Program Courses

Research Clusters

LLC students’ and faculty research are located in one or more of these interdisciplinary research areas:

Immigration, Ethnicity, Race, and Culture
Language, Literature, Discourse, and Identity
Intercultural Communication and Cultural Exchange
Cultural Politics of Gender and Sexuality
New Media, Multiple Literacies, and Globalized Communication
Social Movements, Social Change, Ideologies, and Communities
Education, Inequality, Critical Pedagogies, and Language Diversity

Participating Departments

Africana Studies; American Studies; Education; English; Modern Languages, Linguistics and Intercultural Communication; Sociology and Anthropology, and Gender and Women’s Studies.

Introductory Courses (3 courses)

LLC 600 Introduction to Language, Literacy and Culture I Fall
LLC 600 Introduction to Language, Literacy and Culture II Spring
LLC 644 Methods of LLC Research (offered in the Fall)

Specialization Courses (at least 5 courses)

LLC 603 Inequality in Education
LLC 606 Social Inequality and Social Policy (SOCY/ANTH)
LLC 610 Theorizing Identity in Multi-Cultural Contexts (AMST)
LLC 611 Constructing Race, Class and Gender (SOCY/ANTH)
LLC 612 Language, Race and Ethnicity
LLC 613 Language, Gender and Culture (pending approval by Graduate Council)
LLC 616 Cyberspace, Culture and Society (SOCY/ANTH)
LLC 635 Socio-Cultural Theories of Learning and Human Interaction (EDUC)
LLC 640 Multi-Disciplinary Approaches to Race, Society and Culture (AFST)
LLC 642 Visual Literacy
LLC 647 Online Voice and Community
LLC 648 Research Writing and Design
LLC 660 Theoretical Approaches to Intercultural Communication (MLLI)
LLC 680 Theories of Feminism (GWST)
LLC 750 Topics in LLC
LLC 892 Independent Study in LLC

Internship: LLC 891 Internship in LLC (at least 1 course)
This Service-Learning Internship allows students to “give back” while developing new skills. Students will find a placement that allows them to engage in a service-learning project that relates to their research and professional interests. Projects could be conducted in non-profits orgs, national associations, community-based orgs, or schools. Students could also have an internship placement with a professor at UMBC in order to teach or conduct research. The internship should be a special project, not just part of a regular job. Internships should be completed when a student is far enough along to know what her/his research is, and it can be a research pilot. The work of the internship should be equivalent to a 3-credit course load. The internship requires a short proposal to be submitted for approval by students’ dissertation and LLC advisors, and once the internship is completed students will submit a final report to the site supervisor and faculty advisors.

Research Courses (at least 3 courses)

LLC 601 Intercultural Pragmatics (MLLI) (usually offered in the spring)
LLC 645 Quantitative Research Methods I (spring)
LLC 646 Quantitative Research Methods II (fall)
LLC 650 Advanced Qualitative Research (spring)
LLC 750 Analyzing Discourse (ENGL) (usually offered in the summer)
LLC 890 Research Proposal Seminar (This course is not one of the three required research courses, but is an additional optional course offered in the fall. Most advisors suggest that students take this course in order to draft the research proposal.)

Quantitative and mixed methods research:

LLC 645
LLC 646
Additional courses to be decided with advisor

Qualitative with social science focus:

LLC 650 Analyzing Discourse, Intercultural Pragmatics, Critical Interpretation (to be developed)
Additional courses to be decided with advisor

Qualitative with humanities focus:

LLC 650, Analyzing Discourse, Intercultural Pragmatics, Critical Interpretation (to be developed)
additional courses to be decided with advisor

Dissertation Research Courses

LLC 898 Pre-Candidacy Doctoral Research (no minimum requirement). Students are billed for at 1/3 rate.
LLC 899 Doctoral Dissertation Research (2 semesters minimum) Require at least two semesters or 18 credits taken in increments of 9 credits per semester. Students are billed for 2 credits per semester.

General Notes
Attendance in classes that are conducted as advanced graduate seminars is essential. Most classes meet 4:30-7, and some meet 7:10-9:40. A student must be able to take some 4:30 classes. Requirements are based on the catalogue at the time of matriculation.