School of World Languages and Cultures Inaugurated

It's often said there is strength in numbers.

Through strong partnerships, key players in the School of World Languages and Cultures hope to add muscle to study and research related to languages and cultures, and to boost global awareness campus-wide.

At the inauguration of the School of World Languages and Cultures, former McMicken dean Karen Gould talks with Noriko Tsurui and Noriko Fujioka-Ito. Tsurui, a field service instructor, and Fujioka-Ito, an assistant professor, teach in the Japanese program.

In a hotly competitive, culturally diverse world, multilingual graduates with an understanding of other cultures have a much-needed edge, SWLC members and partners say.

Accordingly, the college's first academic "school," housed in 728 Old Chemistry, creates a federation of the departments of German Studies, Romances Languages and Literatures, Judaic Studies and the Center for Area Studies Programs, CASP. The Center will serve as home for multidisciplinary courses and programs, including Arabic, Asian, European, Latin American and emerging Middle Eastern studies, and other world languages, including Chinese, Russian, Japanese and Swahili. Transfer of the Celtic languages is under discussion.

On the radar is an ambitious agenda and much potential for university, community and global opportunities supporting the SWLC mission. Those efforts range from supporting related interdisciplinary programs with global focus and promoting study abroad initiatives to offering foreign language workshops for local K-12 teachers and the private sector. The Center could eventually provide a home for interdisciplinary Film Studies, said Lowanne Jones, SWLC director and head of Romance Languages and Literatures.

Other SWLC guests included Peter Kamnitzer and Dr. Sophie Kamnitzer, members of the Friends of Judaic Studies, pictured with Dr. Robert Smith, professor and director emeritus, UC Department of Family Medicine.

"Transfer of these programs from their former homes across the college is already under way," Jones told those gathered for the recent SWLC inauguration.

"We have also taken the first steps toward designing an integrated plan for basic language instruction at the lower levels that assures program quality, develops appropriate instructional workshops for graduate student instructors, part-time instructors, and all language teachers, and assesses student interest and performance."

For the many people who "really want to see these smaller programs develop and grow," the collaboration of McMicken College's language units and programs is exciting, said Nicasio Urbina, professor of Latin American Studies.

"There'll be a lot of support for different departments and for programs that were very tiny before, on their own," he said.

"They'll have more allure, be more attractive, within the university and the community." Jones praised the dedication and leadership of Karen Gould, former dean of McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, as plans for SWLC progressed: "Without her, this would have remained a fantasy," she said.

When organizers first started talking about such a venture, Gould said, one important question was: "How do we help the language and area studies programs who have no 'real home' – the 'wanderers' – without losing their autonomy?"

The answer, Gould said, brings programs large and small under the same umbrella in a federation with "lots of promise" that can grow and help make UC a "very special, internationalized place."

Interim Dean Cynthia Berryman-Fink said it is "truly important for students to become multilingual" in a multicultural community and globalized world.

And, she added, "learning languages is truly an enriching life experience" that she thinks can promote harmony on a widespread level.

Loveland resident Mary Long, who earned her master's degree in Spanish at UC in the 1980s, is excited to see the venture, and to envision what's in store for students who'll benefit from it.

Mary Long, right, chats with another guest at the inauguration of the School of World Languages and Cultures. Long earned her master's degree in Spanish at UC in the 1980s.

It's a far cry, she said, from the days when 12 graduates vied for every available job. Now, she said, multilingual students have a world of opportunity ahead of them.

"I think this is a fabulous beginning," Long said.

The SWLC's first meeting is set for 3:30 p.m. Feb. 22 in 615 Old Chem. All faculty who teach in the three departments or any of the programs in the CASP are welcome to attend. It is an organizational meeting that will set up committees and an agenda for future meetings. Individual faculty or representatives of programs that wish to affiliate with the School should contact Lowanne Jones.

Learn more about the School of World Languages and Cultures.