Sammy Seahawk holding passport under international flags

Department of World Languages & Cultures

Department of World Languages & Cultures World Languages & Cultures

Welcome to the Department of World Languages and Cultures!

We will prepare you to be proficient in world languages at all levels and enhance your effective communication, creativity, critical thinking, greater awareness of the world's peoples and interpersonal skills, as well as your understanding of your own language.

We are dedicated to creating an atmosphere of intellectual exploration and exchange to develop your research interests and abilities.

Through teaching, applied learning, service and research, we serve as a bridge connecting local, regional and international concerns.

Our Programs

We offer B.A. degrees in French, French with teacher licensure, German Studies, Spanish and Spanish with teacher licensure, as well as academic minors in classical studies, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Brazilian studies, Russian studies and Spanish.

Courses also include the study of American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese and Italian.

At the graduate level we provide opportunities for a certificate program in Spanish, a Master of Arts in Spanish and a 3+2 Bachelor/Master combination. Beyond campus, the department continues its collaboration with the NC World Language Exchange, providing language courses across the UNC system.

Who we are

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, we seek 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.

World Languages and Cultures department hosted Spanish troubadour Crispin d'Olot for the 5th annual El Quixote Festival

Undergraduate Programs We offer B.A. degrees in French, German Studies, Spanish and French and Spanish with teacher licensure, as well as minors and courses in a variety of other languages. Health professionals may also consider the Online Accelerated Program in Spanish. Learn More

Students present their research during the 6th Annual Spanish Service-Learning Showcase

Graduate Programs We provide opportunities for a certificate program in Spanish, a Master of Arts in Spanish and a 3+2 Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s program. Learn More

General Information

University Studies Requirement Fulfillments

These degree programs are the core of our mission, and yet we contribute a wide array of courses for students to fulfill the University Studies Requirements in the following components:

Foreign Language
Aesthetic, Interpretive & Literary
Living in a Global Society
Living in our Diverse Nation
Writing Intensive
Explorations Beyond the Classroom
Transdisciplinary Clusters
Capstone Courses

World Languages Offered

Students can fulfill their foreign language requirement in our department with courses in:

American Sign Language
Arabic
Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Latin
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish

Recently, in cooperation with NCSU, we have offered Hindi-Urdu and Ancient Greek.

Many of our language programs have active student language clubs, and our faculty members develop and accompany students abroad in Chile, France, Germany, and Spain. We are proud that we successfully meet UNCW's goal of preparing students to become global citizens.

Degree Audit Language Requirements

Undergraduate students have many questions concerning their foreign language requirement statement on their degree audit. Learn more in-depth details about the FL Requirements.

Past Achievements

Walter Kearnan's Honors Thesis in French, "La Dualité de l’Etat et de l’Eglise: Les Missions socioreligieuses, économiques et politiques des Jésuites français en Nouvelle France dans les années 1630" (Spring 2016), has been accepted for publication in Explorations: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities for the State of North Carolina.
Mentored by Ms. Roza Starodubtseva, students Laura Hart and Shyanna Kiekenapp presented in the Slavic Studies section of the Undergraduate Research Forum at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA) in Jacksonville, FL.
Students Sara Burkinshaw and Bethany Showers have been accepted to attend the TOMODACHI Dawa House Student Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. in October. Read about the conference.
Spanish major Morgan Clark spent more than two months in Guatemala completing a Spanish internship (SPN 498) in a maternity clinic this summer.
Dr. Francisco Brignole publishes co-edited edition. Working with Dr. Corinne Pubill (Salisbury University), Dr. Brignole has recently published Miradas desobedientes: María Teresa Andruetto ante la critica (2016), a co-edited volume on the literature of contemporary Argentinean writer María Teresa Andruetto.
Dr. Amrita Das is featured in the Cameron Art Museum's "She tells a story" exhibit.
Dr. L.J. Randolph was awarded a College of Arts and Sciences Summer Curriculum Development Initiative Award.
Dr. Amrita Das was awarded a College of Arts and Sciences Summer Curriculum Development Initiative award.
Dr. Greta Bliss was awarded a College of Arts and Sciences Summer Research Initiative award for her research project “Democracy and Disillusion: Revolution and New Definitions of Human Rights in Tunisian Cinema.”
Derrick Miller was awarded a Summer Pedagogy Development Stipend from the Center for Teaching Excellence for his project, "Study of Core Courses and Requirements for World Languages Umbrella Degrees."
Dr. Emmanuel Harris was awarded a College of Arts and Sciences Pilot Grant for his summer research.
Dr. Michelle Scatton-Tessier, chair, was honored with the Inconvenient Woman Award from the Women's Studies and Resource Center.
Drs. Boomershine and Randolph hosted a group of Spanish teachers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates to Santiago, Dominican Republic in July 2016.
Dr. Regina Félix was awarded a Global Citizenship Award from the Office of International Programs.
Staff member Olivia Causby was awarded an OIP Global Staff Travel Grant. Read more
Dr. Scott Jualll has been awarded funding from the International Programs Advisory Committee towards his expenses to France.
Dr. Emmanuel Harris and student Jasmine Beck have been awarded $3,500 in funding by Applied Learning for their SURCA project to take place in Spring 2016.
Dr. Amanda Boomershine's SPN 490: Service learning and research class (Fall 2015) conducted oral history interviews that can be viewed on the UNCW UNCW Library as a digital collection entitled: Somos NC: Voices from the North Carolina's Latino Community.
Dr. Ashlee Balena was awarded the Excellence in e-Learning Award by the Office of e-Learning in 2015.
Dr. Pascale Barthe was awarded a Charles L. Cahill Award for her research proposal "Tales of Empires: Seventeenth-Century French Travelers in Persia and India" in 2015-16.

Spanish for the Online Accelerated Program (OAP)

World Language Requirement

The language requirement generally requires you to complete a language course at the 201 level (or higher depending on placement). If you continue with a language you studied in high school, you usually need to take one or two courses to fulfill the requirement.

Keep up with our alumni and check out opportunities for investing in new generations of Seahawks.

Go to Alumni & Giving

Placement Test

The Language Placement Tool assesses your current language abilities and matches you to the language course most suitable for your level. It is offered online in French, German, Latin and Spanish.

Learn More

Daidone Wins Fulbright Research Award

Associate professor of Spanish and linguistics Dr. Danielle Daidone has been chosen for a Fulbright Postdoctoral Research Award, through which she’ll be researching second language acquisition in Barcelona in the spring 2026 semester.

Learn More

Students Practice What They Learned

Three students taught by Assistant Professor of Arabic Michael Turner won awards that allowed them to practice what they learned by immersing themselves in the culture of Oman.

UNCW Students Earn Prestigious Awards to Study in Oman

Bilingual Speakers Mentor Children

Students in Spanish for Bilingual Speakers classes use their linguistic and cultural knowledge to mentor New Hanover County elementary students who may have limited English or need support.

Bilingual Seahawks Break Barriers for Local Youth

Uncw spanish speaking students volunteer their time to help esl community students

Grant Helps Train Ukrainian Teachers

UNCW received a $73,200 U.S. Department of State grant to design a professional development program for English as a Foreign Language teachers from war-affected secondary schools and those serving displaced students in the Kyiv region.

UNCW Receives Grant to Train Ukrainian ESL Teachers