The faculty and students of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures explore the worlds of language and culture around the globe, from ancient times to the 21st century. Our courses examine what it means to be human--matters of identity, performance, expression--through folklore, myth, film, literature, linguistics, religion, media, art, and theater. We have specialists in literature, film, folklore, mythology, anthropology, ethnography, history, sociology, second language learning, linguistics, and much more. Each language area has a student organization which arranges opportunities for language practice and many  cultural events related to the areas of the world we study.

The department offers majors in Chinese, Classics, French, German, Japanese, and Russian as well as a major in Foreign Language and International Economics in French, German, Japanese and Russian. We also offer minors in all those languages as well as in Folklore and Mythology, Arabic and Islamic Studies, and Jewish Studies. We are currently developing a minor in Italian and a Certificate in Film and Media Studies. Many of our courses are taught in English and satisfy UK Core requirements.

At the graduate level, we have two teacher preparation programs at the Masters' level (Master of Arts in Teaching World Languages and in Teaching English as a Second Language) as well as Masters' programs in Classics, French, and German.