语言学系提供的课程着重于语言理论，历史语言学以及与语言有关的认知方面。由于语言是人类的鲜明特征，因此对语言的研究为研究人类思维/大脑的复杂性提供了重要的出发点。语言学在1950年代率先开展了“认知革命”，此后一直在关于认知问题的辩论中享有特权。在哈佛，建立了“思维/大脑/行为”（MBB）计划，以帮助不同研究领域的教师在利用神经科学新兴技术的项目上进行协作。一种这样的技术，即脑成像技术，一直是语言学家们很感兴趣的，较新的实验工作是在语言理论与语言处理，语言习得，语言使用，空间和社会认知，进化心理学和生物学以
The courses offered by the Department of Linguistics place an emphasis on linguistic theory, historical linguistics, and the cognitive aspects related to language. Since language is a distinctively human characteristic, the study of language provides an important take-off point for investigating the complexities of the human mind/brain. Linguistics spearheaded the ''cognitive revolution'' in the 1950s and has occupied a privileged position in debates on cognitive issues ever since. At Harvard, the Mind/Brain/Behavior (MBB) Initiative was founded to help faculty in distinct research areas collaborate on projects making use of emerging techniques in neuroscience. One such technique, brain imaging, has long been of interest to linguists, newer experimental work is establishing connections between linguistic theory and language processing, language acquisition, language use, spatial and social cognition, evolutionary psychology and biology, and neuroscience.