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About

With approximately fifty full-time faculty representing cutting-edge teaching and award-winning research covering five continents and different historical periods, the Department of Modern Languages & Literatures is a vibrant center for international studies and one of the oldest and most robust interdisciplinary nodes at Â鶹Æƽâ°æ.

We teach eight languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish.  Our faculty offer Introductory to advanced language courses, as well as seminars engaging art, literature, film, performance, media, translation, philosophy, history, linguistics, big data, gender and sexuality,  history of science, indigenous and migration studies. Our courses are often cross-listed with the Programs in Global Studies, Environment & Sustainability, Film & Media Studies, Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies, et al. They also contribute to the COLL curriculum at all levels. In addition, our faculty lead study abroad programs, support students embarking on internships, and mentor undergraduate research on campus and around the world. Through our residential language houses (known as The Global Village) and various extracurricular clubs, Modern Languages & Literatures guides students through the complex process of gaining linguistic and intercultural competencies.   

 

 the National Association of Colleges & Employers), including critical thinking, oral & written communication, and, most importantly, global/intercultural fluency. These skills have allowed our alums to forge their distinct professional paths, to distinguish themselves among their peers, and to augment their professional and civic profiles.  

The language and cultural programs in Modern Languages and Literatures represent linguistic and cultural diversity not only around the world but also within the United States. Myriad languages were spoken in these lands well before the arrival of English speakers; after that, many more have been spoken and continue to be spoken in the present-day United States. The Department reflects the rich multicultural and multilingual status of the US at large, acknowledges the rights of individuals to receive instruction in languages other than English, highlights issues of social inequality toward marginalized people, and prepares students to engage with varied diverse communities even at a domestic level. The cultural and linguistic proficiencies and the intercultural skills gained via MLL courses prepare students to become citizens of the 21^st century who can engage with, serve, and collaborate with the US community at large, while at the same time addressing employers’ increasing demand for cross-cultural abilities and the distinct advantage for candidates with linguistic skills in their recruitment strategies across all professional paths. 

History

The Department of Modern Languages at Â鶹Æƽâ°æ enjoys the distinction of being the oldest modern languages program in the United States. The Department traces its beginnings to the establishment of a professorship in modern languages as part of a curriculum reform instituted by Thomas Jefferson in 1779. As a part of this reform, W&M became a university with schools in law, grammar, medicine, fine arts, and modern languages.

The first professor of Modern Languages was Carlo Bellini, a native of Florence, Italy and close friend of Thomas Jefferson. Bellini served as a professor of W&M for 33 years, teaching Italian and French. During his professorship, the classes were suspended for 2 years due to the Revolutionary War until it reopened in October of 1782. W&M was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers during those years. Of the professors, Bellini was the only one to stay in residence at W&M. He stayed behind to 'attempt to protect the library and scientific apparatus'. The department established a series of annual lectures in his honor.

Upon his resignation in 1803, Bellini was succeeded by French native, Louis Hué Girardin. Born Louis François Picot, Girardin studied law in Paris and was a moderate Royalist during the French Revolution. During the war, he escaped the country on a French man-of-war and came to the United States in 1793. At W&M, he taught French, history, geography, and botany. He resigned in 1807, due to a failed restructuring attempt that would establish him as the chair of natural history. The Modern Languages department was left to a part-time French instructor, A. Plunkett.

The department managed with part-time faculty until 1828 when Spanish Colonel C. de la Pena was hired as the chair. Under his direction, the department expanded to include French, Spanish, Italian and Latin. He worked at W&M for two years without pay. After Pena left in 1830, Modern Languages was suspended for nearly 30 years.

It was revived in 1858 and expanded to two professorships, teaching French, Italian, Spanish, German, Greek and Latin.

Washington Hall

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures is housed in Washington Hall. Constructed in 1928, Washington Hall honors George Washington in recognition of his ties to Â鶹Æƽâ°æ, where he received his surveyor's license in 1749 and served as the first American Chancellor from 1788-1799. It was intended to serve as the "main academic building of the College" during a renovation of the Christopher Wren Building.

Washington Hall originally housed a biology laboratory on the first floor (the greenhouse is currently used as faculty offices), and liberal arts classrooms on the second and third floors. For a time, it was home to the art, psychology, and home economics programs. It has also been home to the offices of the Dean and Registrar.

Washington Hall underwent renovations in 1989 and is now the location of both the Modern Languages and Anthropology departments.

Today

Today Carlo Bellini's single professorship has grown to nearly 50 faculty members offering numerous courses in language, literature, and culture. We now teach eight languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Faculty members of every rank are engaged in teaching at all levels, in study abroad programs, in conducting research, and in service to W&M, the community and the profession.