Faculty First Year Seminars 197ENG6 - The Linguistic Landscape of UM

Linguistic Landscape is an area of study in sociolinguistics that examines the language of building signs, graffiti, billboards, sidewalk chalk, and public advertising in city streetscapes, downtowns, and, in the case of this seminar, on college campuses. Languages are on display all over campus, although they often go unnoticed until they offend or incite (for example, with racist graffiti). This seminar explores the linguistic landscape of UMass Amherst, asking not just what languages are visible on campus, but what visible languages do or mean to the campus community. Throughout the seminar we will keep the following questions in mind and revisit them in discussion:
? Who displays which languages, dialects, and accents where on campus? To what effect?
? How do UMass students, instructors, and staff use the linguistic landscape to impress, disturb, make changes, or cause problems?
? What does the linguistic landscape of campus say about UMass Amherst itself?

Freshmen Only