Overview
Mission Statement
The mission of the Foreign Language Department at University of Jamestown is to help prepare the liberal arts student as a citizen of our global community. We seek to expose students to other languages and cultures, thereby broadening their concepts of language, civilization, culture, philosophy, government, religion, geography, art, aesthetics, and literature with a firm anchoring in a Christian perspective and academic excellence. In order to determine student progress toward these ends, the department assesses student learning and departmental effectiveness on a regular basis.
Foreign Language Department Overview
The Foreign Language Department of the University of Jamestown offers a wide range of language learning opportunities that allow students to continue to learn languages they began in high school or begin to learn new languages they first encounter at the university level.
Majors are available in German, French, and Spanish to students who pursue a semester or two summers of study abroad; language minors in German, French, and Spanish can be completed on campus by students majoring in other subjects, and the interdisciplinary Italian Studies minor offers a combination of language, history, art, and study abroad to students majoring in other subjects as well.
Courses in Portuguese, Romanian and Latin are also offered on demand.
Placement and Advanced Standing in French, German and Spanish
The first semester beginning courses in French, German, and Spanish are aimed at students with no prior instruction in those languages. A student who has completed high school course work in a foreign language is encouraged to consult with foreign language faculty members to receive advanced placement in a course beyond 101.
Students who receive advanced placement into French, German, or Spanish 102 and complete the course with an earned grade of C- or higher will also receive three college credits for 101. Students who enroll directly in a 200-level French, German, or Spanish course will receive six advanced placement credits for language courses at the 101 and 102 levels when they complete the 200-level course with a C- or higher.
The advanced standing credits count on the student's record but do not count as part of the semester course load. The credits count toward fulfilling general education requirements in the area of Global Perspectives. The advanced standing credits will be awarded at no charge to the student.
The Foreign Language Department awards advanced standing credit for the German, French or Spanish 201 course requirement based on student performance on CLEP tests, which are administered through the Career Services. There is a charge for the CLEP exams.
Majors in French, German, or Spanish
The Foreign Language Department offers majors in French, German, and Spanish that require a minimum of twenty-four credit hours of coursework on campus or the equivalent thereof with 12-18 credit hours of advanced language study in the student's major language. The advanced credits will be gained during study abroad or participation in a US-based language immersion program. Students wishing to major in French, German, or Spanish must complete all courses leading to the minor at University of Jamestown, then take additional coursework in their study abroad to complete the major. Credits gained through advanced placement or CLEP exams will be counted as coursework leading to the minor.
All external upper-division courses must be approved by the Foreign Language Department prior to the student's study abroad or participation in an immersion program. Courses in the exchange institution that will meet departmental approval include but are not limited to literature of the target language, film, linguistics, grammar and composition, history, communication and media studies, business, music history, and art history. Courses must be taught in the target language in order to be approved for the major. Successful completion of required coursework while enrolled in the exchange institution is a prerequisite for fulfilling requirements for the major. Students are expected to remain in contact with their on-campus language major advisors during the course of their study abroad.
Students majoring in French, German, or Spanish may participate in an ISEP-sponsored study abroad program, or they may participate in approved summer immersion or study abroad programs (program list available upon request). Students majoring in Spanish may enroll in two summers of post-minor study in the MLSA-University of Jamestown Program at the University of Costa Rica in San Jose. All ISEP participants must present a minimum GPA of 2.75 at the time of application and be accepted into a program that offers the student's major language. The department recommends that students study abroad in their junior year. For more ISEP information, students may consult the ISEP section of this catalog.
Courses in Classical and Biblical Languages
Courses in New Testament Greek (REL 301, REL 302) fulfill the Global Perspectives general education requirement. The Religion Department also offers courses in Biblical Hebrew on request. The Foreign Language Department offers beginning Latin (FLAN 300) on request.
Special Topics Courses
Special Topics courses are offered at the 100 (beginning) and 200 (intermediate) levels in modern foreign languages that are not part of the departmental major or minor language curricula. These currently include beginning-level courses in Portuguese and Romanian.
Special Topics courses at the 300- or 400-level can be offered in Spanish, French, or German. These courses are taught in the target language and can be used by students to replace any 300-level course for the minor or count toward the major.