I have mentioned a couple of times next semester’s course on “current issues in syntax,” and by now there is a preliminary course blog in place, which has some information about the format, the schedule, and some ideas about what papers we might be looking at. The web address is:

http://ling.bu.edu/blogs/lx500b1s11/

Although the pre-registration for Spring has already happened, take a look anyway just in case it is something you’d like to substitute in, in place of something else you registered for. I think it will be a pretty interesting class, and nearly everyone in this Universals course has had or will have had the prerequisite CASLX522 (“Syntax I”) course. Yet there aren’t many people signed up, and the course will be even better for everyone with more people enrolled. Note too that next semester’s course isn’t redundant with CASLX523 (“Syntax II”). And did I mention that I think it will be a pretty interesting class? I’m rather looking forward to it myself.

It does connect a bit with topics we touched more superficially in this course as well. The first topic planned next semester is on islands and “phases,” and one of the later topics will be on questions of evolution and language in the context of syntax. Though I’ve kind of summarized a couple of points in this semester’s universals class, the idea for next semester is that we’d actually read some of the papers together and go into the topics in more depth and over more class periods.

And, I think it’ll be a pretty interesting class.