The minor in Linguistics at Rhodes, as it trains students to examine language as a vehicle for cognition, expression, and transmission of knowledge, has two components. First, it offers students a grounding in contemporary linguistic theory and its constituent domains of phonology (sound structure), morphology (word structure), syntax (phrase and sentence structure), semantics (the structure of meaning), and pragmatics (meaning in context). Second, the interdisciplinary nature of linguistics, enables students to synthesize multiple disciplines in the study of language and bring that synthesis to bear on other disciplines, such as anthropology, cognitive science, computer science, neuroscience, education (including bilingual education and ESL), languages and literatures, philosophy, psychology, sociology, area studies and women/ethnic/gender studies.
The minor in linguistics will allow students to complement various related majors with interdisciplinary courses of study that explore important parts of human experience -- language and cognition -- in a fuller and more nuanced way.