Thinking about PhD studies in language variation and change?
Want to work on a big linguistic data collection project from your very first semester?
Interested in five years of funding?
Apply to Michigan State University’s Linguistics PhD program!
Come to the Sociolinguistics Lab at Michigan State University! The MSU Linguistics PhD provides a generous 5 years of funding including a stipend, health insurance, and tuition. First year PhD students work part-time as Research Assistants (RAs). The MI Diaries project would love to recruit a strong RA with a research interest in language variation and change to help with our longitudinal study of self-recorded “audio diaries” from hundreds of people across the state. Become involved with everything from project management, community outreach, data analysis, recruitment, mentoring undergraduates and youth interns, to developing best practices for eliciting speech from a broad range of participants. Work closely with our faculty, Prof. Betsy Sneller and Prof. Suzanne Wagner, and with our team of students and other collaborators. Get started on your own related project, so that you’ll have a great foundation for building the research skills you’ll need for your PhD career and beyond.
Apply here by November 30, 2022 for full consideration for Fall 2023 admission.
Grad student testimonials
MSU Linguistics graduate students have had great experiences with MI Diaries.
Being involved with the MI Diaries project has enhanced my graduate school experience because it has given me the chance to work on a large-scale collaborative research project. Thanks to this project, I’ve been able to gain knowledge and experiences that can be applied to my own research that I would not have been able to acquire on my own. Working with the MI Diaries has also been incredibly enriching because it has provided me with so many opportunities to deepen my connections with other students and faculty in the department in a professional, but enjoyable setting. It’s also been a great opportunity to mentor undergraduate students and high school students on participating in an academic project and performing linguistic research which has been a personally fulfilling experience.”
Jack Rechsteiner
“I am able to get hands-on experience of nearly every aspect of a research project — collaboration with faculties and students, mentoring, public outreach, writing, turning research ideas into conference presentations and papers, etc. I am grateful for the professional development opportunities this project offers, as well as all the wonderful personal connections I made working with people in this project. “
Yongqing Ye
“If you are a student interested in sociolinguistics who thrives in a supportive, tight-knit departmental community, continuing your education at MSU is a wonderful choice. In my time here so far, I have not only enjoyed the instruction and guidance of a host of brilliant scholars – including two world-class sociolinguists doing research on the cutting edge – I have also been embedded in one of the most innovative and largest-scale sociolinguistics projects being conducted today. Even after just a year of working in MI Diaries, my knowledge of sociolinguistics, and my ability to both approach research in an ethical, community-conscious manner as well as to operate within a big team of faculty and fellow students, have increased drastically. “
Adam Barnhardt