Mission Statement
The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures offers study in four languages, with majors and minors in French and Spanish, and two years of Chinese language. Students receive a practical grounding in these languages through a challenging curriculum and may complement their classroom experience with study abroad. The Department serves as a catalyst for and site of community events and activities. In addition, our language, literature, film and culture courses prepare students to understand cultural diversity abroad and at home, to appreciate their own language and culture, and to gain global awareness. An individual fluent in another language acquires insight into the world in which we live. Advanced foreign language skills, combined with an international perspective and intercultural expertise, position our students for productive careers in the global and multicultural marketplaces of the 21st century. Faculty engagement in research and teaching excellence combines with our unique "accent on the individual" through advisement and co-curricular opportunities to create a challenging yet supportive atmosphere in which students can realize their potential.
Learning Goals
- To provide students with the most effective and up-to-date language instruction from the beginning to the advanced level in order to develop speaking, reading, writing, and comprehension skills in at least one foreign language.
- To expose students to significant cultural artifacts and authors and thinkers of other cultures in the foreign language or in translation.
- To promote student critical thinking about and understanding of the nature of language through comparison of the second-language studied to their own.
- To foster student understanding of other cultures and civilizations through the study of literature, film, related arts and culture.
- To provide experiential opportunities for student use of the language studied both within the University and in non-academic settings at home and abroad.
- To give our students the means to visit, study or work in, or do research in any foreign country.
- To foster a solid foundation for students who intend to pursue a professional career or graduate studies in a foreign language for meaningful employment in global and multicultural marketplaces.