Our mission is to provide our students with the intercultural competence necessary for the global society of the 21^st century .We intend to instill in our students informed and critical perspectives regarding other cultures and also our own. We are committed to providing this training to our students within a department equipped with the best facilities and technology available, staffed by teachers and scholars with international experience and expertise. Specifically, our mission is:

To offer majors a program aimed at advanced language proficiency and

significant exposure to the literature and culture of the country/ies studied; to foster double majors, e.g., language/business;

To offer in-depth training in language, literature, linguistics, cultural studies, and theory to graduate students at the MA and Ph.D. levels;

To offer basic instruction in modern and classical languages to all students in fulfillment of core curriculum requirements;

To train minors in the use of modern and classical languages by offering a minimum of three years of classes in the language(s);

To offer reading proficiency courses in various languages for graduate students in other programs;

To participate with other departments within and outside of the College of Arts and Sciences in offering interdisciplinary studies programs, especially in (a) area studies and period studies, (b) world literature and comparative literature, (c) language pedagogy, (d) linguistics, (e) film studies, and (f) international honors programs;

To contribute to increased internationalization by sponsoring appropriate campus events, helping students study abroad, and attracting international students;

To provide services to the community, including sponsoring and organizing a wide variety of educational and social events related to languages and culture, for example: foreign films, conferences and symposia, Foreign Language Day, state-wide language club conventions, etc.;

To serve the community and the state as the principal institution offering expert training in modern and classical languages, to train students to teach modern and classical languages in schools, colleges and universities throughout the state, to promote research in literature, linguistics, cultural and interdisciplinary studies, and to offer the greatest pool of expertise in modern and classical studies in the state of Alabama;

The Department of Modern Languages and Classics affirms its commitment to the promotion of scholarly research leading to the development of new knowledge and to the enhanced standing of the University.