UC Berkeley offers online sociolinguistics course on Armenian

UC Berkeley's Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures will offer a six-week online course this summer examining Armenian through the lens of sociolinguistics. Running July 6 through August 14, 2026, "Language in Its Social Context: The Case of Armenian" meets three days weekly and is open to students and participants worldwide with no prerequisite knowledge required.

The course introduces foundational concepts in sociolinguistics and historical linguistics, covering language ideology, dialect variation, and multilingualism. Instructor Julianne Kapner, a Ph.D. candidate in UC Berkeley's Linguistics Department, directs the Armenian Language in the Bay Area research team, which has conducted 63 interviews documenting how Armenian varies across speakers and time.

Enrollment costs range from $1,800 for UC Berkeley undergraduates to $3,000 for international students. The course fulfills breadth requirements and serves as an elective for Armenian Studies or linguistics majors.