WELCOME TO CLASSICAL AND MODERN LANGUAGES & LITERATURES

The Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures offers courses in nine different languages; majors in French, Spanish, Italian, and two Romance languages; a concentration in Spanish Linguistics; and minors in Classical Studies, French, Spanish Linguistics, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Language and Lusophone Cultures, and Middle East and North Africa Studies. 

The department sponsors local chapters of the national French Honor Society, Pi Delta Phi, and the national Spanish Honor Society, Sigma Delta Pi. In addition, the Department has a French language and cultural center, Lumieres; a French club; an Italian Club, a Spanish club, a Classics club; and sponsors scholarly talks and other events throughout the year. 

OUR MISSION: 

With its focus on expanding students’ ability to successfully navigate linguistic and cultural borders, the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures lies necessarily at the heart of the legacy and stated goals of The City College as a “diverse, dynamic, and boldly visionary” educational institution committed to providing “access, opportunity, and transformation,” for students from the city of New York and beyond. Our department affords students the opportunity to gain or surpass proficiency in nine different languages: Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, French, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish. It offers majors and minors in French, Spanish, Italian; a major in Two Romance Languages; as well as additional minors in Classical Studies, Middle East and North Africa Studies, Portuguese Language and Lusophone Cultures, and Spanish Linguistics. It also currently serves as a home base for two affiliated Programs with their own majors and minors: Asian Studies and Jewish Studies. This makes for a vibrant array of courses, clubs, and academic events dedicated to supporting students’ academic and personal growth. While there are significant curricular differences between these various language and area programs, we are united as a department in the belief that multilingualism is and must remain the way of the world. We are also bound together by our dedication to strengthening our students’ hand in negotiating their place in an ever-shifting global landscape by helping them seize the communicative tools they will need, reaching outside of themselves, and traversing beyond the places where they grew up and the locales they currently inhabit, in order to cross whatever boundaries may arise in their pursuit of the dreams that fuel their drive to excel.

Classical and Modern Languages & Literatures Departmental Learning Outcomes:

1. Develop proficiency in comprehending, speaking, reading, and writing the standard academic variety of at least one language other than English.
2. Formulate and defend an analytical thesis in written and oral formats.
3. Distinguish between reliable and unreliable primary and secondary research sources.
4. Evaluate the strength of claims in one's own and others' writing.
5. Summarize the cultural characteristics of major historical periods in the area of concentration.
6. Relate individual literary or linguistic texts to their historical and cultural contexts.
7. Interpret literary or linguistic works within critical and theoretical contexts in the tradition of at least one language other that English.
8. Employ professional citation styles and standards of scholarly integrity.
9. Use MLA/Chicago formats and styles properly.
10. Develop an appreciation for the values of other cultures.