply to a wide range of language and language-teaching contexts.

This course is not on the electives list. Please talk to your advisor before enrolling.

Instructor: Dawnene Hassett

Day(s) and Time: Mondays, 4:30 – 7:00 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Graduate standing

Description: Examines current research on reading, writing and varieties of oral language from perspective of sociocognitive and sociocultural literacy studies. Explore various theories of school, community, and workplace literacy, different approaches to literacy pedagogy and curricula, assessment practices, and interventions for learners with various needs.

This is a topics course so please be sure to talk to your advisor about the appropriacy of this topic. Information from this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.

Instructor: Yj Kim

Day(s) and Time: Mondays, 1:30-4:00 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Graduate standing

Description: none provided

Instructor: Mariana Pacheco

Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays, 4:30-7:00 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: none

Description: This course focuses on the implementation of teaching and learning strategies in students’ home languages and in English, and explores different curriculum approaches that leverage and expand students’ linguistic repertoires. The class will focus on the sociocultural organization of home languages and English in bilingual classrooms and consider the effects of these practices on the development of bi/multilingualism, bi/multiliteracies, and content area knowledge for bilingual and ELL students.

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Instructor: none listed

Day(s) and Time: Mondays, 1:00-3:30 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Graduate standing

Description: An analysis of differing orientations to evaluation and research. Emphasis on assumptions, attitudes, and expectations of what constitutes scientific knowledge and explanation; relationship of research orientation, methods of inquiry, theory, and practice

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Instructor: Simone Schweber and Emily Machado

Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-2:15 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Graduate standing

Description: Provides an overview of qualitative inquiry, examining assumptions, standards, and methods for generating and communicating interpretations. Methodological and theoretical works illustrate case study, ethnography, narrative, and action research. Does not include a field method component.

This is a topics course so please be sure to talk to your advisor about the appropriacy of this topic.

Instructor: Erika Bullock

Day(s) and Time: Thursdays, 9:15 – 11:45 am

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Graduate standing

Description: The purpose of this course is for students to survey different theories that can be used in the study of race, racism, and racialization in education. We will read core literature from sociology, cultural anthropology, cultural studies, and other disciplines as well as applications of these theories in education research. In this course, students will learn about the differences between race, racism, and racialization. We will also examine different theories including, but not limited to, afropessimism, critical race theory, raciolinguistics, whiteness theory, and racial formation theory.

This course is not on the electives list. Please talk to your advisor before enrolling.

Instructor: Weijia Li

Day(s) and Time: Thursdays, 4:00-7:10 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Graduate standing

Description: This interdisciplinary graduate course connects the discussion on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) with the efforts of internationalization of higher education. Course participants will delve into inquiries on how promoting mobility in international education and advancing DEI in higher education can benefit and enhance each other. This course will primarily serve as a venue for course participants to develop knowledge and expertise in developing and implementing policies, programs, and strategies aiming at promoting international mobility in higher education in the lens of social justice; as well as striving for diversity, equity, and inclusion in an international, global context.

In terms of the format of class, we will be experimenting some innovative, democratic ways of teaching and learning, including less reading assignments overall, yet more “deeper” analysis and discussion. We will also incorporate many different genres of readings and writings rather than just academic works. Students will have opportunities to select readings and design course projects that best serve their own academic interest and needs.

Graduate students from all fields, especially in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, Educational Policy Studies, Curriculum and Instruction, International Studies, Foreign Languages, Public Affairs, and Communications etc. are welcome to enroll.

Key topics:

• Global divergence and clash of cultures
• Colonialism and global citizenship education
• Intersectionality and global mobility
• Politics of presentation
• How to educate international students about racism
• Diversity and inclusion in study abroad
• Land-grab universities and world university rankings
• Anti-racism and decolonization at home and abroad
• Inclusive teaching in a global context
• Culturally responsive practice and global engagement

For questions, please contact Prof. Weijia Li (wli255@wisc.edu).

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Instructor: Please check Course Search and Enroll.

Day(s) and Time:  Two sections, with lab, offered. Please check Course Search and Enroll.

Modality:  In-person

Prerequisite: none listed

Description: Analysis of variance and covariance, multiple linear regression; chi-square and various nonparametric techniques

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Instructor: Juliet Huynh

Day(s) and Time: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 9:55-10:45 am

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing

Description: Linguistic methods of analysis and description of English syntax and morphology

This course is not on the electives list. Please talk to your advisor before enrolling. Information from this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.

Instructor: Tom Purnell

Day(s) and Time: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 12:05-12:55 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing (This course is part of  English Language and Linguistics and is mix of graduate and undergraduate students.) 

Description: Relation of culture and genetics to formal properties of human language; consideration of American English dialects and language disorders. Topics include: biological basis of language disorders; racial affiliation and social identity; maintenance of social boundaries; politics of education, speech therapy.

This course is not on the electives list. Please talk to your advisor before enrolling.

Instructor: Jacee Cho

Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:30-3:45 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing (This course is part of  English Language and Linguistics and is mix of graduate and undergraduate students.) Students who have taken English 420 Universal Grammar and Child Language Acquisition prior to Spring 2020 may not enroll in this course.

Description: This course provides an introduction to the linguistic study of child language within the generative theory. According to this theory, humans are born with genetically determined linguistic knowledge called Universal Grammar, which guides children in learning language. Students will learn basic concepts of the generative theory and learn to apply them to the study of child language. Topics include universal linguistic principles that govern children’s acquisition of syntax and semantics and cross-linguistic influence in children acquiring more than one language from birth or early childhood. We will discuss empirical research studies testing the Universal Grammar theory of language acquisition.

*There is no required textbook. All reading materials will be available electronically on the course website.

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Instructor: Not provided

Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-2:15 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing (This course is part of  English Language and Linguistics and is mix of graduate and undergraduate students.) 

Description: Teaching of English to speakers of other languages. Exploration of the contexts in which English is taught, and methods and materials used to teach it.

This is a topics course so please be sure to talk to your advisor about the appropriacy of this topic. Information from this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.

Instructor: Juliet Huynh

Day(s) and Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:30-3:45 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing (This course is part of  English Language and Linguistics and is mix of graduate and undergraduate students.) 

Description: None provided

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Instructor: Anja Wanner

Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00 am -12:15 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: English 314 or graduate standing (This course is part of  English Language and Linguistics and is mix of graduate and undergraduate students.) 

Description: Syntactic theory as applied to the analysis of English sentences.

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Instructor: None listed

Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 -10:45 am

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: English 415 (This course is part of  English Language and Linguistics and is mix of graduate and undergraduate students.) 

Description: Supervised practice in the use of current techniques and materials in the teaching of English to speakers of other languages, including peer and community teaching with videotaped sessions.

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Instructor: Eileen Lagman

Day(s) and Time: Mondays, 9:00 -11:30 am

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Graduate standing

Description: Social, historical, and educational perspectives on literacy and literacy learning.

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Instructor: Tom Purnell

Day(s) and Time: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 9:55-10:45 am

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: English 315; Contact instructor (tcpurnell@wisc.edu) for permission to enroll

Description: Problems of English segmental and suprasegmental phonology, including morphophonemic alterations and stress assignment.

Instructor: Jacee Cho

Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00-9:15 am

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: English 318 Second Language Acquisition or equivalent

Description: This course continues the introduction to Second Language Acquisition (Eng 318) by focusing on a number of critical issues in SLA from linguistic (generative) and psycholinguistic perspectives. In this course we will discuss findings of recent research in SLA that address questions such as: (1) what is the role of Universal Grammar in L2 acquisition? (2) how does L2 knowledge develop over time? (3) how does abstract linguistic knowledge interact with other cognitive and psychological factors in real-time language performance (production & comprehension)? We will learn how to design various linguistic and psycholinguistic experiments, and you will carry out a research project to investigate second language acquisition within the generative or psycholinguistic theories.

There is no required textbook. All reading materials will be available on the course website.

Instructor: Monika Chavez

Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:00-5:15 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Graduate standing in a language-related field. This course will be taught in English. Course participants are invited to bring to bear expertise in their language of specialization but no knowledge of a language other than English is required. Some familiarity with SLA as a field would be helpful but is not necessary.

Description: I was among the first in my field (‘German’) in the United States who was able to complete an ‘applied linguistics’ degree within a language (rather than an education or linguistics) department. Already then, the various entanglements of Second Language Acquisition as a field within the academic landscape became apparent to me. Even the name of the field was (Applied Linguistics, Language Pedagogy, Second Language Acquisition?) – and continues to be (are ‘second’, ‘language’, and ‘acquisition’ even meaningful or acceptable concepts?) – contested. Looking back, I realize that much has changed – and much has stayed the same: In terms of how the field of Second Language Acquisition has – depending on context – emerged as independent, interdisciplinary, or very much dependent on the goodwill of others; what areas of academic territory are gladly shared, which contested, and which prohibited within certain academic contexts; how academics – who are not engaged in the field – interpret what Second Language Acquisition is, does, and ought (not) to do; how those who are in the field, have demanded, celebrated, and rejected various ‘turns’; how major research conferences have emerged and SLA-focused research journals have multiplied, all accompanied by growing methodological, theoretical, and philosophical divisions; how SLA has developed out of related yet by now very distinct fields such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, and education – to which SLA now entertains somewhat complex relationships; how the academic landscape remains indebted to traditions that are reluctant to make room for  ‘newcomers,’ even if they are close to half a century old; how the relationship between the teaching of culture & language on the one hand and SLA research on the other, has become characterized by contradictory and ambiguous attitudes that include affinity, inter-dependence, shared (real or perceived) suffering at the hands of other academic specializations, mild mutual disdain, and real or feigned ignorance of what each does, knows, and wants; and with what consequences matters of teaching as well as SLA theory, orthodoxy, and research agenda have become wedded to the dominant focus on the global language English.

Now that my faculty career is heading into its final stages, I would like to take stock together with those who are about to enter the profession. In this course, we will chart (not follow) the development/s of the field, its tenuous and firm footholds, its self- and other-perceptions, and the tangible and intangible dis/regard with which is held within academic structures. More than just an exercise motivated by curiosity, this course aims to enable participants to structure informed debates about the work that they do and would like to do; to envision and then articulate the full potential of the field; and to engage with colleagues inside and outside the field about areas of expertise and collaboration.

As part of course activities, we will read and discuss first-hand historic as well as contemporary accounts of researchers in SLA who share or insist on their perspectives of what the field is and is not and what activities, thoughts, or affiliations its adherents should or should not engage in. We will also analyze – through hands-on work – how and why specific research journals have emerged; how & why preferred research topics and methods have evolved within the same journal; how, why, and with effects ‘trends’ develop among research journals, conferences, dissertation topics; and how increasing demands on readers’ research literacy – largely not supported by a parallel change in graduate training –  has separated non-specialists (even those who teach language) from the work of SLA researchers.  We will also examine academic structures and their practical & ideological consequences for the field of SLA as well as those who work in it. Course participants will also engage in interviews and surveys to gauge diverse perspectives on and from within the field. Guest speakers will enhance the spectrum of opinions and experiences that we will be able to engage with. 

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Instructor:  Tom Purnell

Day(s) and Time: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 9:55-10:45 am

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: None listed.

Description: Theories of phonology, and advanced phonological description.

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Instructor:  Yafei Li

Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00 am – 12:15 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: None listed.

Description: Theories of syntax, and syntactic description. The relation of syntax to semantics, and other aspects of linguistic theory.

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Instructor:  Peter Vranas

Day(s) and Time: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 12:05-12:55 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: None listed.

Description: Selected topics in philosophical logic and in the various applications of logic to philosophical problems. Variable content.

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Instructor:  John Mackay

Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-10:45 am

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Junior standing. 

Description: The nature and function of language, theories of meaning, semantic and syntactic paradoxes, proper names, private languages, rules, and linguistic relativity.

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Instructor:  Simone Schweber

Day(s) and Time: Mondays, 4:30-7:30 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Junior standing. 

Description: Examination and analysis of conceptions of teaching and learning in classical philosophical works and in contemporary literature in the philosophy of education.

This course is not on the electives list. Please talk to your advisor before enrolling.

Instructor:  Gary Lupyan

Day(s) and Time: Thursdays, 9:00 -11:30 am

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Graduate standing; If you haven’t had any exposure to experimental psychology, there may be a steep learning curve.

Description: The seminar will focus on the question of what kinds of knowledge are we learning from our exposure to natural language. Consider two thought experiments: (1) Imagine if everything humans knew, they learned from personally doing things and from observing others do things. (2) Now imagine if the only source of information was language: we can talk to others, read, but not experience things for ourselves. The actual case is that people learn from their own experiences, from observing others, and also from language in its various forms. This brings us to the question: What aspects of semantic knowledge, if any, do we learn exclusively from language? Which semantic domains are especially impacted by our experiences with language? What kind of information is especially well-represented in language, and what kind if absent? Do some languages “teach” their speakers things that other languages don’t?

Answering these questions is important for at least three reasons:

1. There has been a tendency in cognitive science to study semantic knowledge by focusing predominantly on direct experiences from personal observations (i.e., assume the reality of the first thought experiment). Conversely, there has been a tendency in the machine-learning community to assume that meaning can come solely from experience with language (i.e., assume the reality of the second thought experiment). Reconciling these two perspectives can help us better understand how we actually know what we know.
2. To learn a language is to learn a set of skills. Among these skills is a mastery of a large set of categories that are picked out by the vocabulary of the language, e.g., learning the word “open” requires learning which set of events can be described by the word and which cannot. What are the cognitive consequences of requiring an entire speech community to learn the set of categories denoted by the core vocabulary of its language?
3. If knowing certain kinds of things requires learning them from language, then understanding differences in people’s knowledge requires that we look to differences in people’s linguistic experience. Do differences in linguistic experience translate to differences in semantic knowledge. How strong is this link?

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Instructor:  Chaeyoon Lim

Day(s) and Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:30-3:45 pm. There are two labs listed: Thursdays 9:55-11:50 am or 1:20-3:15 pm.

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: none listed.

Description: Presentation of sociological data; descriptive statistics; probability theory and statistical inference; estimation and tests of hypotheses; regression and correlation and the analysis of contingency tables.

This course is not on the electives list. Please talk to your advisor before enrolling. Also note, this course is listed in Course Search and Enroll as Soc 730: Intermediate Social Psychology, The Individual and Society.  However, it is really called Social Network Analysis.

Instructor: Fabien Accominotti

Day(s) and Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:30-3:45 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: Graduate standing

Description: This course focuses on data about connections, forming structures known as networks. Networks and network data describe an increasingly vast part of the modern world, through connections on social media, communications, financial transactions, and other ties. This course covers the fundamentals of network thinking, network tools, and the analysis and presentation of network data. Students will work directly with network data, and structure and analyze these data using R.

Social networks have always been at the center of human interaction, but especially with the explosive growth of the internet, network analysis has become increasingly central to all branches of the social sciences. How do people influence each other, bargain with each other, exchange information (or germs), or interact online? A diverse array of deep questions about social behavior can only be answered by examining the social networks encompassing and shifting around us. Network analysis has emerged as a cross-disciplinary science in its own right, and has in fact proven to be of even greater generality and broader applicability than just the social, extending to economics, history, public health, computer science, and other domains.

This course will examine key ideas in the development of social network analysis, and will develop the theory and methodological tools needed to describe and model networks in a wide range of social settings. The core of the course will comprise the essential tools of network analysis, from centrality, homophily, and community measurement, to random graphs and network formation. Alongside this we will read a series of substantive and foundational papers, shaped in part by the interests of the students and their various backgrounds. The course will also provide an introduction to network modeling and network visualization using R.

Instructor: Cathy Stafford

Day(s) and Time: (likely) Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:30-3:45 pm

Modality: In-person

Prerequisite: none

Description: Is the “self” composed of a constellation of stable traits, or is identity a more amorphous and negotiable construct? How do bi-/multilingual people navigate their identities through and across languages and cultures? And how does rejection or disparagement by others (i.e., other individuals, groups, or institutions) influence a bi-/multilingual self, particularly when that self is a user of a socially minoritized language? In this course we seek to answer these questions through critical examination of various scholars’ models, theories and research on identity in a range of contexts of bi-/multilingualism and second language acquisition. As a culminating project for the course, each student will have the opportunity to adopt/adapt one of the theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches we examine to propose or carry out their own research project.