Click here for online content from the 2017 Linguistic Institute.

The 2017 Linguistic Insitute -- the LSA's 69th -- took place at the University of Kentucky's Lexington campus from July 5 through August 1. Rusty Barrett and Andrew Hippisley of the University of Kentucky Department of Linguistics co-directed the Institute. The LSA's report on the institute can be found here.

The LSA recently issued a statement on international travel as it relates to the 2017 Institute, outlining steps we are taking to ensure that everyone who wishes to participate from outside the U.S. may do so.

The LSA has sponsored the Linguistic Institutes since the first one was held in 1928 on the campus of Yale University.  The Institutes take place in odd-numbered summers on a major university campus.  The Kentucky Institute was attended by approximately 100 faculty and hundreds more students for a month-long program of courses, lectures, workshops, and social events.  The LSA supports the Kentucky Institute with seed grants, funding for endowed professorships, lectureships, and special named student fellowships, and in addition awards a large number of competitive student tuition fellowships.

Since 1928, the Linguistic Institutes have not only been the premier gatherings of their kind, attracting top professionals and students from around the world and throughout the subfields.  They are also defining moments for individual scholars, host institutions, and the field itself, fondly remembered decades later by the participants.  Two late colleagues – Ivan Sag and former LSA President Charles Fillmore – valued the Institute so much that endowed fellowship and professorship funds have been established in their honor.

The LSA's Executive Committee approved the following slate of Named Professors and Forum Lecturers for the 2017 Linguistic Institute. 

Named Professors

• Hermann and Klara H.Collitz Professor: Joan Bybee (University of New Mexico)
• Sapir Professor: Penelope Eckert (Stanford University)
• Hale Professor: Lenore Grenoble (University of Chicago)
• Fillmore Professor: Julia Hirschberg (Columbia University)

The LSA funds all expenses of the Named Professors.

Forum Lectures

• David Adger, Queen Mary University of London
• Michel DeGraff, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Robin Queen, University of Michigan

Among the Named Professors and Forum Lecturers are past and present LSA presidents, Executive Committee members, and committee leaders.  Most have a connection to the Linguistic Institutes -- as Directors, Steering Committee members, or faculty of past Institutes. 

Fellowship Competition

The LSA administers the competitive applications for Institute Fellowships. In addition to many ordinary tuition fellowships, several Named Fellowships provide additional support:  the Bernard and Julia Bloch, McCawley and Sag Fellowships provide tuition, travel, room and board.  The Bloch Fellow serves ex officio on the Executive Committee -- the LSA's governing body -- and as chair of COSIAC, the Committee on Student Issues and Concerns.  Click here to read more about fellowships and to see lists of past recipients.

Fellowships are reviewed by a committee of LSA members chosen for their diversity of linguistic expertrise and their past involvement with the Linguistic Institutes.  To read more about the Committee on Linguistic Institutes and Fellowships (CLIF), click here. 

Fellowship applications for the 2017 Institute were due February 1, 2017.  More information and application instructions are available here.

Courses

The LSA Executive Committee approved a slate of nearly eighty courses for 2017 Institute, including eleven introductory-level courses covering the subfields of linguistics, and courses on eleven different languages, language varieties, dialects or language families. 

Other Events

The Institute hosts a number of special events, including workshops, professional development sessions, and social events.  The LSA's Committee on Student Issues and Concerns typically holds one or more professionalization workshops. For a list of conferences and workshops taking place at the Kentucky Institute, click here.

Continuing the Work of the Institute

The LSA's Committee on Linguistic Institutes and Fellowships ensures that the intellectual work of the 2017 University of Kentucky Institute is carried forward, promoting synergy and continuity with the LSA's other major scholarly endeavors:  the Annual Meeting and the Society's publishing program. Course materials and workshop resources from the Kentucky Institute will be archived at the LSA's Linguistic Academic Depository and elsewhere on this site.

Supporting the Work of the Institute

To support the ongoing work of the LSA's Institutes, please consider making a donation to the one of the funds associated with the Institute:  the Yuki Kuroda Fellowship Fund, the Ken Hale Student Fellowship Fund, the Charles Fillmore Student Fellowship Fund, or the Financial Assistance and Student Support Fund.

Connecting with the Institute

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