Welcome to the Department of World Languages and Cultures
A Bit of History
Founded in 1947 as Modern Languages, the Department of World Languages and Cultures (WLC) is a community of scholars dedicated to excellence in teaching, research, and service to local and global communities. Through innovative and substantive pedagogies, the Department seeks to promote student understanding of the linguistic and cultural subject matters it teaches. We prepare students to acquire proficiency in world languages at all levels and enhance the students' effective communication, creativity, critical thinking, greater awareness of the world's peoples, and interpersonal skills, as well as their understanding of their own language. We are dedicated to creating an atmosphere of intellectual exploration and exchange in order to develop students' research interests and abilities. Through teaching, applied learning, service, and research, we serve as a bridge connecting local, regional, and international concerns. To learn more about the department of World Languages & Cultures watch this video.
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Events
April 18
6pm
106 Bear Hall
Screening of Refuge: A Story of Fear and Love in the American South
Panel Discussion with Dr Mayra Galeano, MedNorth, Wes Magruder, CWS Wilmington, and Edelmira Segovia, UNCW Centro Hispano (flyer attached)
Trailer:https://vimeo.com/483569959
March 21
6pm
106 Bear Hall
Screening of Stories Beyond Borders: 5 Films to Spark Conversations about Immigrant Justice
Panel Discussion with Vanessa Gonzalez, immigration attorney and Liz Uzcategui, director of the Clínica Latina at Coastal Horizons (flyer attached)
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/361332070
Event overview: Public lecture and student/faculty reception with Dr. Jessica Namakkal, Associate Professor of the Practice of International Comparative Studies, Duke U.
Lecture title: “Unsettling Utopia: The Making and Unmaking of French India”
Lecture abstract: After India achieved independence from the British in 1947, there remained five scattered territories governed by France. It was not until 1962, and the signing of the Evian Accords that signaled the end of the war in Algeria, that France fully relinquished control in India. In this talk, Jessica Namakkal will talk about her book Unsettling Utopia, which presents a new account of the history of twentieth-century French India to show how colonial projects persisted beyond formal decolonization. Through an examination of the French territories and the experiences of French Indians, many of whom continue to hold French citizenship today, Namakkal recasts the relationships among colonization, settlement, postcolonial sovereignty, utopianism, and liberation, considering questions of borders, exile, violence, and citizenship from the margins. She will discuss how state-sponsored decolonization―the bureaucratic process of transferring governance from an imperial state to a postcolonial state―rarely aligned with local desires, complicating the idea that national and colonial identities are mutually exclusive identities.
NEWS
- Congratulations Ashlee Balena! 2021 Foreign Language Association of North Carolina Teacher of the Year Award in Higher Education
- We are UNCW Seahawk Marissa Vincent
- Post-Grad Opportunities Panel
Yoko Kano Awarded Southeastern Association of Teachers of Japanese Teacher of the Year Award (SEATJ) at the annual conference on Feb. 22 at University of Tennessee for her excellence in teaching and exemplary dedication to Japanese language education. - All Spanish alumni are encouraged to complete this Spanish Alumni Survey!