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Any list of human accomplishments will include natural language. While every human society has a language, no other animal has a communication system with this scope and complexity. How do languages emerge and evolve, and how are they learned? What happens when a child is born into an environment with no accessible language (e.g., deaf children who are born to hearing parents who do not know a sign language)? In this seminar, we’ll explore how children acquire – or even create – language in different environments. Case studies include international adoptees, blind children, deaf children, and autistic children. We’ll also examine real-world cases like homesign systems, pidgins and creoles, and Lengua de Señas Nicaragüense (also known as Nicaraguan Sign Language). We’ll also discuss languages which have been consciously and painstakingly designed (Game of Thrones, Avatar, etc.), constructed international systems (Esperanto, International Sign), and large language models (e.g., ChatGPT4). This course invites students to think critically about what language is, where it comes from, and variation in human experiences.