This course is an introduction to contemporary linguistic anthropology, the study of language use in comparative social and cultural contexts. We will cover some basic concepts from the theoretical perspectives of the discipline and explore a range of topics that show how language and ideas about language contribute to the construction of our reality and social worlds. We will consider how the effects of language use emerge from interactions beyond individual control, and will explore relationships between language and group identity, including categories of ethnicity and gender. We will examine how language use derives its authority from specific institutions that promote particular forms and deny access both within individual states and globally. We will also evaluate differences in language's social power across media (spoken, written, signed) of communication. Along the way students will come to appreciate a view of human language as a particularly structured system of signs. The student who completes this course will have new tools for understanding the social significance of different forms of language use both with which she or he comes in contact on a daily basis and that exist across the globe. There are no pre-requisites for this course. This course satisfies the Social Sciences General Education Requirement. https://myui.uiowa.edu/my-ui/courses/details.page?_ticket=8RKZFUkf5aGJIbCH8jPXJqj_5YklcRzu&id=790226&ci=149487