The World Languages & Cultures program provides students interested in world cultures the opportunity to explore the role languages play in constructing notions of memory, identity, and belonging in our globalized world. World Language and Culture programs are a main branch of the humanities and engage broadly with regional/local/global concerns. Students dive deeply into transnational issues as they manifest through concrete and abstract cultural products, processes and practices. In addition to a foreign language course of their choosing, students take one seminar per semester that investigates the dynamics of language and culture from a variety of regional, disciplinary, and scholarly perspectives. Students in the program choose from areas across our School of World Languages & Cultures including Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Russian, Spanish and American Sign Language.  

Classes proposed for 2026-27

Film & Television Studies 1022 – Now on Netflix!: The Producing and Streaming of World Culture(s) (Fall)  

‘Now on Netflix!: Producing and Streaming of World Culture(s)” critically approaches key issues in scholarship on Netflix’s global reach: from its ability to popularize minority cinema productions to concerns regarding translation (subtitling versus dubbing), and more.  

Taught by Bridget Levine-West, Professor in German, Film & Television Studies 

Linguistics 1500 – Introduction to Linguistics (Spring)

This course provides an introduction to the primary areas of linguistic study: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. We will also explore some of the more specialized areas of research within the field, including language variation, sociolinguistics, language and culture, language contact, and psycholinguistics. 

Taught by Professor Ben Sienicki, Linguistics 

Students: 

"It was a really great way to connect with other people interested in language, and it was fun to live with those same people so we could easily talk outside of class! Coming from a bilingual household, it was nice to live with people who spoke another language as well, even if it wasn’t the same as mine. I’ve also made some really good friends through the program, and had the opportunity to have more personal, engaging interactions with my professors that I probably wouldn’t have had otherwise." 
 
- Emilia W., Math major with Minors in German and Music

Apply Now