Linguistics Honors Program

Honors program

The Honors Program in Linguistics requires 14 courses in all, to be completed with a GPA of at least 3.7.

The honors program shares the following 9 course requirements with the current major in Linguistics.

Four core courses

Linguistic analysis of a specific language

Foreign language requirement

  • Four foreign language courses at or above the 3rd semester level, including at least two different languages

The honors track for Linguistics involves the following differences from the current major.

The Linguistics major otherwise requires two additional electives chosen from a wider range of courses.

Two additional Linguistics courses

The Linguistics major otherwise requires one additional related course, from an even wider set of options.

Three courses at an advanced level, from:

  • CAS LX 503 Semantics II

  • CAS LX 504 Topics in Pragmatics

  • CAS LX 513 Phonology

  • CAS LX 523 Syntax II

  • CAS LX 525 Prosody

  • Other courses chosen in consultation with the student's academic advisor (from courses having a prerequisite of some linguistics course above the level of CAS LX 250).

Thus honors students will take a total of 14 courses (rather than the 12 required now for the major), including at least three advanced courses (among those listed above).

Application to the Honors program

A student may apply to the honors program no sooner than the end of sophomore year and no later than the beginning of the spring semester of junior year. For admission into the program, students must have completed at least three of the four core courses listed in (1). Qualifications for admission into the honors program include a GPA of least 3.7 in all CAS courses—and specifically in the set of CAS LX courses—that the student has taken as of the time of application.

Application forms should be submitted to room 120, 621 Commonwealth Ave.

Application form

Upcoming deadlines

  • For application into the Honors Program for Fall 2013 (your expected graduation date should be between January 2015 and September 2015), your application should be submitted between April 25, 2013 and September 10, 2013.

  • For application into the Honors Program for Spring 2014 (your expected graduation date should be between May 2015 and January 2016), your application should be submitted between December 1, 2012 and January 20, 2014.

Co-curricular Activities

Meetings of Linguistics honors students (and honor students in joint majors including Linguistics) will take place at least several times each semester. Activities may include colloquia as well as presentations, question-and-answer sessions, and panel discussions with BU faculty. In addition, we will maintain an email list of honors students, and we will inform them of other Linguistics events (both at BU and in the Boston area) that may be of interest.

Printable Brochure

A printable version of the description of the Honors Program is available.