Objectives
The aim of the Modern Languages Major is twofold: to enable students to develop proficiency in the four language skills—aural, oral, speaking, and writing—in two modern languages, and to develop cultural literacy.
Through a structured and carefully planned group of course offerings and a strong recommendation to participate for a semester or a summer in study abroad programs, the Modern Languages Major will prepare students for a world in which intercultural understanding provides the basis for mutual respect, global harmony, and social justice.
The program will encourage and advise students to embark in study abroad experiences, research opportunities, extracurricular activities, and community-based learning opportunities that will prepare them to speak, understand, and write two foreign languages as well as linguistically analyze them, to know the principal aspects of some of the cultures where those languages are spoken, and to exercise intercultural awareness.
The major is highly desirable for those interested in international communications and access to immigrant populations, in areas including but not limited to business, teaching, social work, theology, law, theatre, and the visual arts. Competence in more than one foreign language, a keen awareness of cultures, and an understanding of the structure of language itself is a compelling combination of skills that will prepare the student for employment in a globalized economy.
Modern Languages Student Learning Outcomes
Modern Languages majors will know:
- The principal aspects of two foreign languages and cultures
- The tools to analyze languages and cultures
- The principal aspects of two cultures and civilizations through the study of their cultural productions such as literature, art, social practices, and media.
Modern Languages majors will be able to:
- Speak, understand, and write two foreign languages as well as linguistically analyze them
- Read a variety of texts in two languages and discuss their content, technique, and cultural significance.
Modern Languages majors will be able to demonstrate that they value:
- Two distinct cultures and civilizations and their cultural productions
- Increasing intercultural awareness
- Multilingualism and the world it opens up for them.
Modern Languages Model Four-Year Plan
The normal course load is 15 semester hours per semester (5 classes). By following the model below, a student will complete all lower division core requirements by the end of the sophomore year as well as all major prerequisites. Note that core areas are suggested to provide a distribution of various disciplines every semester. Please be flexible implementing these suggestions, given your own interests and course availability. In four years, this plan meets all common graduation requirements.