McMicken College of Arts & Sciences
School of World Languages and Cultures

Mission

The McMicken College of Arts and Sciences created the School of World Languages and Cultures (SWLC) in 2006 to enhance the study of modern foreign languages and cultures, promote faculty research in this area and increase global awareness at UC. The College's first academic "school" establishes an academic alliance among the units and faculty of Asian Studies, European Studies, German Studies, Judaic Studies, Latin American Studies, Middle Eastern Studies and Romance Languages and Literatures; the College's world language curricula in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Swahili; and interested faculty from other college units.

The new school serves as the focal point for interdisciplinary teaching and research. While increasing ways for students to become globally engaged, such as study abroad, international internships and travel-study courses, SWLC also provides a forum for local dialogue on global connections and cultural diversity. Innovative university- and community-wide opportunities abound, from seminars, international film festivals and speakers' programs to cultural and foreign language workshop training for the private sector and workshops for local K-12 teachers.

The strength of leading academic institutions derives from both the ability to sustain the foundational liberal arts and sciences disciplines and the ability to envision and explore new fields of inquiry and interdisciplinary convergence. In comprehensive fashion, SWLC facilitates the academic visibility, curricular innovation, research synergies and sense of place needed to prepare graduates for the global workplace they will enter and the global challenges they will face.

The principal units of the School are the Departments of German Studies, Judaic Studies and Romance Languages and the Center for Area Studies and Programs.