Explore the World

Welcome to the Department of Languages and Cultures! Our multi-language department is the academic home for Chinese, French, German and Spanish. We also have an eye toward future course offerings in additional languages that reflect the interests of our students and community neighbors, such as Arabic, Farsi, Italian and Japanese. The department’s faculty and students are vibrant and engaged in the many connections between language, culture, and place here in southern California. For example, our department participates in an annual celebration of Las Posadas, the Chinese Moon Festival, and a well established French-language film festival just to name a few.

One of our department’s many strengths is the flexibility that students find in their pursuit of a minor, major or focused sequence of courses. Students are closely mentored by faculty in order to create a program of study that not only enhances language ability but also another area of study. We strongly encourage students to pursue a double major by designing their programs to include courses in language, culture and area studies. Students in Art, Business, Communications, Criminal Justice, Liberal Studies, Political Science, History, Philosophy and Religion find that a strong background in language and culture is a particularly strong addition to their majors.

Many students who have a family background in a language other than English are pleased to find that we offer a range of courses that draws on their personal experience while also expanding it into academic and professional contexts. Recent courses on “Spanish and International Trade” and “Chinese Business Culture and Language” reflect this connection. Additionally, students who desire to study abroad will be happy to see how well their courses at international universities connect to our department. As an example, students who participate in the university’s Paris program at the American Business School can easily continue their French study upon their return to campus. Students have also returned from a variety of study abroad programs in German-speaking countries and chosen to continue to study in our department to expand upon their language experience.

As a recently formed and highly collaborative department at California Lutheran University, we welcome students to create an exciting, rewarding and professionally beneficial program of study with us.

We look forward to meeting you!

Sincerely,
Rafaela Fiore, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of Languages and Cultures
Associate Professor of Spanish