Mission Statement

The Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington is a community of scholars dedicated to excellence in teaching, research, and service to local and global communities. The department seeks to promote student understanding of the languages it teaches and the cultural communities they represent through innovative and substantive pedagogies.

In the language skills, the department prepares students to acquire proficiency at all levels. Ancillary goals of this proficiency-based language instruction include an enhancement of the students' understanding of their own language and a sharpening of critical thinking skills. Through classroom exposure, local, regional, and international outreach, and study abroad, students prepare themselves to participate in the emerging global community. As a result, students are prepared for an ever-changing workplace that requires effective communication, creativity, critical thinking, and interpersonal skills.

Graduates are able to use foreign language professionally, whether in teaching, business professions, or graduate studies in language and literatures. The department occupies a central place in the Humanities offerings at UNCW by exposing students to the function of language, and by providing a greater awareness of foreign peoples and their traditions, languages, and cultures.

Scholarship and research are the wellspring that sustains intellectual vitality within the university community, and prepares a valuable resource for the larger community. The faculty of the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures, comprised of individuals with active and diverse research interests, is dedicated to creating an atmosphere of intellectual exploration and exchange. In this environment, free exchange of ideas, intellectual growth, and high academic standards contribute to developing students' research interests and abilities.

The department serves as a valuable resource to the community in need of linguistic and or cultural expertise. These services include interpretation and translation of legal, medical, business, and artistic matters. The Department plays a pivotal role in foreign language teaching throughout Southeastern North Carolina. And finally, its commitment to research and the pursuit of new knowledge nurtures involvement in foreign languages and cultures in the wider community.

Through teaching, service, and research, the faculty of the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures serves as a bridge connecting local, regional, and international concerns. Similarly, we strive to link the literatures and cultures of the past and the emerging global communities of the present and future.