An introduction to the scientific analysis of the structure and uses of language. Core areas covered include phonetics and phonology, morphology, the lexicon, syntax, semantics and pragmatics, with data from a wide range of languages. Additional topics include language acquisition, bilingualism, neurolinguistics, historical linguistics and computational linguistics.

One way to understand the various patterns and processes in our world is to think of them as "systems". There's a lot of talk about systems ("blame the system"; or "don't hate the player, hate the game"), but less understanding about how systems actually work. We will bridge this knowledge gap by learning about what human-made systems have in common, how they respond to change and why it is difficult to change them in predictable ways. To do this, we'll explore the tensions among laws and policing, gift-giving and capitalism, creativity and technology. Throughout, we will reflect on the roles of race, culture, economic status and history.

Babies, who look like helpless blobs, are capable of impressive feats of learning. 3-year-olds, who can't cross the street alone, know an astounding amount of information about their environments. We will focus on landmark studies that elucidate how children's biology, cognition, language, and social experiences interact to set the stage for what we do and who we are. Is the baby's world a 'blooming, buzzing confusion', or do babies enter the world prepared to make sense of their environments? How can we understand the collaboration between nature and nurture during development?

Individuals are rarely isolated from one another. In our day-to-day lives, social interaction is ubiquitous, from communicating with one another, to jointly remembering the past, to coordinating our actions. Exploring humans in social interaction - as this course aims to do - will lead to significant advances in understanding the mind. It will also teach you how to be a more efficient and persuasive communicator, create more meaningful connections with others, and focus your motivation to achieve your goals.