How was Madagascar populated? Why do some languages use more sounds than others? What is the origin of the Romani ("Gypsy") people of Europe? We'll explore the answers to these questions and more using a cutting-edge method combining linguistics and population genetics. We'll also discuss its limitations and current controversies.

This class will explore the variety of writing systems that have been used to record human language. We'll discuss the structural differences between such scripts as Mayan hieroglyphs, the Japanese script, Devanagari, and Thaana. We'll also touch on the evolution of writing over time, including the development of the Latin alphabet.