黑料吃瓜网

Our Mission

The mission of the Department of World Languages and Literatures is to help 黑料吃瓜网 students build the linguistic and cultural skills they need to live as informed, responsible, and interculturally aware global citizens. In our classes, students not only learn to communicate in languages other than English, they also develop a critical understanding of the diversity of global cultures and their place within them.

We are committed to the study of cultures and languages as indispensable to building the intercultural competencies our students need to thrive in a globalized world. Language learning entails a powerful encounter with difference that provides insights well beyond what AI translation can offer. In our classes, through the analysis of cultural production, including literature and film, students learn to define and decenter their perspectives, to interpret the subtleties of human expression, and to communicate across cultures. These are transferable skills that students can leverage to engage more confidently and ethically as individuals, professionals, and citizens, whatever paths they choose to pursue, at home or abroad.

Our commitment to language learning is echoed in the College鈥檚 Language Study requirement, which students can meet by taking classes at any level in any of the twelve languages offered in the department: American Sign Language, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Students who wish to pursue their language study further can declare a World Languages major in French, German or Spanish, or minor in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish; in addition to developing more advanced communication skills, WLL majors and minors refine their analytical skills and deepen their cultural awareness through the interdisciplinary exploration of literary, visual, and material cultures.

Student Learning Goals

Below are the departmental learning goals mapped to College-wide goals for student learning.

Our Goals for Student Learning

The Department of World Languages and Literatures adheres to the world-readiness standards for language learning articulated by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Based on these standards, our students will develop the ability to:

• Communicate effectively, in their language of choice, in multiple settings and for multiple purposes. (Ia,IIa (in another language),c, IIIc,d)
• Interact with cultural competence and understanding. (Ib, IIc,d, IIIb,c)
• Connect with other disciplines and acquire information and perspectives in order to use the language in academic and professional settings. (Ic, IIe, IIId, IVa,d)
• Develop insight into the nature of language and culture in order to act with cultural competence. (Ic, IIIa,d, IVa,c)
• Communicate and interact with cultural competence in order to participate in  multilingual communities at home and around the world. (II a,d, IIId)

Information literacy

• Understand, describe, and apply the scholarly communication process in literary, film, and cultural studies. (Ia,IIb,IIIc)
• Evaluate information and its sources critically for value, relevance, and accuracy. (IIa,e, IIIe)

Visual literacy

• Critically analyze visual representations, identify inter-textual references and interpret rhetorical concepts used to persuade the viewer. (Ic, IIa IVb)
• Articulate and rationalize decisions made about image selection, manipulation, and contextual position. (Ic, IIb, IVa)

Technological literacy

• Work across digital environments to present information effectively to a given audience. (IVa,c, IIIc)
• Use on-line dictionaries and translators effectively, critically, and ethically. (Ia, IIc,e, IIIa)
• Critically analyze how technology, culture, and environment interact and influence one another in the target language. (Ib, IId, IIIb)

Effective Oral Communication

• Present Information, concepts, and ideas to inform, explain, persuade, and narrate on a variety of topics. (IIa,c, IIIc, IVa)
• Articulate informed opinions accurately and professionally. (Ib, IIa,c, IIIa)
• Recognize cultural difference that can appear in oral exchange. (Ia, IIIa,b)