2024-2025 Academic Catalog
Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
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Department Chair: Dr. Daniel Leisawitz, Associate Professor in Italian
Professors: McEwan, Olid
Associate Professors: Chatzidimitriou, Sutherland
Assistant Professors: Lugo Herrera, Trauger
Lecturers: El-Turky, Lebrón, Lu, Moreno, Qualtere, Sajez, Terzioglu, Vitale
The Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures plays a lead role in offering courses to fulfill the Intercultural Communication component of the Pathways Curriculum. We offer, as our name suggests, a wide range of disparate courses in nine languages, including Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and courses taught in English translation. Our learning goals across each of the eight languages are grounded in culture and are structured around strategies for negotiating effective intercultural communication. These include:
- Recognizing and using the writing systems, vocabulary, and grammatical structures of a second language
- Demonstrating the ability to interact with our multilingual world in a variety of situations and cultural contexts, listening, reading, writing, speaking, and understanding a second language at the intermediate level as defined by the ACTFL standards
- Contrasting their cultural preconceptions and ways of knowing with those of a second language’s culture
- Gaining knowledge that challenges students’ cultural preconceptions and ways of knowing, which will develop their capacity for equitable cultural interactions and their ability to act as responsible global citizens
All language courses and programs contribute to the students’ general liberal education by giving it a broader and more international dimension. Many students combine their language and language studies with a second major or minor, a reflection of how well languages and intercultural communication complement virtually any field or profession. The national academic honors society Phi Beta Kappa (PBK) recognizes the central importance of language study to a liberal education, requiring at least an intermediate college level in a second language. Our faculty are happy to discuss how languages can enrich your college, personal, and career goals.
Beyond our intercultural communication classes, we offer a range of major and minor programs focusing on literatures, cultures, and societies through the medium of language. In the French language major and minor and the Spanish major and minor, work is done in the target language; in the interdisciplinary French and Francophone Studies, German Studies, Italian Studies, and Russian Studies program, work in the target language may be blended with courses taken in English.
Language majors and minors are uniquely situated to take on the challenges and opportunities that globalization offers, as they are able to understand, appreciate, and critically analyze the perspectives of cultures other than their own.
Senior capstone experiences in the French and Francophone Studies, Russian Studies, and Spanish programs allow students to take their understanding of Francophone, Russian, or Hispanic literatures and cultures and apply it in a broader multicultural and international context. Capstone experiences are required of all language and language studies majors and may include both courses and guided projects.
Every spring, students in the language honor societies - Delta Phi Alpha (German), Dobro Slovo (Russian), and Phi Sigma Iota (French, Italian, 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.
Placement for Language Classes
Communication is essentially linked with language, and each student will approach language study individually. For this reason, we take every effort to place incoming students at the level that will best facilitate engagement with and success in a language class. All incoming students must complete a placement survey, in which they describe their academic and lived experiences with a second language. Students who have previously studied a language then take a language placement examination in that language before enrolling for the first semester; this is done regardless of whether or not the student plans to pursue further study in that language.
The results of our placement process serve two functions: they determine the appropriate language course assignment and they help us gauge the levels of language preparation coming out of high school. Advanced placement can also be assessed with Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) scores.
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.
The department offers short-term, faculty-led study abroad experiences through Muhlenberg Integrated Learning Abroad (MILA) courses. These opportunities vary from year to year, but have included interdisciplinary courses with international experiences in French (Culture, Media and Social Movements in Senegal, with Media and Communication) and Spanish (Public Health in Practice: Panamá, with Public Health).
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