Fourteen Areas of Humanistic Inquiry and Exploration

The Department of Languages and Literary Studies offers majors and minors in French, German, and Spanish, as well as minors in Chinese and Russian. The Department is a vital member of Lafayette’s new LANG Center for the Humanities, and has received grant funding for its initiatives in German Film & Media Gaming as well as its Francophone CyberPAL program with the French Consulate’s French Heritage Language Program for youths in the NYC schools.

Coursework in the department’s  language offerings also plays a significant role in many interdisciplinary degree programs at Lafayette: Chinese and Japanese support the major and minor in Asian Studies; Russian language and literature are the backbone of the major in Russian & East European Studies; Greek and Latin are the foundation of the minor in Classical Civilization; Modern Hebrew is essential to the minor in Jewish Studies; Spanish and French are mainstays of the minor in Latin American & Caribbean Studies. French is also a major player in the Africana Studies and Medieval & Renaissance Studies programs. Moreover, the department is home to Comparative Literature, which offers a wide selection of courses taught in English and a minor in Literature in Translation.

Finally, the Department of Languages & Literary Studies provides its students the opportunity to study teaching methodology and Second-Language Acquisition.