UVM introduces School of World Languages and Cultures

Vermont Business Magazine This week marks the formal introduction of the University of Vermont’s new School of World Languages and Cultures (SWLC), located within the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). The School brings together four departments—Asian Languages and Literatures, Classics, German and Russian, and Romance Languages and Cultures—under the same roof, opening avenues for increased communication and collaboration both within the School and across colleges. This is particularly notable because it comes at a time when universities across the country are cutting foreign language programs.

 

“The School of World Languages and Cultures creates the opportunity for our faculty in world languages to communicate with one voice about the central role language study plays in our liberal arts education,” says William Falls, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. 

 

Participating in language study prepares students to engage with an ever more diverse, changing, and globalized world. They not only learn to speak with those of different cultures, but to understand and celebrate cultural differences as well.  

 

There are six separate programs under the new SWLC umbrella: Asian Languages and Literatures; Classics; French and Italian; German, Russian, and Hebrew; Linguistics; and Spanish. The reorganization combines the missions of these programs without any changes to the current faculty, staff, or curriculum. 

 

What is changing is that these formerly separate departments are now connected within SWLC, providing increased visibility into not just the languages themselves but also the cultural context —through literature, film, politics, and social history — in which they exist. Additionally, faculty are now able to advocate for language study in a more coordinated way, widen research and teaching networks and conversations, strengthen existing learning areas, and recruit more students interested in studying languages. 

 

“The School is a major step forward in terms of the visibility and vibrancy of the 10 languages we offer, and faculty and students are already excited about new sources of collaboration across our areas of research and teaching,” says SWLC director Joseph Acquisto, Ph.D., noting that true global citizenship depends on the study of other languages and cultures.

 

The School of World Languages and Cultures is the second new School to be created within CAS in recent memory, as the College introduced the School of the Arts in 2022. Learn more at https://www.uvm.edu/cas/swlc.

 

Since 1791, the University of Vermont has worked to move humankind forward. UVM’s strengths align with the most pressing needs of our time: the health of our societies and the health of our environment. Our size—large enough to offer a breadth of ideas, resources, and opportunities, yet intimate enough to enable close faculty-student mentorship across all levels of study—allows us to pursue these interconnected issues through cross-disciplinary research and collaboration. Providing an unparalleled educational experience for our students, and ensuring their success, are at the core of what we do. As one of the nation’s first land grant universities, UVM advances Vermont and the broader society through the discovery and application of new knowledge.