Paul Hagstrom

Associate Professor of Linguistics
Director of Undergraduate Studies
 Paul Hagstrom
Email: hagstrom@bu.edu
Web: http://ling.bu.edu/people/hagstrom
Web: http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/UG/hagstrom/
Office phone: 617-353-6220
Fax: 617-358-4641
Office number: Linguistics 105
Office address: Linguistics Program, 621 Commonwealth Ave.
Boston, MA 02215
Office hours: Spring 2017: M12-1, T5-6, R12:30-1:30; or by appointment

BA, Physics and Mathematics, Carleton College
PhD, Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Professor Hagstrom's research interests are in syntax, semantics, and language acquisition.

Courses

Fall 2017
Course number Course title Section Instructor Days Time Room

CAS LX 321

Syntax: Introduction to Sentential Structure

 A1 Hagstrom TR 12:30-1:45 CAS 204A
Introduction to syntax as an object of inquiry. Students build an increasingly sophisticated model of syntactic knowledge to account for data from English and other languages, constructing and evaluating alternative hypotheses about how sentence structure works. [Prereq: CAS LX 250 Introduction to Linguistics or consent of instructor.]
[Meets with GRS LX 621; Previously offered as CAS LX 522 "Syntax I"]
  • Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.

CAS LX 390

Topics in Linguistics: Natural Language Processing and Computational Linguistics

A1 Hagstrom T 3:30-6:15 CAS 327
Introduction to computational techniques to explore linguistic models and test empirical claims. Serves as an introduction to programming, algorithms, and data structures, focused on modern applications to NLP. Topics include tagging and classification, parsing models, meaning representation, and information extraction. [Prereq: CAS LX 250 or consent of instructor]
[Meets with GRS LX 690; Previously offered as CAS LX 500 "Topics in Linguistics"]

Spring 2018 (tentative)
Course number Course title Section Instructor Days Time Room

CAS LX 422

Intermediate Syntax: Modeling Syntactic Knowledge

 A1 Hagstrom MWF 1:25-2:15 TBA
Using linguistic data drawn from a wide variety of languages, students develop a precise model of syntactic knowledge through evaluation of hypotheses and arguments. Exploration of major discoveries and phenomena from the linguistic literature. [Prereq: CAS LX 321/ GRS LX 621 Syntax: Introduction to Sentential Structure (or CAS LX 522) or consent of instructor]
[Meets with GRS LX 722]

CAS LX 454

Acquisition of Syntax

 A1 Hagstrom MWF 11:15-12:05 TBA
Exploration of the character and course of acquisition of syntactic knowledge in both first and second language contexts. Covers methodological principles for conducting studies and analyzing data, and topics such as development of verb movement, binding theory, and tense. [Prereq: CAS LX 321/ GRS LX 621 Syntax: Introduction to Sentential Structure (or CAS LX 522) or consent of instructor]
[Meets with GRS LX 754; Previously offered as CAS LX 540 "Acquisition of Syntax"]