Why do so many people speak English? The same question could be asked about Arabic, Chinese, French, Hindi, or Spanish today - not to mention Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, and a host of other languages in the past. On closer inquiry, one finds that the fates of languages are often bound up with the groups who speak them and with the political power those groups wield. Taking up cases that range from the empires of the past to the states of the present, this course examines major questions about how language and politics shape one another. How does a language emerge to become dominant in a society? Why do some languages expand regionally and even globally while others shrink and decline? Does it matter if multiple languages are spoken in a state? How can we model and test theories of language change? Through our exploration of these questions, students will trace the path of language dynamics in current and past societies, sharpen their critical reasoning and argumentative skills, and develop familiarity with approaches to modeling sociodemographic change.
3-5 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit · GER: WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Why do so many people speak English? The same question could be asked about Arabic, Chinese, French, Hindi, or Spanish today - not to mention Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, and a host of other languages in the past. On closer inquiry, one finds that the fates of languages are often bound up with the groups who speak them and with the political power those groups wield. Taking up cases that range from the empires of the past to the states of the present, this course examines major questions about how language and politics shape one another. How does a language emerge to become dominant in a society? Why do some languages expand regionally and even globally while others shrink and decline? Does it matter if multiple languages are spoken in a state? How can we model and test theories of language change? Through our exploration of these questions, students will trace the path of language dynamics in current and past societies, sharpen their critical reasoning and argumentative skills, and develop familiarity with approaches to modeling sociodemographic change.
Offered in Autumn 2026 at Stanford University.