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Sociolinguistics is the study of language in its social context and the study of social life through language. Sociolinguists are specifically interested in the what, why, when, where and how of the relationships between language and society, broadly or narrowly defined.  Some examples of issues and tasks that sociolinguists have attempted to understand are the following: whether, how, and why different communities speak differently; the attitudes towards, policies related to, and elements of varieties and languages throughout the world; how globalization shapes and is shaped by the spread of languages (in particular, English); the ways language mirrors and enables certain social dynamics and inequities. There is a strong focus on ethnographic research and writing. This course does not require a background in linguistics.  Students will be developing a ‘general education’ orientation to the field rather than a strictly linguistic orientation. Course includes exercises and readings related to ethnographic research as well. Pre-requisites: graduate status in Education or permission of instructor.