Apr 16, 2026  
2024-2025 Undergraduate Academic Catalog-June 
    
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2024-2025 Undergraduate Academic Catalog-June [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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PSY 2010 - Understanding Human Language

3 lecture hours 0 lab hours 3 credits
Course Description
The course explores the multifaceted nature of human language and seeks to answer fundamental and intriguing questions of modern linguistics: How does language separate us from the animal world? Where does language live in the brain? How did language begin and what role did genes play in the origin of language? How did language contribute to the arrival of culture and society? Why do all languages contain swear words? What happens when a language dies? How are natural languages different from artificial languages? What role does language play in the design of human-machine interaction? Why does human language continue to withstand the challenge of artificial intelligence (AI)? The course also traces the journey of English from its meager beginnings to the status of the first global language. The course assumes no prior knowledge of linguistics and would be interesting to any student who is curious about how language works and how it makes us human. 
Prereq: None
Note: None
This course meets the following Raider Core CLO Requirement: Exhibit Curiosity
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  • Define the basic concepts and key ideas of modern linguistics
  • Apply linguistic theory to articulate how language provides insights into human evolution and nature
  • Recognize and articulate the role of language in our cognitive, social, and cultural experiences
  • Appreciate and explain the role of language in electronic communication, human-machine interaction, and AI
  • Describe the history and development of the English language
  • Examine a complex or open linguistic question and reflect on it from an informed linguistic perspective
Prerequisites by Topic
  • None
Course Topics
  • Human language vs. animal communication systems
  • Language and the brain
  • Language acquisition, bilingualism, and multilingualism
  • Sign language
  • Language origin and human evolution
  • Origin and history of English
  • Language and gender
  • Language, culture, and cognition
  • Nasty words (language of swearing)
  • Human languages vs. artificial languages
  • Language in voice and conversation design
  • Language and AI
Coordinator
Dr. Nadya Shalamova


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