Earn your MA in Linguistics

The Master of Arts program in linguistics requires a minimum of 34 semester hours of graduate credit. A student's advisor must approve all courses that count toward the degree. Students must maintain a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of at least 2.75. 

Iowa's faculty and curriculum are particularly strong in phonology, syntax, and language acquisition.

The phonology curriculum emphasizes current theoretical perspectives, including optimality theory, and the collection, description, and interpretation of novel phonological and phonetic data. Courses feature extensive work in data analysis and problem solving, focusing on construction and evaluation of phonological theories, particularly in light of new empirical data. 

The syntax curriculum includes the dual emphases of empirical and theoretical perspectives. It offers a variety of foundational courses that build analytic and argumentation skills, as well as specialized coursework on current issues in syntactic theory. The courses consist of intensive work in problem solving. They combine discovery and description of new linguistic data with exploration of the implications of such facts in testing and constructing syntactic theories. 

The curriculum in language acquisition includes courses that provide an overview and analysis of current research. Work focuses on experimental research investigating first and second language acquisition, multilingualism, and heritage language.