Undergraduate Program

College of Arts and Sciences and Department of Linguistics Undergraduate Admission Requirements

A minimum of 26 credit hours; 23 credit hours must be in courses acceptable toward graduation.

A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.00 on all work.

Transfer students must have a 2.00 transfer GPA.
Continuing UNM students must have a 2.00 institutional GPA.

Demonstrated academic achievement by satisfying the following:

Completion of General Education Curriculum: Communication.
Completion of General Education Curriculum: Mathematics and Statistics.
Completion of General Education Curriculum: Second Language.

Completion of Department of Linguistics major admission course work with grade(s) of "C" or better:

Linguistics: LING 301.
Signed Language Interpreting: Admission to the College of Arts and Sciences and the Signed Language Interpreting Program is not automatic. Majors must formally apply with the program to gain admission. Contact the Program Director at sign@unm.edu for more information.
Languages: MLNG 1110; 6 credit hours of introductory (100-level) language study from one of these languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Greek, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish.

Degrees Offered

Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics (B.A.)
Bachelor of Science in Signed Language Interpreting (B.S.)
Bachelor of Arts in Languages (B.A.)

Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program

The Department of Linguistics offers a Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program. The program enables completion of the B.A. in Linguistics and the Master of Arts (M.A.) in Linguistics in a shorter timeframe than it would take to complete both degrees separately. Students completing an undergraduate minor in Linguistics may also seek admission to the program. See the "Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program" section of this page for specific admission information and requirements.

Major Study Requirements

Linguistics

The B.A. major in Linguistics requires a minimum of 33 credit hours numbered above 200 (24 in required courses, 9 in approved electives) and four semesters of a second language or the equivalent. Required courses are: LING 301, (302 or 303), 304, 322, 331, 367, (412 or 446), (425 or 429). The 9 credit hours in approved electives may be selected from courses in linguistics or from courses in other departments approved by the department advisor.

Signed Language Interpreting

The B.S. major in Signed Language Interpreting requires the following courses: LING 2110; SIGN 2125, 2130, 2150, 2210, 2220, *310, *352, *360, 411, 412, 418, 419. Students majoring in Signed Language Interpreting must be approved by the Signed Language Interpreting program.

Languages

An interdisciplinary B.A. major in Languages is offered through the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures in conjunction with the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The Department of Linguistics makes available several courses that qualify for this major. See the Foreign Languages and Literatures: Languages section of this Catalog. Consult with the advisor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program

Juniors or seniors majoring or minoring in Linguistics may seek admission to the Master of Arts (M.A.) in Linguistics under the Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program. It is recommended that students seek admission to this program during their junior year. In order to apply to the program, the student follows the departmental graduate application and admission procedure and deadlines as described in the Linguistics: Graduate Program section of this Catalog. Students are provisionally admitted to the program, provided their B.A. program is successfully completed. The time-to-degree for completion of the M.A. in Linguistics is calculated beginning with the student’s senior year.

Admission Requirements

Be a declared undergraduate major or minor in the Department of Linguistics.
Have an overall UNM GPA of 3.5 or better.
Have a departmental GPA of 3.5 or better.
Applicants must complete at least 9 credit hours of the M.A. in Linguistics admission coursework.
Have the approval of both the departmental Undergraduate and Graduate Directors.

Program Requirements

For shared-credit coursework to count toward the M.A. degree, the student must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA in courses taken for graduate credit after admission to the program.

18 credit hours of graduate coursework are required for students completing the B.A. in Linguistics. Students completing the undergraduate minor in Linguistics must complete 9 credit hours of graduate coursework in place of the electives required for the minor. The prescribed graduate coursework is as follows:

LING 512, 525, 529, 531, 546, 567.

Note that students who have taken the undergraduate component of a double-numbered undergraduate/graduate course may not use the undergraduate course to fulfill a requirement for the M.A. in Linguistics, nor may that student apply credit from the graduate component of that course. These students must instead take a graduate-level course from the same sub-area to fulfill the M.A. course requirement. The student should consult the Graduate Advisor prior to registering for any graduate courses.

With appropriate departmental approval, a student may apply up to 18 credit hours of 500-level linguistics courses to an undergraduate Linguistics major or minor and, upon formal acceptance to the M.A. program, also apply those credit hours to the student’s approved graduate program of studies.

Additional Information

For students admitted to the program who decide they do not wish to complete the M.A., or are withdrawn by the department, the credit hours of the approved 500-level courses will apply toward the student’s undergraduate degree provided the student earned a grade of "C" or better in those courses. Refer to the Linguistics: Graduate Program section of this Catalog for graduate program and course information.

Minor Study Requirements

Linguistics

The minor in Linguistics requires 21 credit hours of courses numbered 200 or above: 12 credit hours of required linguistics courses: LING 301, (302 or 303), 304, 322; and 9 credit hours of electives. The electives may be selected from courses in linguistics or from courses in other departments which have been approved by the Department Advisor.

Navajo Language and Linguistics

The minor in Navajo Language and Linguistics requires 18 credit hours of required Navajo language and linguistics courses at or above the 200 level, including NAVA 2110, 2120; NVJO 311, 312, 401. Native speakers must take NVJO 206 and NVJO 315 in lieu of NAVA 2110 and NAVA 2120. Three additional credit hours must be selected from the following courses in Linguistics: LING 331, 359, *401, *402, 415 or from approved electives from the Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies or Native American Studies departments.

Major or Minor in the College of Education and Human Sciences

For the major, composite major or minor in language arts, bilingual education, and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), see the Teacher Education, Educational Leadership and Policy: Undergraduate Program section of this Catalog.

Departmental Honors

A student seeking departmental honors in the Department of Linguistics (for majors in either Linguistics or Signed Language Interpreting) should identify a research project during the junior year in consultation with an appropriate professor and should submit a proposal in the form of a letter to the department Chairperson.

If the proposal is approved by the department Chairperson, the student should enroll in LING 498 the first semester of the senior year and LING 499 the second semester of the senior year. These 6 credit hours of honors work are in addition to the minimum number of credit hours required for the major.

Keys and Symbols Reference