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Brandeis University
415 South Street
Mailstop 013
Waltham, MA 02454
ph 781.736.2710
fax 781.736.2741

Master of Arts in Computational Linguistics

Computational Linguistics (CL) is the scientific study of language from a computational perspective. It is an interdisciplinary field, which draws on linguistic theory (phonology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics) and computer science (artificial intelligence, theory of computation, programming methods), as well as, to a lesser extent, other disciplines such as philosophy, cognitive science, and psychology. CL is a lively and intellectually vital scientific discipline, generating advances that shed new insight on models of human linguistic abilities, as well as creating opportunities for practical tools that can be of tremendous benefit to society. Applications of CL include automated text analysis, speech recognition, information retrieval, web search, machine translation, cryptography, computer security, as well as computing needs for the humanities, such as digital library development, and language and cultural archiving.

Five-year combined BA/MA degree in CL (starting 2008-2009) [pre-requisites] [faculty] [course requirements]

Two-year MA degree CL (tentatively for 2009-2010) [information]

Fifth-year MA in Computational Linguistics

A combined BA/MA Degree (five-year) in Computer Science, with a specialization in Computational Linguistics has been approved for 2008-2009, and is accepting applications from all interested juniors and seniors.
Please contact James Pustejovsky if you wish to sign up or require more information.

This program is available to Brandeis students who have completed all requirements for the undergraduate BA degree in Computer Science (CS) or Language and Linguistics (LL) and who have performed well in their undergraduate major. Students will apply in their junior or senior year, at which time they should propose a course of study for the fifth year that typically consists of six graduate-level courses, which may include independent study.

There are four tracks corresponding to the four types of students we can anticipate entering the Computational Linguistics MA Program:
Type I: Student has background in both Computer Science and Linguistics;
Type II: Student has background in only Computer Science, but no Linguistics;
Type III: Student has background in only Linguistics;
Type IV: Student has background in neither Computer Science nor Linguistics.

Since a course of study for Type IV will involve following courses from Tracks II and III, it will not be listed in the table of course requirements below.

Note for juniors:
For current juniors (who will be seniors in 2008-09) who want to keep open the option of enrolling in the new 5-year MA during their senior year, but have had Linguistics but no Computer Science courses, we recommend at least the following courses for 2008-09:
        Within Linguistics:
        Ling 160 Mathematical Methods in Linguistics (Fall)
        [description]
        COSI 131 Algorithms for Computational Linguistics (Spring)
        [description]
        Within Computer Science:
        COSI 21a Data Structures and the Fundamentals of Computing (Spring)
        and its lab: COSI 22a Fundamentals of Programming (Spring)

Associated Faculty for Computational Linguistics Program

James Pustejovsky (Language and Linguistics Program, Computer Science)

Sophia Malamud (Language and Linguistics Program, Anthropology)

Lotus Goldberg (Language and Linguistics Program)

Henrietta Hung (Language and Linguistics Program)

Marc Verhagen (Computer Science)

Richard Alterman (Computer Science)

Pengyu Hong (Computer Science)

Jordan Pollack (Computer Science)

Inderjeet Mani (Computer Science, Adjunct)

Course Requirements

The table below illustrates the requirements for each of the three types of students we anticipate for the program.

Course Legend:
*: This indicates a new course
X: This indicates a required course for the major
E: This indicates an elective course for the major
P: This indicates a prerequisite course for the major (2 of 4 are required per tracks II, III)

For CL courses offerred in Fall 2008/Spring 2009, please see
our course offerings page
or the Registrar's Fall 2008 listings for Computer Science
and Language and Linguistics

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Two-Year Masters in Computational Linguistics

A Two-Year MA Program in Computer Science, with a specialization in Computational Linguistics is currently being developed. It has been tentatively approved for 2009-2010.

Students must complete an approved schedule of nine courses, including the five core CL courses (listed in the table above), and four electives. Completion of either a Masters Thesis or a one-semester (or summer) internship is required.

Residence Requirement
The minimum residency requirement is two years.

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