Linguistics

Alumna story

Jessie Gordon

Bachelor of Arts Linguistics and Anthropology graduate, Jessie Gordon, is an internationally acclaimed, multi-award winning musician whose musical passions span across jazz, blues, gospel and roots music. She is a jazz blues vocalist, vintage jazz dancer, raconteur and self-proclaimed cheese enthusiast.
Jessie’s passion for music has taken her around the world, touring Southeast Asia, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK. She has won 15 Music and Cabaret awards at FRINGE WORLD Festival and has received 22 nominations. Jessie has collaborated with local Perth bands including Sassafras, Apocalypse Lounge, The Dirty Blues Band, Perth Cabaret Collective, and the Anatomically Incorrect Gentlemen, and recently released two albums with her original music, A Work of Fiction and Best Friends. 

My degree

In 2004, Jessie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Linguistics and Anthropology. Following graduation, she undertook an honours year in anthropology and began a PhD which she never completed, having succumbed to the lure of bright stage lights. 

Have you ever seen a connection between Linguistics and jazz? As a matter of fact, many singers take a keen interest in the way linguistics helps understand languages. Here’s what Jessie has to say about it:  

“For me the intersection of language and music provides a constant tension in performance. There are so many interpretations of a melody that can support the lyric of a tune, or provide a counterpoint to it. I use the skills I learned in my arts degree every day to think analytically about musical and lyrical content and find new ways to interpret and communicate on stage.

Anthropology changed the way I looked at the world. I can’t emphasise enough the impact it had on me. I still remember the profound revelation I experienced studying gender and sexuality, and also healing and medicine, through an anthropological lens."

Why UWA? 

“I chose to study at UWA because my dad was a lecturer in Anthropology there, and he was a big part of my choice to continue to postgraduate studies. He very cunningly convinced me that I could combine my interests of music, dance, gender studies and anthropology all at the same time. He’s a very clever man.”

With four European, four Asian and two Classical languages on offer, UWA is the leading institution in WA for language learning.

Immerse yourself in another language. Learn to see the world in a new way. Move between cultures with ease.

With our unique course structure, you can combine a language with your other interests to create your perfect study plan. French and Finance? Chinese and Chemistry? German and Geography? Japanese and Jurisprudence? It’s up to you.

You’ll learn to translate not just words, but ideas.

During your studies you can put your skills into practice by travelling overseas with one of our many global learning opportunities, from short courses to long-term student exchange programs.

After completing an undergraduate major in any of our eight modern languages (Chinese Studies, Indonesian Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, French Studies, German Studies, Italian Studies, and Spanish Studies), you could continue on to our Master of Translation Studies (the only course of its kind in Western Australia) to gain a prestigious professional qualification. Endorsed by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI), Master of Translation Studies students may also undertake a work placement in Australia or overseas.

Where could your language studies take you?