The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures is committed to helping students become informed and liberally educated citizens of the world. Through the acquisition of language skills and cultural awareness, our students prepare for careers that have an international dimension. To that end, we strongly encourage them to spend their junior year abroad in order to immerse themselves in a foreign culture and perfect their language skills. We also run our own study abroad programs: two French programs (“The Paris Experience” and “The Montreal Experience”), one Spanish program (“The Cuban Experience”) and one in Italy (“The Italian Experience”).

We work closely with other university departments and interdisciplinary programs as well as with the cultural institutions of University Circle to provide students with a broad understanding of the many opportunities that language and culture study offer. The department has strong interdisciplinary ties with the college’s programs in Asian studies, French and Francophone studies, German studies, international studies, women’s and gender studies, and world literature. Students also gain practical experience in different cultural and language environments through service learning in the Spanish-speaking and Russian-speaking communities of Cleveland.

News

JASCO Speech Contest Winner

The 2024 JASCO Speech Contest was held at the University of Cincinnati on March 23, 2024. One student from the CWRU Japanese Studies Program, Ms. Zili "Liz" Wang, participated as a finalist and won first place with her speech titled “Grandpa’s Liver and I.” Since 1999, JASCO has annually...

Spanish Certificates

Now scheduling Certificate in Spanish for Health Professionals and Certificate in Spanish for Business in the Spanish Exam Center! Register by April 26, 2024.

Poetry Against Darkness: A Multilingual and International Poetry Reading

Poetry Against Darkness: An International Multilingual Poetry Reading Online (via zoom) Passcode: 757617 Friday, April 5, starting at 12:45 p.m. Organized by DMLL For more details and poet biographies click here.    

Guest Lecture with Dr. Paul Fischer

Please join us Tuesday, April 2 for a lecture with Dr. Paul Fischer on "Three teachings: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism."

A Talk with Dr. Matthew Feinberg

Please join us Thursday, March 28 for a talk with Dr. Matthew Feinberg on "The Urban Spectacle of Lavapiés: Theater, Politics, and the Right to the City in Contemporary Spain."  

Annual International Tea

Please join the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures for our annual International Tea.  It's a great opportunity to meet with faculty and other students and sample some international fare.  We hope to see you there!

A Presentation from Student Andromeda Vorndran

Students in the Russian program enjoyed a presentation from Andromeda Vorndran who spent last semester in the Republic of Georgia. In addition to studying Russian in the capital city Tbilisi, Andromeda traveled around Georgia, as well as to the neighboring countries of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Her presentation was very...

DELE Spanish Exams

Now scheduling DELE exams in the Spanish Exam Center! Register by February 21 for levels A1 and A2 exams.  Register here.