PhD Linguistics at University of Iowa

Programme overview

The Linguistics program in the Department of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures, and Cultures has particular strengths in multilingual language acquisition, phonology, and syntax. Students are encouraged to take courses in a wide variety of departments and programs across the university. The phonology curriculum emphasizes current theoretical perspectives, including Optimality Theory, and the collection, description, and interpretation of novel phonological and phonetic data.

Faculty: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Department: Languages, Linguistics, Literatures, and Cultures | Duration: 72 s.h. required | Location: Iowa City, IA, United States

What you will study

The Doctor of Philosophy in linguistics requires a minimum of 72 s.h. of graduate credit.

Career pathways

Career opportunities in linguistics can be found in academia, government, industry, and the nonprofit sectors. A number of companies, such as Amazon, Microsoft, Xerox, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, and other high-tech firms, regularly hire employees with linguistics degrees.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Applicants to the graduate program in linguistics must submit an online application to the Graduate College. In addition to three letters of recommendation, the application requires a statement of purpose that outlines the student’s goals and planned area of research and identifies the faculty member(s) with whom the student would like to work. Applicants also must provide written evidence of the ability to do advanced work in linguistics. This may include one or more of the following: a short squib-style paper (short notes consisting of 5,000 words maximum) that makes a specific point by calling attention to a theoretically unexpected observation about language without the need for a developed analysis or solution; a final course paper; and a research project outlining the area of investigation the applicant wishes to pursue.

Tuition is charged per credit, so the total depends on the modules you register for each year. Current fees are listed in the official fee schedule.

Graduate and professional admission requirements, costs and deadlines are set by each degree programme; applicants apply through the Admissions Profile application and may apply to only one programme unless applying to a combined degree programme.

Apply through the official page: https://admissions.uiowa.edu/

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