The Department of Linguistics at the University of Kentucky has a rapidly rising national and international profile and is distinguished by several key strengths, bolstered by faculty that specialize in sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, and phonetics. The department’s emerging focus on computational and digital approaches to the study of language is among the features that set this program on the cutting edge of the discipline. The MAL degree (Master of Arts degree in Linguistics) emphasizes both linguistic theory, whose aim is to increase our knowledge about the fundamental nature of human language, and aspects of language that relate to social and cultural life.