Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Department Chair: Dr. Eileen McEwan
Professors: Birgel, Marx
Professor and Director of the Language Learning Center: Iskold
Associate Professor: Sutherland
Assistant Professor: Olid
Visiting Assistant Professor: Chatzidimitriou
Lecturers: Bachochin, Buitrago, Leisawitz, Qualtere, Stilin, Trauger

The department offers students the opportunity to acquire or advance communication skills in the Arabic, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Russian, and Spanish languages. Degree programs focusing on literatures, cultures, and societies through the medium of their own language are available in French and Spanish. Degree programs in German and Russian are provided through the interdisciplinary German and Russian Studies programs, respectively. All courses and programs contribute to the students’ general liberal education by giving it a broader, as well as an international, dimension. In addition, the department’s Language Learning Center, a state-of-the-art technological facility, provides computer-based, multi-media instructional material as well as cable and satellite reception for student use in support of these programs.

Language majors and minors are uniquely situated to take on the challenges and opportunities that globalization offers, able to understand, appreciate, and critically analyze the perspectives of cultures other than their own. Senior capstone experiences in Languages, Literatures, and Cultures allow students to take their understanding of the literatures and cultures of one language and apply it in a broader multicultural and international context. Building on the dynamic tensions created by combining multiple languages and cultures in a single shared academic experience, these experiences both broaden and consolidate students’ understanding of language as a living process rooted in social and cultural contexts, a process essential in a pluralistic American society and in a world where nations are increasingly interdependent.

The department offers a variety of capstone programs and courses. Every spring, students in the language honor societies - Delta Phi Alpha (German), Dobro Slovo (Russian), and Phi Sigma Iota (French and Spanish) - present independently produced projects based on specific issues in languages, literatures, and/or cultures. These presentations, done in English or bilingual format, are required of all senior members of the honor societies. The biannual Student Symposium serves as a forum for senior majors to present papers designed around a single theme, often selected to complement the annual theme of the Center for Ethics. In Spanish, the Senior Capstone Seminar, CUE: Transatlantic Issues in Hispanic Literatures & Cultures, is offered every semester and is required of Spanish majors and is optional for Spanish minors.

Placement and Exemption

All students must take a language placement examination before enrolling for the first semester. The results of the examination will determine the appropriate language course assignment. Students seeking exemption from the language requirement must take an exemption examination during fall semester orientation.

Students who have a native command of any language other than English may apply to the department chair for permission to use that language to satisfy the language requirement. Please note, however, that the testing of any language other than those offered through the Department is subject to the availability of qualified personnel to perform the testing and to evaluate the student’s performance.

Special Programs

Study Abroad Opportunities

The department strongly encourages students to participate in a study abroad experience. Qualified students desiring to spend a junior semester or year abroad may enroll in any of the approved programs through the Office of Global Education. For specific information, please see the section “Study Abroad Programs ”. For further details, students should consult with the chair of the department, as well as with the Office of Global Education. Applications for approval to study abroad must be filed with the Office of Global Education by December 1 of the sophomore year.

Programs

Major

Minor