School of Languages, Cultures, and Race

School of Languages, Cultures, and Race
cas.vancouver.wsu.edu/foreign-languages-and-cultures
Multi Media Classroom (VMMC), Room 202

GLOBAL COMMUNITY THROUGH ETHNIC STUDIES, LANGUAGES, AND CULTURES

Global leadership means strong intercultural c knowledge, linguistic proficiency, and awareness of inequities both abroad or at home.  The skills learned in our language, culture, and film courses complement virtually any career path or major, from international business, marketing, and social work to education, pre-health, and hospitality.  Additionally, students may participate in any of the study abroad programs organized by the International Programs office in Pullman, gaining both credit and valuable firsthand experience of other cultures and languages.

Students may earn a minor in Comparative Ethnic Studies, a language minor in Spanish, or a certificate on Race and Ethnicity in the Corporate World. The Humanities major also offers a concentrations in Comparative Ethnic Studies and Foreign Languages and Cultures. In addition, many UCORE courses, taught in English, are available in several areas (Chinese, Comparative Ethnic Studies, and Foreign Language), examining culture, inequities and diversity, literature, and the study of languages. Students may also fulfill their basic two-semester foreign language requirement with Spanish (taught face-to-face).

The Comparative Ethnic Studies minor offers students a unique opportunity to study the social, economic and political forces that have shaped the historic experience of diverse ethnic communities in the U.S. over the past 500 years that continue to determine our present circumstances and our future within the global community. CES embraces interdisciplinary, comparative, and transnational approaches to studying race relations and how race, gender, class, sexuality, nation and globalization come together. The coursework fosters an in-depth understanding of race and culture and prepares you to work and function in the multiracial and multicultural world in which we live.

In the case of the Spanish minor, students’ proficiency is externally measured by an exam taken at the end of the semester in which they complete the final language course of the minor. This required, low-fee exam provides students with a proficiency evaluation for each of the four major language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing), which can be useful, in conjunction with grade-point average, for potential employers and placement into future language studies.

Students in our courses may access the Language Learning Resource Center (LLRC), a well-equipped computer lab that facilitates access to course materials and offers supplementary resources during open hours.

We live in a complex world where global awareness, cultural understanding, and intercultural communication are vital aspects of business, government, and education; indeed, of all human interaction. The fields of study within SLCR provide the training necessary to flourish in this competitive environment.