| Meeting time | TR 3:30-4:45, COM 210 |
| Instructor | Paul Hagstrom |
| hagstrom@bu.edu | |
| Phone | (617) 353-6220 |
| Office | 621 Commonwealth Ave., Rm. 105 |
| Office Hours | M 12-1; T 5-6, R 12:30-1:30 (and by appointment) |
Prerequisite: CAS LX522 (Syntax I), or consent of instructor.
Course Description: This course assumes basic familiarity with the Principles & Parameters approach to syntax and the Minimalist Program framework, as covered in CAS LX 422 / GRS LX 722. With a basic foundation of syntactic understanding to build on, this course will begin to explore a series of narrower issues. The material will include foundational works that that were instrumental in current understanding of linguistic phenomena and the development of modern models. Other topics will include current work, which brings to light previously unknown phenomena, or proposes revisions to our syntactic models. The selection of topics will necessarily be somewhat arbitrary, and in part influenced by the specific interests of the students enrolled. They will, however, serve to provide a flavor of the current state and developmental history of the field. In addition to the areas covered as a class, each student will also select a topic to investigate independently as a course project. The course project will result in a substantial paper at the end, and will be presented in class as part of a miniature conference at the end of the semester.
This course can be taken either as CAS LX 423 or as GRS LX 723, and students registered for GRS LX 723 will have more significant responsiblities, reflecting the graduate nature of the course. It is nevertheless assumed that everyone will do the assigned readings (generally excerpts for CAS LX 423 students and the full papers for GRS LX 723 students) and will participate in the class discussions.
Students completing this course will:
Homework. Homework will primarily consist of readings done in preparation for discussion in class. Readings will often be accompanied by short summaries or exercises that relate to the reading or extend it in some way. Students registered for GRS LX 723 will generally be assigned longer portions of the papers or additional papers, and have exercises or summaries relating to those additional portions as well; these additional exercises constitute part of the homework and are included in the “Homework” portion of the grading scheme below.
Leading discussion. Everyone will lead the discussion on the readings twice during the course of the semester. These will be done in groups of two (or occasionally three). Leading the discussion will generally mean coming prepared with a synopsis of the proposal and the arguments, and some questions that arose. Leading the discussion will not be simply presenting the paper. Rather the focus is on distilling the main points and the strongest arguments, and then on discussing things that were confusing, seemed insufficiently convincing, or anything else pertinent. It is expected that the whole class will have questions and participate in the discussion; those leading the discussion are mainly responsible for getting the ball rolling and having some discussion points planned in advance.
Final project. The final project is essentially a literature review and will consist of four parts, described in more detail below.
Late assignments. Late assignments will not be accepted without prior arrangement.
We live in an electronic age. You (unlike me) have always lived in an electronic age. You are expected to be reachable via your BU email address. The central communication center for the course is the course blog. Announcements, notes on readings, homework errata, and other information will be posted there on a regular basis, and things that are posted there will be assumed to have been communicated. Homework assignments can be sent (whenever feasible, and unless otherwise indicated) by email, or handed in on paper. It is your responsibility to ensure that electronically submitted material is in a readable format—if there is a question (for example, if you use a special font or an obscure word processor), send it early for verification. Unreadable submissions do not count as having been handed in.
There is no textbook for this course. Readings will be drawn from the syntactic literature, generally journal articles or book chapters.
| Homework (lowest dropped) | 25% |
| Group discussion leading | 20% |
| Final project: proposal | 10% |
| Final project: draft | 10% |
| Final project: presentation and write-up | 25% |
| Regular attendance, participation | 10% |
It is essential that you read and adhere to the CAS Student Academic Conduct Code. Graduate students must also follow the policies of the GRS Academic Conduct code.
http://www.bu.edu/academics/policies/academic-conduct-code/
http://www.bu.edu/cas/students/graduate/grs-forms-policies-procedures/academic-discipline-procedures/