Linguistics Club offers discovery and community for students inside and outside the major
From professional lectures to movie nights, one of the newest clubs on campus offers students a chance to explore linguistics in a casual environment
By NATALIE SALTER — arts@theaggie.org
If you’re studying linguistics, or are simply curious about the science and structure of languages, you might be interested in one of UC Davis’ newest clubs. Having just started earlier this academic year, Linguistics Club is a student-run, community-oriented space where members can form connections with their peers and professionals in the Linguistics Department.
The original inspiration for Linguistics Club stemmed from the co-presidents’ worry that the small size of the linguistics major at UC Davis would prevent them from meeting friends with similar academic passions.
As a first-year, Co-President Celia Farrell, a second-year linguistics and psychology double major, dreamed up the club as a space for linguistics students and those passionate about the subject to connect with one another.
“When I came to Davis, I suppose linguistics [wasn’t] a big major here, so it was a little bit difficult for me to find other people who were in my major,” Farrell said. “I wanted to create the club to bring more linguistics students together, and allow us to talk about something that we really love.”
With the Linguistics Club now up and running, it provides members an opportunity to meet others who share their interests and to learn more about the subject through its educational meetings.
“We present on topics in linguistics, whether it be our officers or [Teaching Assistants] in the department; sometimes, we can try and get a professor or a special speaker as well,” Farrell said. “We try to educate people on linguistics topics that we wouldn’t get in class.”
The club’s dedication to helping members share and learn about issues outside of their usual major coursework has allowed them to explore a variety of interesting and relevant topics.
“One of our officers recently did a presentation on endangered Assyrian, which was super cool,” Farrell said. “And then we had one of the graduate students in the linguistics department come in and talk about vowel shifts in California.”
Farrell also emphasized the club’s easygoing, friendly environment, which makes these educational nights more enjoyable for participants.
“We get to talk about all sorts of things that maybe we don’t hear in our classes, like special research projects and fun things, in a super casual setting,” Farrell said. “We don’t have to worry about raising our hands.”
The club’s next meeting will be a graduate panel with the UC Davis Cluster on Language Research organization on May 7 at 6 p.m. in Kerr Hall 273. Attendees are encouraged to submit questions about linguistics graduate school opportunities and attend to learn if graduate studies in the major are right for them.
“It’s really targeting our group because a lot of us are second-[years] and third-years who are thinking about going to grad school, but aren’t sure yet,” Farrell said.
However, Linguistics Club offers more than just major-related events; it seeks to provide members not only academic and professional resources, but also a sense of community and genuine enthusiasm for the subject matter.
“We try to offer a bit of variety with our meetings, so that members not only get informational topics that might interest them, but they can also have fun while learning or getting involved,” Event Coordinator Jay Madriaga, a second-year linguistics and communication double major, said. “One of my favorite meetings was watching the members get competitive for Jeopardy night.”
Another community event hosted by the club was an “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” (2001) movie night. Such film viewings, aside from being simply fun, allow members to creatively imagine fantastical applications for the study of linguistics.
“‘Atlantis’ was maybe a little bit far-fetched, but one of the main characters is actually a linguist and a cartographer, so he studies maps and the ancient language of Atlantis to rediscover the island,” Farrell said. “So, we were like: ‘Wow, look how cool linguistics is.’”
These unique career paths, as highlighted in “Atlantis,” reflect the diversity of linguistics-related career options, which the club helps members discover and explore.
“I don’t know how many of us are going to be in rune translation and cartography, but linguistics can take you to so many different places,” Farrell said. “Linguistics is extremely interdisciplinary. A lot of us want to do stuff related to second language learning, or language pathology, which is something I wanna do, but a lot of other people do computational linguistics, and a lot of people go into editing or even digital marketing. Having a major with which you can explore so many different options, and getting to hear what everybody else is doing, is super cool.”
Being one of Davis’ smaller majors, the community that the club offers may prove invaluable to linguistics students, or anyone interested in the subject, according to Madriaga.
“Honestly, when I came to Davis, I was a bit worried about the small amount of people in the major, and I was nervous that it would be hard to meet people,” Madriaga said. “While there wasn’t an active linguistics club when I arrived, I think being a part of getting this club running has been amazing. I love how lively and engaged the members get at meetings, and the atmosphere is warm and welcoming. I love that the club can be something people leave the house for, and that it brings our relatively small community together.”
Indeed, though the club is centered around linguistics studies, you don’t have to be a linguistics major to be welcomed into their word-loving ranks.
“I think that regardless of a student’s major, they should come check us out if they have any interest in linguistics,” Madriaga said. “We love new members.”
Farrell echoed this sentiment, sharing that the club is welcoming to any and all interested.
“I would say come try it out,” Farrell said. “We meet twice a month, and we’re open to everybody, so if you see a topic on our social media or something that you’re interested in, please come join us. We’re super community-oriented, so we would love to have you and come talk about any linguistics questions that you have.”
Written by Natalie Salter — arts@theaggie.org