ANTH053 PO

PO

Through readings, films, and podcasts, the course explores how language and human movement have been intertwined over time. We will complicate the binary of local and global across different time periods, using language as a helpful lens. How was "the global" part of our human ancestors' lives, just as "the local" is part of our contemporary experiences? After first periodizing globalization, we turn to human evolutionary history to understand how and why we evolved language, while bearing in mind continuity between our species and non-human primates in terms of communicative functions. Next we examine the erasure of the languages, scripts, and knowledge forms of colonized peoples, and how minority communities today are revitalizing their languages and traditions. Finally we interrogate the linguistic practices of contemporary globalization, including code-switching, linguistic syncretism, and global Englishes. The speaking-intensive course culminates in students presenting an oral piece resembling a TED Talk to their peers, on a research topic of their choosing.

PO Area 2 Requirement, PO Speaking Intensive, Anthropology, Linguistics & Cog Sci, Linguistics