Language, Culture and Society In this course students will be introduced to the comparative, ethnographic study of language in relation to socio-cultural context. Our readings will be drawn from diverse global settings and will focus upon language as the means by which people shape and are shaped by the social worlds in which they live. We will examine contrasts in ways of speaking across different communities, personal identities, and institutions. We will explore the consequences of communicative difference across a range of contact situations, including everyday conversation among peers, service encounters, political elections, and global connections or disconnections made possible through new media.

Linguistic Anthropology Methods In this course we will work with a method and theory known as the “ethnography of communication” to examine language use in socio-cultural context. Students will learn to form research questions and collect different kinds of data, including everyday spoken interactions, archival print sources, and social media. Students will learn how to document, annotate, and analyze their samples as speech events linked to broader discursive contexts and social relations. Students will also turn ethnography of communication upon social science research itself, examining interviews and surveys as communicative interactions. The course provides an empirical pathway to questions of cultural difference and social inequality.

Language Structure and Function In this course we will discuss the major issues and findings in the study of human language within theories of modern linguistics, which shares a history with mid-century American anthropology. The main topics include the nature of human language in comparison with other communication systems; sound patterns (phonology); word-formation (morphology); sentence structure (syntax); meaning (semantics); use (pragmatics); language acquisition and socialization. We will also consider language variation and the historical development of languages.  Instruction is in English but examples will be drawn from less commonly studied languages around the world.

Indigeneity and Colonialism in Native North America In this course we will approach Native North America and the American political mainstream as dynamically intertwined. Through ethnography, ethno-history, oral literature, and indigenous film we will examine the history of colonial encounters between the Indigenous and the 'Western'. We will examine how indigenous cultural difference and moral claims to land have challenged dominant political cultures across the history of the North American settler states. Our analysis will extend to ongoing questions concerning cultural knowledge, sustainability, and imagined futures.

Environmental Communication Do languages simply put different labels on the environment, from rocks to trees to carbon, or are what we see and what we value shaped by the ways that we talk about it? Drawing upon ethnography, linguistics, and critical discourse analysis, we will explore how environmental perceptions and modes of action are formed in and through language. We will bring an appreciation of language differences to the analysis of ongoing environmental controversies, where the various stakeholders draw contrasting boundaries between nature and culture and define human involvement with nature in different ways.

Language and the Environment Do languages simply put different labels on the environment, from rocks to trees to carbon, or are what we see and what we value shaped by the ways that we talk about it? Drawing upon ethnography, linguistics, and critical discourse analysis, we will explore how environmental perceptions and modes of action are formed in and through language. We will bring an appreciation of language differences to the analysis of ongoing environmental controversies, where the various stakeholders draw contrasting boundaries between nature and culture and define human involvement with nature in different ways.

Marybeth Nevins

Reviews and ratings for Marybeth Nevins at Middlebury College.Marybeth Nevins teaches Language, Culture, Society, Linguistic Anthropology Method, Language Structure & Function and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Marybeth Nevins good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

The Professor was clearly passionate about the material, though she rarely seemed prepared for lectures. She was pretty all over the place and was also relatively unclear with her expectations for assignments.

I took this class to fill my schedule and with just 4 short papers making your entire grade, its not hard to get a good grade. Some lectures contained interesting information that will stay with me but overall lectures where not very engaging. 

Native North America is an insightful and necessary course that explores the histories, cultures, and contemporary realities of Indigenous peoples across North America. Blending anthropology, history, and Indigenous perspectives, the course challenges colonial narratives and offers a more accurate, respectful understanding of Native societies—past and present.