The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures is committed to helping students become informed and liberally educated citizens of the world. Through the acquisition of language skills and cultural awareness, our students prepare for careers that have an international dimension. To that end, we strongly encourage them to spend their junior year abroad in order to immerse themselves in a foreign culture and perfect their language skills. We also run our own study abroad programs: two French programs (“The Paris Experience” and “The Montreal Experience”), one Spanish program (“The Cuban Experience”) and one in Italy (“The Italian Experience”).

We work closely with other university departments and interdisciplinary programs as well as with the cultural institutions of University Circle to provide students with a broad understanding of the many opportunities that language and culture study offer. The department has strong interdisciplinary ties with the college’s programs in Asian studies, French and Francophone studies, German studies, international studies, women’s and gender studies, and world literature. Students also gain practical experience in different cultural and language environments through service learning in the Spanish-speaking and Russian-speaking communities of Cleveland.

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A Talk with Peng Han

On October 13, 2023 guest speaker, Peng Han joined 40 students from the fall 2023 Chinese classes.

New course this fall! Spanish 203: Intermediate Spanish for Heritage Speakers I

Registration is now open for Spanish 203. Please contact Professor Parry for more information at: alessandraparry@case.edu.

Fall 2024 Hebrew Courses

Registration is now open for Hebrew courses this fall! For more information please contact: Professor Barbara Mann at: barbara.e.mann@case.edu or Professor Nadava Linial at: nadav.linial@case.edu

2024 Summer Classes

  Spend the summer language learning with the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures!    

JASCO Speech Contest Winner

The 2024 JASCO Speech Contest was held at the University of Cincinnati on March 23, 2024. One student from the CWRU Japanese Studies Program, Ms. Zili "Liz" Wang, participated as a finalist and won first place with her speech titled “Grandpa’s Liver and I.” Since 1999, JASCO has annually...

Spanish Certificates

Now scheduling Certificate in Spanish for Health Professionals and Certificate in Spanish for Business in the Spanish Exam Center! Register by April 26, 2024.

Poetry Against Darkness: A Multilingual and International Poetry Reading

Poetry Against Darkness: An International Multilingual Poetry Reading Online (via zoom) Passcode: 757617 Friday, April 5, starting at 12:45 p.m. Organized by DMLL For more details and poet biographies click here.    

Guest Lecture with Dr. Paul Fischer

Please join us Tuesday, April 2 for a lecture with Dr. Paul Fischer on "Three teachings: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism."