Endangered Language
University of Pennsylvania, Spring 2025
Instructor: Nikita Bezrukov
0590-302
TR 12:00-1:30pm
Cohen Hall 204
0590-303
TR 1:45-3:15pm
Bennett Hall 20
Imagine you’re on a train journey from New York to Philadelphia, surrounded by the sounds of many different languages. Long ago, the Lenape languages were spoken here, but they have since disappeared. Why do languages disappear? Can they be revived, like Hebrew in the early 20th century? Is language revival a good thing? This course, centered on David Crystal’s Language Death, explores the difficult questions about language loss and the hopeful possibilities of language preservation.
Syllabus: Tah-dam.
Sample portfolios: Midterm Portfolio, Final Portfolio.
Tentative schedule
Please read the assigned materials and submit your work before class. Slides and other materials from our discussions are posted under Topics.
January 16
Getting acquainted
Read:
Syllabus
How we learn to write
Academic ableism
Introduction to informal reasoning
Submit:
HW1 (~2.5%):
1. Mini bio
2. How we learn
3. Baseline doc + Reflection
4. Resume
5. Writing experience survey
6. Reading strategies survey
Topics:
Introduction
Syllabus quiz
PSet discussion
Logic basics
January 21
Book/Logic I
Read:
Crystal 2002: Ch. 1
Submit:
Ch. 1 Logical Structure
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
January 23
Book/Logic II
Read:
Crystal 2002: Ch. 2
Submit:
Ch. 2 Logical Structure
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
January 28
Book/Logic III
Read:
Crystal 2002: Ch. 3
Submit:
Ch. 3 Logical Structure
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
January 30
Book/Logic IV
Read:
Crystal 2002: Ch. 4
Submit:
Ch. 4 Logical Structure
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
February 04
Book/Logic V
Read:
Crystal 2002: Ch. 5
Submit:
Ch. 5 Logical Structure
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
February 06
Book/Logic VI
Read:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Submit:
Book summary
Submit late work for this module
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
February 11
Rhetoric
Read:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Submit:
Book summary
Submit late work for this module
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
February 13
White Paper I
Read:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Submit:
Book summary
Submit late work for this module
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
February 18
White Paper II
Read:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Submit:
Book summary
Submit late work for this module
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
February 20
White Paper III
Read:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Submit:
Book summary
Submit late work for this module
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
February 25
White Paper IV
Read:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Submit:
Book summary
Submit late work for this module
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
February 27
White Paper V
Read:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Submit:
Book summary
Submit late work for this module
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
March 04
White Paper VI
Read:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Submit:
Book summary
Submit late work for this module
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
March 06
White Paper VII
Read:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Submit:
Book summary
Submit late work for this module
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
March 11
Spring break
March 13
Spring break
March 18
White Paper VII
Read:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Submit:
Book summary
Submit late work for this module
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
March 20
Reflection Letter
Read:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Submit:
Book summary
Submit Midterm Portfolio by March 21
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
March 25
Dialect
Read:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Submit:
Book summary
Submit late work for this module
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion
March 27
Workplace genres
Read:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Submit:
Book summary
Submit late work for this module
Topics:
Lecture slides
Conclusion