Commencement 2024


UCLA Linguistics Commencement 2024 

 

Please join the Linguistics Department on 

Sunday, June 16, 2024
5:30 PM
Royce Hall  

for our Department Graduation Ceremony celebrating our Graduating Class of 2024! 

The UCLA Department of Linguistics welcomes you and your family and friends to the Class of 2024 Linguistics Graduation Commencement Ceremony, on Sunday, June 16, 2024, at 5:30 PM in Royce Hall. 

We look forward to celebrating our graduating undergraduate seniors (majors and minors) and MA and PhD graduate students at our department ceremony and making this day as special as it can be for those participating.  

More information regarding the speakers and other updates will be available in the coming weeks. Refer to this page for the most up-to-date commencement news. 

Questions? Please contact our department commencement coordinators Leigh Bagood (leigh@humnet.ucla.edu) and Joana Pelayo (jpelayo@humnet.ucla.edu). 

 

Previous Commencements:
UCLA Linguistics Commencement 2023

UCLA Linguistics Commencement 2023

Please join the Linguistics Department on

Sunday, June 18, 2023

5:30 PM

Royce Hall

 

For our Department Graduation Ceremony celebrating our Graduating Class of 2023!

The UCLA Department of Linguistics welcomes you and your family and friends to the Class of 2023 Linguistics Graduation Commencement Ceremony, on Sunday, June 18, 2023, at 5:30 PM in Royce Hall

We look forward to celebrating our graduating undergraduate seniors (majors and minors) and MA and PhD graduate students at our department ceremony and making this day as special as it can be for those participating.

Ceremony Program
Class of 2023 List 

 

Keynote Speaker

Erika Varis Doggett
Senior Research Scientist, Disney Research Studios
BA in Linguistics & Spanish, UCLA Linguistics
PhD in Linguistics, USC

Dr. Erika Varis Doggett is a Senior Research Scientist at Disney Research Studios, focusing on a variety of topics within machine learning, with special attention to computer vision and natural language processing (NLP) techniques. Recent areas of interest include natural language generation, neural style transfer, inpainting, and anomaly detection. Prior to Disney Research, Dr. Varis Doggett managed an applied research and development AI/machine learning team at Walt Disney Studios and worked in a social media startup as a computational linguist. She received her PhD in Linguistics from the University of Southern California and lectured at the University of Nevada Reno before transitioning to industry in NLP.

Undergraduate Student Speaker

Roniyah Shasanmi

Roniyah Shasanmi is a second-year transfer student graduating with a B.A. in Linguistics and Anthropology and a Minor in French. She hopes to become a visual ethnographer because she is passionate about mixing creativity with education. She decided to pursue linguistics and anthropology because of her desire to understand people and cultures. She believes that learning about communication will help her understand why people behave the way they do and thus will help her better relate to people across cultures. Growing up, her family created an atmosphere that fostered a love of anything artistic. To this day, she enjoys drawing, dancing, singing, writing poetry, photography, and more. In her free time, she likes to do things with friends and family, from visiting museums to playing board games.

A Message From Our Chair

Dear Linguists from the Class of 2023,

Congratulations on receiving your UCLA degree. You triumphed over our rigorous and challenging program with all your hard work and talent! You crushed COVID zoom classes! You even triumphed over the awkward return to campus 18 months later! You are more than prepared for anything this universe can throw at you!

We – all your faculty, TAs, and staff – are thrilled to host the second Royce Hall Commencement ceremony for you. I hope to see you, and everyone who contributed to your success, at the UCLA Linguistics Graduation event.

We wish you every success in this world. And don’t be strangers. We want to know what you are doing with your degrees. So, please join us on the burgeoning UCLA Linguistics LinkedIn group. A fellow Bruin Linguist awaits, wherever life takes you.

With best wishes,

Megha Sundara
Department Chair and Professor

  • A Message from Our Chair

    Dear Linguists from the Class of 2024, 

     Congratulations on receiving your UCLA degree. You are now part of a select group of individuals who can discuss laterals, lambdas, and locatives! With all your hard work, and your persistence, you have mastered our rigorous and challenging program! You are ready to take the world by storm!

    We – all your faculty, TAs, and staff – are thrilled to host the third Royce Hall Commencement ceremony for you. I hope to see you, and everyone who contributed to your success, at the UCLA Linguistics Graduation event. 

    We wish you every success in this world. And don’t be strangers. We want to know what you are doing with your degrees. So, please join us on the burgeoning UCLA Linguistics LinkedIn group. A fellow Bruin Linguist awaits, wherever life takes you. 

    With best wishes, 

    Megha Sundara
    Department Chair and Professor

  • General Information for Students

    Eligibility to participate: 

    Undergraduate Students 

    To be eligible to participate, undergraduate students must have a declared degree expectancy term for Fall 2023 through Summer 2024 in one of our Linguistics majors or minors. 

    Fall 2024 graduates who wish to participate in the June 2024 commencement ceremony should submit their automatically-approved Special Inclusion Petition through the commencement ticket portal on MyUCLA. The automatically-approved SIP will become available on Monday, April 1st and will close on Friday, May 31st at 11:59pm (PST).. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that these requirements are met. 

    For details on the College of Letters and Sciences Ceremony, please visit the LS Commencement event website.  

    Undergraduate Students should contact Leigh Bagood at leigh@humnet.ucla.edu for any questions regarding the ceremony. 

    Graduate Students 

    Students filing or who have filed their doctoral dissertation or MA thesis in Summer 2023 through Spring 2024 may participate.  

    You can find more information on the UCLA Doctoral Hooding Ceremony for 2023-2024 doctoral candidates on the UCLA Graduate Division website.  

    Student Regalia Ordering (Both undergraduate and graduate students): Students must wear regalia to take part in the ceremony (this is your ticket into the ceremony when you check-in). Students should order regalia through Graduation Etc. starting March 4, 2024 (pickups start March 11). It is recommended that a student order their regalia by the beginning of May 2024. 

     

    Ticketing:  

    Both undergraduate and graduate students 

    1.  The ticketing window for students for department events is scheduled for Friday of Spring Quarter’s Week 6, and ends on Friday of Week 8 @ 11:59PM PST via the Commencement Feature on my.ucla.edu. (Tickets to the College Commencement Ceremony can be requested starting Thursday of Spring Quarter’s Week 5. See the LS Commencement Website for College Commencement ticketing information).  
    1. Participating students are eligible for 4 free guest tickets.  Additionally, students have the option to purchase up to 4 additional tickets at $20/each (charged to your student BAR account).* 
    1. Guest tickets will be distributed to your email address (as indicated in MyUCLA) between Tuesday of Week 9 through Thursday, June 13, 2024. It will be sent from the Central Ticket Office (tickets@cto.ucla.edu) and will contain a link for you to receive your electronic tickets. Keep in mind that department ceremony tickets will arrive in a separate set of email messages from the College Commencement tickets. Please be sure to check that your email account is accurate in MyUCLA, and also check your email account’s SPAM folder frequently, to be sure you do not overlook these important messages. 

    *NOTE: As a student you do not need your own graduate ticket for the department ceremony. Your regalia and online RSVP are all that is needed to check in at the department ceremony. 

    Accommodations: ASL Interpreters will be present at our ceremony. If students need any other accommodations related to disabilities for the event, please contact Leigh Bagood (leigh@humnet.ucla.edu) by Monday, June 3, 2024 with your UID number and further details. 

     

  • Call for Undergraduate Student Speaker

    DEADLINE: Sunday, May 19, 2024

    The Department of Linguistics invites graduating Linguistics undergraduate students from the Class of 2024 to apply to be the student speaker at our department commencement ceremony on Sunday, June 16, at 5:30 PM in Royce Hall. The student speaker will have the distinguished honor of presenting a parting and celebratory message to their fellow graduates, encouraging and inspiring them through this next journey in life.

    Eligibility
    Graduating students interested in delivering the commencement address must satisfy the following requirements:

    • Be a declared undergraduate major within the Linguistics department eligible for commencement (degree award term of Fall ‘23, Winter ‘24, Spring ‘24, or Summer ‘24)
    • Be in good academic and disciplinary standing
    • Commit to attend and participate fully in the commencement ceremony

     

    Submission Process
    Eligible and interested students should complete the Google Form application by Sunday, May 19, at 11:59 PM. The application requires brief information on your experience at UCLA and a draft of your proposed speech (no more than 3-5 minutes).

    Selection Process
    Applicants will present their speech to a selection committee comprised of staff and student representatives from the Linguistics department during Week 8 (May 20 – May 24). The selection committee will then select one student speaker by May 31st to represent the department at the commencement ceremony. The selected speaker will be expected to work with the UG SAO and practice the speech in front of department staff in the weeks leading up to commencement to refine their speech and delivery.

    The following criteria will be considered when selecting a student speaker:

    • Clarity of message
    • Quality of speech content
    • Length of presentation
    • Representation of UCLA Linguistics mission and values
    • Appeal to both the diverse and common experiences of students
    • Speaker’s preparation, delivery, and stage presence

    If you have any questions, please email UG SAO Leigh Bagood at leigh@humnet.ucla.edu.

  • COVID Protocols and Parking

    Parking:  

    Purchase in Advance: Students and guests attending the 2024 Commencement ceremonies can buy parking permits online through the Bruin ePermit Event Parking Portal starting May 1. To skip long lines at the self-service pay stations on campus, we recommend purchasing your parking permit ahead of attending the Commencement ceremonies. 

    For full details and instructions on Commencement Parking, please visit the UCLA Transportation website: https://www.transportation.ucla.edu/campus-parking/commencement-parking.  

     

    COVID Protocols 

    As of May 2022, the UCLA campus does not require event attendees to provide a COVID-19 clearance check. For all guests and attendees, we ask that you do not attend the event if you are experiencing COVID-related symptoms in order to protect the health and safety of all attendees. Masking is strongly recommended but not required indoors.  

    Please visit the Information for visitors – COVID-19 and vaccine resources page for more information on UCLA’s guidance for non-affiliated guests invited to campus. We ask and appreciate that everyone be considerate and respectful of one another’s decisions. 

    Please visit the Information for visitors – COVID-19 and vaccine resources page for more information on UCLA’s guidance for non-affiliated guests invited to campus. We ask and appreciate that everyone be considerate and respectful of one another’s decisions.

     

  • Keep in touch

    To keep in touch with the latest UCLA Linguistics Department news, please join our mailing list. If you have updates on your accomplishments and journey, feel free to email us.