We Offer
Our department includes majors and minors in French and Spanish, as well as minors in German and Italian. The department also offers Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Tagalog depending on demand. Lower division language courses enable students to attain foreign language proficiency before going on to upper division courses in literature, film, culture, and advanced language. A flexible placement policy allows students with foreign language skills to begin their coursework at the most suitable level as well as a flexible equivalency process for those that wish to study abroad.
If you are a community member interested in taking any of our courses (for credit or audit), please refer to the Non-Degree-Seeking Students Registration page.
Our Mission Statement
The mission of the Department of Modern Languages and Literature is to prepare students to live, work and serve as global citizens, with the responsibility, empathy, openness to diversity and commitment to social justice that distinguish the Jesuit educational tradition.
Our curriculum is designed to achieve three overarching goals: to empower our students to become independent users of language in real-life contexts; to develop reflective, analytical, critical-thinking and discursive abilities through the study of a wide range of cultural products, practices and perspectives; and to foster the cultural competence that will enable our students to forge meaningful connections with people from cultures different from their own.
With the knowledge, skills and attitudes they acquire in the study of modern languages, our students will be able to contribute to a diverse and changing world as active participants who can work within and across cultural perspectives.