Goals

The primary goal for our foreign language majors is to attain the ability to communicate in the target language with near-native ease. Students are taught the skills of reading, writing, speaking and comprehending the language.

Program

The department of modern language offers a major in modern language with French, German and Spanish options. These programs lead to a bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree in liberal arts or a bachelor of science degree in secondary education. Minors are offered in French, German and Spanish. Two years of Chinese and Japanese are also available. Our programs are broad-based, covering the literature, history, and modern culture of the linguistic group, but our main emphasis is building the communication skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing in the target language.

Faculty

The faculty members in the department of modern language are committed to undergraduate education. They have diverse backgrounds and research interests which include pedagogy, linguistics, film studies, and the artistic and literary output of several countries of Europe and of the Americas. The faculty participate regularly in local, national, and international professional conferences, and most hold doctoral degrees.

Career Opportunities

Majors in a modern language develop abilities that are sought in business, education, academics and government. Graduates of recent years have entered careers in business, government, public education, journalism, and international law.