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Languages and Literature

Chairperson: Deborah Goodwyn, Box 9072, Room 300T Colson Hall, Phone: 524-5489

Description of the Department

The Department offers a wide range of writing, language-study, and literature courses in the fields of English, English Education, French, Spanish, and German; and courses in Mass Communications Media, Drama, and Speech. The Department offers two undergraduate programs of study. One undergraduate program of study leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in English. There are three options in the degree program: (1) English, English with a teaching endorsement, and English with a minor in Mass Communications. A second undergraduate program of study leads to the Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications. The program offers three options: Print Media, Radio and Television, and Public Relations. The minor in Mass Communications is an introduction to the study of media. A concentration (18 semester hours) is offered in foreign languages (French, German, and Spanish).

Mission of Department

The Department of Languages and Literature's programs and functions support the University's mission by welcoming and extending Department resources to all who strive for academic excellence, whatever their national, racial, ethnic or religious affiliation. The Department, in conjunction with the University, is ultimately dedicated to the promotion of knowledgeable, perceptive, and humane citizens secure in their self-awareness, equipped for personal fulfilment, sensitive to the needs of others, and committed to assuming productive roles in a challenging and ever changing global society.

Department programs and courses provide particular support for Mission principles concerned with advanced scholarship in the discipline of English, the African-American heritage, globally oriented studies, and students who are diversely prepared in communication skills.

The purpose of the Department of Languages and Literature is to assist students in

1. developing competence in language skills, especially in writing and in speaking;

2. developing knowledge of language, the literature of various periods and peoples, and the processes of critical thinking and writing;

3. preparing for the teaching profession, further study and research, and other careers involving analytical, critical, and communicative proficiencies;

4. and developing a broad intellectual background and specialized skills in Mass Communications and related media.

Objectives of Department

• To develop students’ competence in language skills, especially writing and speaking effectively

• To develop students' knowledge about language, the literature of various periods and peoples, and the processes of critical thinking and writing.

• To prepare students for teaching, further study and research, and other careers involving analytical, critical, and communicative proficiencies.

• To provide students a broad intellectual background and specialized skills in Mass Communications and related media

Programs in Department

The Department of Languages and Literature offers the Bachelor of Arts in English and the Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications.

The undergraduate program in English offers three options: (1) English, (2) English with a teaching endorsement, and (3) English with a minor in Mass Communications. The Mass Communications minor provides an introduction to the study of media through a core of eighteen (18) semester hours of required courses.

The undergraduate program in Mass Communications offers three options: print media, radio and television, and public relations. The program provides a common core of twenty-one (21) semester hours of introductory courses, and fifteen (15) semester hours of courses in one of the options, including an internship.

The Department of Languages and Literature also offers minors in Africana Studies, English, Writing, Mass Communication, Spanish, French and German.