Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics - Cognitive Science (Interdisciplinary)

Cognitive Science is a field that, ultimately, studies all aspects of the human mind: cognition and reasoning, acquisition and learning, perception, emotion, interaction, and more. Given this vast scope, Cognitive Science brings together assumptions, concepts, and methods from a large number of independently established disciplines, including anthropology, computer science, artificial intelligence, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, (neuro)biology, and neuroscience. Over the past decades, it has become more and more obvious that language can only be fully understood by taking into account humans' cognitive skills and processing. Everything we do with language ultimately passes through the mind at some point of time, as when we acquire our first language, learn a second language, access new referents from long-term memory or given referents from working memory, decide unconsciously to use one syntactic structure over another, or experience language impairments as a result of brain lesions or strokes. For all these and many other linguistic phenomena, an understanding of cognitive processes is often indispensable. The study of Cognitive Science offers exciting opportunities to deepen our understanding of language within the broader question of what it is that makes us human.

Students entering the program have typically completed a linguistics B.A. or the equivalent of a linguistics minor with a major in a related area, such as anthropology, psychology, or language, with a minimum grade-point average of 3.5

Students who do not already have a master’s degree should apply to the M.A./Ph.D. program; those with an M.A. degree should apply directly to the Ph.D. program.

TOEFL scores 550 Paper-Based Test (PBT), 80 Internet-Based Test (IBT) or IELTS (International English Language Testing System) Overall Band score of 7 or higher (only required if English is not the applicant's native language).

Deadline - Fall Only: November 15