Certificate

The Graduate Certificate Program in Culture, Language, and Social Practice (CLASP) is an interdisciplinary course of study designed to complement the M.A. or Ph.D. curriculum required by a student鈥檚 home department. Although graduate training in CLASP-affiliated departments and schools already incorporates some attention to the relationship between language and society, the Certificate Program allows students to build interdisciplinary expertise in ways that recognize the different topical foci of their home departments. CLASP students are given the opportunity to pursue the study of language and society from an interdisciplinary perspective, acquiring a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to the sociocultural analysis of language. The traditions of socially oriented language research addressed in CLASP-approved courses reflect the intellectual diversity of its affiliated听faculty.

Students entering the program will select a faculty member to act as their CLASP advisor, preferably from the home department. This faculty member together with the CLASP director constitutes the student鈥檚 curriculum committee. This committee is responsible for advising students and monitoring their progress throughout the course of study. Students can earn the Certificate by successfully completing four courses approved by the CLASP curriculum committee: three courses on the subject of language and society, and one course in either social theory or research methods that is determined to be relevant to the student鈥檚 academic goals.

Graduate students at the University of Colorado who wish to apply to participate in the CLASP Graduate Certificate Program must fill out the CLASP Graduate Certificate听Entrance Application听and submit it via the online form. After completing the required coursework, students must submit the CLASP Graduate Certificate听Exit Application听to earn acknowledgment of the achievement on the academic transcript. More information on the application process and program requirements can be found on the听certificate requirements听辫补驳别.

Methods Training听

"I appreciated that the program was easy to fit with the TESOL specialization, as I think the two speak to each other very well. I am also glad that the program encouraged methods training.鈥 听-Kahlil B. Thomas; MA, Linguistics, 2018 听

Interdisciplinary Perspective

The choice to take courses in education, linguistic anthropology, and sociolinguistics along with my Spanish courses led to a deeper understanding of language and the many angles from which it can be studied.听

-Abigail Larson
MA, Spanish and Portuguese, 2015

Applying Theory to Real-World Data

听I did not really understand social theory prior to taking classes in the CLASP program.听 Classes in this program really taught me what 鈥渄ata鈥 is and how to use theory to look at data, rather than only musing about theory. I really appreciated all the classes in the program because they really helped me understand how social differentiation works and is continually reified. I think this makes me a better human because I can notice these practices in myself and others and interrupt them.听

-Rebecca Lee
PhD, Linguistics, 2025