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Dibs Fall 2026

LING M4

Language and Evolution

(Same as Indo-European Studies M70.) Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Homo Sapiens is only species on Earth with capacity to create infinite number of utterances from small inventory of speech sounds. How and why our species developed this ability is question of fundamental scientific and humanistic importance. Survey of origin of human language from number of intellectual perspectives, including linguistics, anthropology, and evolutionary biology. Exploration of relationship between language faculty and linguistic theory. P/NP or letter grading.

Course statistics

Predicted GPA
3.77
n = 26 · 2 terms · ± 0.088
A range
88%
of letter grades
Taken P/NP
7%
100% of those passed
D / F / W
0.0%
incl. withdrawals

Sections in Fall 2026

Sections offered, with live enrollment and predicted GPA
Section Status Enrolled Seat risk Meets Instructor Predicted GPA
Lec 1 Closed
20 of 20
100% full
 fills TR 12:30pm-1:45pm Clayton, J.B.
3.82n=26 · this instructor

Enrollment history

Final enrollment per term, averaged across that term's sections. Four years deep, summer excluded. Per-section live curves are on each section page.

  • 1824S
  • 1025S
Enrolment by term: 24S 18, 25S 10
Peak 18 Most recent 10 in 25S 2 terms on record

Grade distribution

  • A+ 14 · 50.0%
  • A 6 · 21.4%
  • A- 3 · 10.7%
  • B+ 1 · 3.6%
  • B 1 · 3.6%
  • B- 1 · 3.6%
  • P 2 · 7.1%

Grey bars are non-letter outcomes — P/NP, S/U, incompletes. They are excluded from the GPA entirely rather than scored, because counting a P as a 4.0 would be a fabrication.

By instructor

Instructor Predicted Raw n Terms A range
CLAYTON, JOHN BUNYAN 3.82 3.85 26 2 88%

“Predicted” is shrunk toward the course average, which is itself shrunk toward the department — so an instructor with a handful of students sits near the course mean rather than topping the list.

By term