The Graduate Certificate Program in Culture, Language, and Social Practice (CLASP) is an interdisciplinary course of study designed to complement the M.A. or Ph.D. curriculum required by a student’s home department. Although graduate training in CLASP-affiliated departments and schools already incorporates some attention to the relationship between language and society, the Certificate Program allows students to build interdisciplinary expertise in ways that recognize the different topical foci of their home departments. CLASP students are given the opportunity to pursue the study of language and society from an interdisciplinary perspective, acquiring a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to the sociocultural analysis of language. The traditions of socially oriented language research addressed in CLASP-approved courses reflect the intellectual diversity of its affiliated faculty.

Students entering the program will select a faculty member to act as their CLASP advisor, preferably from the home department. This faculty member together with the CLASP director constitutes the student’s curriculum committee. This committee is responsible for advising students and monitoring their progress throughout the course of study. Students can earn the Certificate by successfully completing four courses approved by the CLASP curriculum committee: three courses on the subject of language and society, and one course in either social theory or research methods that is determined to be relevant to the student’s academic goals.

Graduate students at the University of Colorado who wish to apply to participate in the CLASP Graduate Certificate Program must fill out the CLASP Graduate Certificate Entrance Application and submit it to the program director, Kira Hall, via email (kira.hall@colorado.edu). After completing the required coursework, students must submit the CLASP Graduate Certificate Exit Application to earn acknowledgment of the achievement on the academic transcript. More information on the application process and program requirements can be found on the certificate application and certificate requirements pages.