Undergraduate Seminars
All Undergraduate Seminars are taught in English. No prerequisites are required.
Browse and search our spring 2026 Undergraduate Seminars.
For more information on sections and schedules, view the Schedule of Classes.
82-187 Documentary, Found Sound and Hidden Frequencies in Language and Culture
This course is about telling stories with sound. You will learn how to record interviews, gather ambient and archival audio and shape these materials into powerful, original work. The focus is on narrative. You will explore how to structure a piece, how to work with voice…
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82-188 Global Science Fiction
This innovative, team-taught course introduces students to Science Fiction as a global mode of storytelling that reflects and reimagines human experiences across diverse cultural, historical and political contexts. Through comparative case studies from the Americas, Asia…
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82-198 Undergrad Research Training
These courses are designed to give eligible and interested students some hands-on research experience working on a faculty project or in a lab in ways that might stimulate and nurture the students' interest in doing more research. They are open to students who are Dietrich…
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82-200 Curating Cultural and Arts Festivals Through Theory and Practice
This course examines the role of festivals and cultural events as platforms for storytelling, artistic expression and community engagement. Using CMU's SONA Immersive Storytelling Festival 2026 as a live case study, you will learn how festivals are imagined, organized and…
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82-280 Bilingual & Bicultural Experiences in the U.S.
Fulfills 'Intercultural and Global Inquiry' Gen Ed requirement!
What does it mean to be bilingual in the U.S., when approximately 80 of Americans are monolingual English-speakers? In this course, we will learn about the nature and experience of bilingualism and…
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82-282 Interpreting Global Texts & Cultures
Fulfills 'Humanities' Gen Ed requirement!
Literature, film, music, art, theater, and other forms of humanistic artistic expressions, play an important role in society. Few moments in life are as moving as listening to the right song at the right time, and many of us can…
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82-283 Language Diversity & Cultural Identity
Fulfills 'Intercultural and Global Inquiry' Gen Ed requirement!
Culture, language and identity are intimately tied together. Individuals, families, communities and nations identify themselves in relation to the language or languages they speak. Local, national and…
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82-388 Topics in Second Language Acquisition
This course provides an overview of the fundamental questions, theories, methodologies, and findings of second language (L2) speech research. Choose from two sections: Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition or Second Language Speech.
SECTION A: Language Policy and…
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82-482 Introduction to Translation
We will survey a number of different translation theories in order to understand the various approaches that are at our disposal when translating a text. All theory taught in class will be accompanied by hands-on translation projects that will give students the opportunity…
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82-580 Senior Seminar
This seminar for majors in LCAL focuses on general issues in second language learning. It provides an integrative and culminating experience for students as they complete their studies. The course includes consideration of language learning and language maintenance, the…
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