UC Santa Barbara is inviting all eligible students to apply to the Santa Barbara Sneak Peak, an event of the UCSB Linguistics Department that is intended to identify and foster excellent potential graduate applicants from diverse backgrounds. The event will be held Thursday, May 31, 2018 at UCSB, and the application deadline is Monday, April 23, 2018, at 4:00 p.m.
The call for applicants, which includes information about eligibility and the application process, is given below.
The University of California recognizes the variety of personal experiences, values and worldviews that arise from differences of culture and circumstance. Such diversity in the UC student body is integral to the University’s achievement of excellence. Santa Barbara Sneak Peek is aimed at graduate students who bring an understanding of the experiences of groups historically underrepresented in higher education. We encourage applications from individuals who meet the eligibility criteria and represent cultural, linguistic, geographic, and socioeconomic backgrounds not adequately represented in the graduate student population.
Participants in Santa Barbara Sneak Peek will:
– Learn about academic and research opportunities in linguistics at UCSB
– Meet with faculty and graduate students with shared research interests
– Hear from current linguistics graduate students about the graduate
program, the university, and the community of Santa Barbara
– Receive hands-on mentoring in how to create a strong graduate school application
U.S. domestic air/ground transportation and accommodations of applicants selected for participation will be paid for by UCSB.
ELIGIBILITY
– Current or completed B.A. or M.A. in Linguistics or a closely related field
– U.S. citizenship or permanent residency, or AB-540/DACA status
– Planned application to UCSB’s graduate program in Linguistics in
Fall 2018 (for admission for the 2018-19 academic year) or later.
Students who have applied to the graduate program previously are not
eligible.
– Research focus relevant to UCSB’s discourse-functional perspective
on language and faculty research interests
– Ability to contribute to the diversity of UCSB’s graduate community
through research and/or life experience
– The application process is open to all eligible students. Students from ethnoracial and socioeconomic groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education are especially encouraged to apply. Applicants are encouraged to present biographical material describing relevant experiences, activities, research and service, rather than simply group identification.
Selection for Santa Barbara Sneak Peek is not a guarantee of admission to UCSB. Participants who apply to the graduate program will be evaluated according to the same criteria as all other applicants.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Applications are due via email to csaum@ucsb.edu, by Monday, April 23, 2018, at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. All materials must be in PDF format. Applications must include the following:
– A 1- to 2-page single-spaced statement of purpose indicating: (1) the student’s research interests, academic background, and experience, (2) the reason for the student’s interest in UCSB and plans for graduate study; (3) the contributions that the student can make to diversity at UCSB through research and/or life experience.
– College/university transcript(s) (an unofficial electronic version is acceptable)
– Curriculum vitae or résumé
– Letter of recommendation from a faculty member in Linguistics or a closely related field, stating (1) the student’s academic qualifications for seeking to pursue graduate study in Linguistics at UCSB; (2) the contributions that the student can make to diversity at UCSB through research and/or life experience; (3) how the student will benefit from participation in Santa Barbara Sneak Peek. The letter must be sent directly from the letter writer to the email address above.
Applicants will be notified by no later than Monday, April 30, 2018.
ABOUT UCSB’S GRADUATE PROGRAM IN LINGUISTICS
The UCSB Department of Linguistics studies the ways that languages and language varieties around the world are used in everyday life. We look to social interaction, social and cultural change over time, and cognitive and biological processes to understand why languages work the way they do. We have a special focus on the languages of indigenous groups as well as the use of language by groups that are denied power within their society. We therefore have a strong commitment to using linguistics to advance social justice as well as scientific knowledge.
At the master’s level, students receive broad training in UCSB’s distinctive approach to linguistics through coursework in all subfields. At the doctoral level, students specialize in one or more linguistic subfields in order to investigate original research questions. Students may also pursue interdisciplinary Ph.D. emphases to enhance their linguistics degree.
Current faculty research projects include:
– How our bodies shape the music and rhythm of language
– African American undergraduates’ linguistic and cultural practices on college campuses
– How transgender people challenge our ideas about the relationship between language, gender, and identity
– A collaboration with members of an indigenous Mexican community in California to support the maintenance of their languages
– Documenting multiple varieties of California English
– How rare linguistic phenomena change our understanding of language
– The sound system of an endangered American Indian language spoken in Louisiana
– and many more!
For more information about linguistics at UCSB, visit the department’s
website: http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu
For questions about UCSB’s graduate program in linguistics, the Santa Barbara Sneak Peek event, or the application process, contact Mary Bucholtz, Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Coordinator (bucholtz@linguistics.ucsb.edu), or Cheryl Saum, Graduate Program Advisor (csaum@ucsb.edu).
Support for Santa Barbara Sneak Peek is provided by UCSB’s Department of Linguistics and the Graduate Division, the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor, and the Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Academic Policy.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY
The University of California does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, pregnancy, disability, age, medical condition (cancer‐related), ancestry, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or status as a Vietnam‐era veteran or special disabled veteran.