Prospective students! The MLC will be recruiting at Idealist graduate degree fairs across the country. Please visit the Events page for more info.

"One of the wonderful things about the MLC Program is the flexibility. The program is small enough that each student gets a lot of individualized attention; we can sit down with each and every student and tailor a course of study that's attuned to their personal goals."

- Anna Marie Trester,
Co-Director of the MLC

Almost everything that we do in our everyday lives depends on language. We need language to make and enforce laws; obtain and distribute resources (both material and symbolic); create and maintain personal and public relationships; preserve our pasts and plan our futures. Language allows us to build reciprocity through actions such as requests and promises, to explain a problem to others (and work towards its resolution), to compete and cooperate, to appreciate our similarities and manage our differences. Linguists seek to understand how we use language to communicate in ways that interact with, and change, the external world. These processes are studied in three main subfields within Linguistics: Sociolinguistics, Discourse analysis, Pragmatics.

The MLC program features an individualized curriculum that develops skills in Sociolinguistics, Discourse analysis, and Pragmatics, which can be applied in fields such as human resources, international communication, diversity training, counseling, advertising, business strategic communications, marketing, branding, usability testing, media/public opinion research.

Additionally, the MA prepares students for work in the professions, including:

  • Education: diversity in the classroom, multi-modal communication, assessment
  • Health care: doctor/patient communication; medical, science and health writing
  • Law: legal writing; interpretation of statutes and contracts; criminal investigations

  • MLC students participate in professional socialization events and career education activities targeted for sociolinguists. This personalized career development is designed to enable students to articulate how their skills and training are of particular value in workplace settings, institutions, and professions which depend largely upon language to accomplish their goals.

    This program is designed for:

  • College graduates with B.A. or B.S., with majors including, but not limited to, humanities and social sciences
  • College graduates seeking further credentials for medical, law or, business school
  • Members of the workforce (public and private sectors) who seek advancement

  • Please navigate this site to learn more about the Masters in Language and Communication, including profiles on alumni and current students, and a more in depth look at the program through the eyes of our director and assistant director.

    Further details concerning requirements, standards and procedures for the MLC are given in the Linguistics Graduate Student Handbook and the Graduate Bulletin.