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About the Modern Languages and Literatures Department

In 1795, Union College broke away from the traditional curriculum of offering its students the ancient languages and moved toward offering modern languages. French was the first offered.

In 1795, students were only admitted to Union if they were already acquainted with Greek and French. German was the second language to enter the Modern Language curriculum in 1838.

In 1854, Eliphalet Nott stated that students needed to graduate with either a "classical" degree, for which the diploma was written in Latin, or a "scientific" degree, for which the diploma was written in either French or German. Union's Catalog specified that science students were to take two successive terms of French in their sophomore year and three successive terms of German in their junior year. Spanish and Italian were offered on a "voluntary basis."

By 1869, the modern language requirement for the scientific course had more than doubled. French was studied for six terms during the first two years of college, and German was studied through the sophomore and junior years.

By 1889, the modern languages had become a requirement for all students. Fifty years later, however, the curriculum in modern languages shifted. Union's 1939-40 Catalog offered eleven courses in German, ten in French, eight in Spanish, two in Italian, and three in Russian.

Despite the integration of new languages, language requirements significantly decreased. In 1971, Union, like the rest of the Universities in the country, dropped its language requirement. It was also this year when Union permitted women to enroll expanding the student body from 1400 men to 2000 men and women.

The newly introduced Term Abroad Program, invented by Professor Fredrick A. Klemm after his first "Spring in Vienna" program in 1969, aided in the diversification of languages offered. Early term abroad programs included: Bogota, Colombia, France, Spain, Vienna and a Goethe-Institut site in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Today, the Modern Language Department at Union College offers Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, and Russian. The Modern Languages and Literatures Department, which includes a Language Center and multi-media classrooms, is found in the Humanities Building. Second language study is a General Education requirement with two options. The first option is for a student to follow the Foreign Language Track which entails her or him to take three courses in a classical or modern foreign language. The Foreign Study Track is the second option where students can spend a term abroad with the associated prerequisites or equivalent foreign study.