Department Life

The Department has an active social life, generally centered around food and drink. Faculty, staff, and graduate students gather for at least three potlucks every year, organized by the Associated Students of Linguistics (ASOL): the International Dinner, the Holiday Potluck, and Spring Picnic. The tastiness of the home-cooked contributions to these meals has given rise to the joke that the submission of a covered dish should be added to the application requirements for prospective faculty and graduate students.

The International Dinner, held in early November, features international and regional specialties from everyone's home cuisines. The Holiday Potluck provides lunch and merriment in the hallway of Calhoun on the last day of classes of the fall semester. On a weekend afternoon in Austin's beautiful April, everyone gathers at a park or someone's back yard to grill a variety of food for the Spring Picnic.

On a smaller scale, students regularly end the week with a Friday evening happy hour at a local bar, and private parties continue the potluck tradition. On a weekday morning every couple of weeks, ASOL organizes "Coffee with a Prof" at a cafe near campus, where students get to know a professor outside of the classroom. And of course, a daily supply of department gossip, commiseration, and camaraderie is available during lunch and study breaks at Calhoun's fifth floor table. -- Ginger Pizer