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College of Liberal Arts
Department of World Languages and Literatures

Welcome

Welcome!

Front view of Centennial Hall

The Department of World Languages and Literatures helps prepare Texas State University students for careers in education, scholarly research, international relations and business, foreign service, translation/interpretation, consulting, editing, and many other professions. The World Languages and Literatures faculty design dynamic courses that help our graduates compete in the modern market. Faculty help students acquire higher-level language skills and multicultural competence. We offer majors and minors in Spanish, French and German, and a minor in Arabic, Chinese, Italian, and Japanese. We also offer a comprehensive master's program in Spanish with courses in literature, linguistics, language, culture and film. In addition, through Extension Studies, the department offers courses in Arabic, Chinese, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, and American Sign Language.

If you want to think globally, then you need to speak a foreign language. The Modern Language Association "regards the learning of languages other than English as vital to an understanding of the world; such learning serves as a portal to the literatures, cultures, historical perspectives, and human experiences that constitute the human record." Continue reading at the MLA's website.

The faculty of the Department of World Languages and Literatures publish internationally and are recognized for their expertise in literature, linguistics, cultural studies, multicultural content, and film. The department also publishes and also houses and edits Letras Hispanas: Revista de Literatura y Cultura, a peer-reviewed, open-access online journal dedicated to publishing scholarly essays that engage topics related to Spanish, Latin American, and US Latino literatures and cultures, and Yeshe: A Journal of Tibetan Literature, Arts and Humanities, the first journal in the English language devoted to Tibetan literature, arts, and humanities. The department also co-sponsors CALICO, an international journal and organization devoted to the use of technology in foreign language teaching. Students in World Languages can participate in various language honor societies and clubs. Finally, the World Languages’ chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the national Spanish honor society, publishes Al principio, a journal devoted to poems in all languages and artwork from all cultures.

Students in World Languages can participate in various language honor societies and clubs. Our department’s German faculty organize and host the annual state-wide German Contest, which brings over 1,000 students of German from Texas junior highs and high schools to compete at Texas State each spring. 

We also offer faculty-led summer study programs in Austria, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Spain, and Taiwan, as well as supporting long-term exchange programs with academic institutions all around the world. Find out how studying abroad could give you an edge in the job market.