The mission of the Department of Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese and Russian Studies is to teach our target languages, literatures, and cultures well and intensively in the rigorous setting of a quality liberal arts and sciences institution that itself values international education and exploration across national and linguistic boundaries.

We embrace the challenge of preparing students to succeed in a growing global and international community by helping them gain both linguistic competence beyond their mother tongue, as well as an enhanced understanding of diverse cultures. Looking outside the boundaries of our specific disciplines, we also strive to help students integrate their knowledge of language and culture with other areas of study.