Our department offers undergraduate courses in
language, literature, linguistics, culture, civilization, and film.
Instruction is provided in 12 languages, with major and
concentration programs in French, German, Italian Studies, Russian
and Spanish. Minors are offered in Asian Studies (Chinese and
Japanese), and Classical Studies. For students interested in
elementary or secondary school teaching of French, German, Russian,
or Spanish, a teaching major and minor is offered that, in
combination with certain mandated courses in the School of
Education, leads to state certification. Language clubs and
honoraries, language tables in the dormitories, guest lectures,
international film series, and theater performances are also
available to our students to enhance their knowledge and experience
of other languages and cultures.
For graduate study, the
department offers M.A. and M.A.T. degrees in French, German, and
Spanish literature and linguistics; and the Ph.D. degree in French,
German, and Spanish. Courses are also offered in this department for
the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees granted by the Program in Comparative
Literature. A Ph.D. degree in foreign language education with a
concentration in one of the three languages is also available.
Our
faculty members are highly qualified with a richly diverse range
of research interests. The following notable scholarly publications
are edited by faculty and staff in the department:
Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures (PSRL); Romance Languages
Annual (RLA);
Espelho; and
Global Business Languages.
Professor Keck, Former Head of the department, has led
the development and promotion of Business German courses
in the US, and is associate director of CIBER (The Center
for International Business Education and Research) at Purdue.
Courses in Business Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian,
and Spanish are very popular with Purdue's international
business, science, and engineering students. Business Italian
and Portuguese courses are being developed.
The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures is fully
wired with fiber optics that link all our computers to the campus
"backbone" and to the Internet. We have two large state-of-the-art
computer laboratories specially equipped to enhance
Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL). Other innovative
computer assisted learning programs being developed by our faculty
include CALET (Computer-Aided Language Education Tools) Multi-Media,
a very user-friendly authoring system for interactive video in all
languages, and unique instructional software for Purdue's Japanese
courses.
Study abroad is an important part of a language education, and
our faculty and staff work in close collaboration with the
International Programs For Study Abroad to find our students the
best university programs in other countries. Master's degree
students with teaching assistantships can apply to spend a semester
abroad during which they will continue to be funded as well as
receive credit toward their degree. Academic performance determines
those students selected annually to participate in this independent
foreign study program.
Please check out the other information sites on our WWW page. For
a taste of our department, we invite you to join us for our weekly
Coffee and Tea Conversation Hours, held in the Staaks Lounge,
Room 131 in Stanley Coulter Hall.
We are housed in Stanley Coulter Hall, a beautifully renovated
building fully accessible to physically challenged students and
staff with an elevator, automatic exterior door openers, Braille
signage, and wheelchair accessible washrooms and drinking fountains.
We look forward to meeting you and sharing our languages and
cultures with you.
