Go your own way: Linguistics students design their own major
This article was originally published on WKUTalisman.com
Unlike many students, Macy Lethco knew exactly what she wanted to study before she got to college.
When Lethco, now a WKU alumna, first looked into attending WKU and learned that the university didn’t offer a linguistics major, she didn’t let that discourage her. Instead, she worked alongside English professor Elizabeth Winkler and the Mahurin Honors College staff to build a degree that led her to where she is today — teaching English in Spain.
“I was kind of ambitious leaving high school,” Letcho said. “I was like, ‘I know exactly what I want. I’m going to study linguistics.’ And I didn’t have a specific school that I wanted to go to, but my older sister went to Western, so I looked there.”
But, traditionally, WKU didn’t offer a linguistics major, only a minor. However, when Lethco met with Craig Cobane, executive director of the Honors College,she said he introduced her to something called an Honors Self-Designed Studies major and was quite enthusiastic about her being able to study what she wanted.
“This was a big reason I came to Western and was in the Honors College — because I knew it was possible to study linguistics,” Lethco said.
Put simply, linguistics is the science of language. The makeup of this science is rather interdisciplinary and covers several fields of study, which is why Lethco said it wasn’t too difficult to create the major.
Letcho was able to work on specific projects that interested her, like her research into what role linguistics plays in international music.
