Modern Languages and Cultures

Professor Frank
Associate Professors Cupolo (Chair), Ealy

Undergraduate Major Program in Modern Languages and Cultures (B.A.)

The major/minor in modern languages and cultures (ML) constitutes a flexible, interdisciplinary program. The ML program offers students the opportunity to become proficient in a foreign language and to acquire knowledge in that culture through study in cognate fields.

The ML program is firmly grounded in the College of Arts and Sciences as an integral part of the liberal arts curriculum. As such, it extends second-language use beyond the foreign-language classroom and into existing courses throughout the University of Hartford curriculum. The department allows majors/minors flexibility in designing their study program, and so students may request 12 credit hours of work in related disciplines outside of the ML department, preferably with a foreign language across the curriculum (FLAC) component.

Distinctive features of the Department of Modern Languages are its interdisciplinary emphasis and its use of foreign languages across the curriculum, or purposeful and directed application of foreign-language skills throughout the general University curriculum. Its central proposition is that students acquire competence and critical-thinking skills by applying foreign language proficiency in other disciplines. Because the major/minor does not limit itself to language/literature learning but focuses on cross-cultural perspectives, FLAC is integral to the ML program.

Designed for a multicultural world, the ML curriculum makes social, political, and economic events integral to a program that focuses on international literacy and cross-cultural knowledge.

The Department of Modern Languages and Cultures offers undergraduate majors and minors in French, Italian, and Spanish.

Requirements for All ML Majors (32 credits)

ML Concentration Core (17 credits)

Students apply for admission to the major programs after successfully completing (or testing out of) the 111 level in their host language. They then begin the core, which makes up the first 17 credits of the major.

Electives (12 credits)

The next 12 credits of the ML major are subject to flexible definition through the student’s choice of electives that relate to French studies, Italian studies, or Spanish studies. Students are encouraged to check with their department advisor for appropriate cognates and/or FLAC courses.

Study-abroad credits may be substituted for any course that counts toward the concentration, subject to approval by the department.

Capstone Course: ML 470 (3 credits)

All ML majors complete the final 3 credits of their programs by taking a capstone course. Most of the students’ work in the capstone sequence is done in the host language.

Requirements for All ML Minors (18 credits)

The ML minor is designed to accommodate both students interested in foreign language study and students interested in studying the culture of the French-speaking, Italian-speaking, or Spanish-speaking world. While some foreign-language study is required in all ML minors (through the 111 level at a minimum), it is possible for ML minors to complete a significant portion of their coursework in translation. Prospective minors are encouraged to seek the advice of departmental advisors who can help them plan a course of study that suits their interests and their language ability. All ML minors culminate with ML 470, the capstone course.

Programs

Undergraduate Major

Minor