Language is an essential part of our life. Nothing characterizes humanity more than the ability to use language. Linguists analyze sounds, words, sentences, and texts. Linguists also make valuable contributions to practical fields such as K-12 teaching, second and foreign language teaching, language planning, translation, computer science, forensic linguistics, and language disorders. Computational applications of linguistics, such as speech synthesis, speech recognition, and machine-assisted translation, have also become increasingly important. Our undergraduate and graduate programs develop intellectual skills that are essential to professional careers or advanced degrees. Our courses provide analytical tools that can be applied to virtually any subject. They also help enhance critical thinking, satisfy broad intellectual interest, and enrich personal knowledge.<br>Our majors can be applied directly to various professional fields. They also serve as excellent preparation for pursuing advanced degrees in linguistics and other fields such as English, anthropology, psychology, sociology, computer science, and foreign languages. TESL is an important part of our program and especially compatible with degrees in education and liberal studies. A Japanese minor can be profitably combined with majors in such areas as business, international relations, linguistics, and literature.