Humanities and Fine Arts 191HFA34 - FYS- Accents,Dialects,Attitude

What does it mean to have an accent or speak a dialect? In this course, we will examine major dialects of English spoken in the United States and discuss how they relate to geography, age, gender, and race. We will interrogate our own perceptions of who "has an accent" and think critically about the social attitudes surrounding speech. Students will learn how to discover features of their own dialect and conduct informed discussion on dialect variation here at UMass and elsewhere.

Open to first-year Humanities and Fine Arts Exploratory Track students and first-year HFA Majors.