UNC Department of Linguistics Mission and Values Statement

Our Department’s mission is to advance the understanding of human language, as part of a multidisciplinary enterprise that is concerned with the structure of the mind, the processes by which children and adults acquire language, what properties languages around the world do or do not share (and why), how languages change over time, how language evolved in our species, and how it functions in society. That mission is realized through research, teaching, mentorship, and outreach to the wider society.

In accordance with our mission, we value integrity and excellence as scholars, knowledge for the benefit of the community, and inspiring our students to be conscientious contributors to the discipline and the world throughout their lives. The Department welcomes, as students or colleagues, everyone who is interested in learning about, or contributing to, the scientific study of human language. We welcome enrollment and degree program applications from students of all backgrounds, and offer equal access to mentorship. The Department is committed to non-discrimination on the basis of demographic, biographical, or identity categories and to treating all members of our community with respect. That includes enforcing anti-harassment policies.

Linguists take a descriptive and scientific approach to the study of language, the way biologists do with birdsong. As with birdsong, there is no scientific basis for regarding one language as objectively better or worse than another, for regarding one dialect or accent as objectively correct and others as objectively wrong, or for regarding natural changes in a language as objective improvements or deteriorations. To study people’s value judgments about language is a part of the Department’s mission; to endorse them is not.