Languages & Cultures at UCCS
The UCCS Department of Languages and Cultures is dedicated to fostering cross-cultural understanding and language education at the local, regional, and global level.About the Department
The UCCS Department of Languages and Culture is international and transcultural – we live through diversity. Our classes are inclusive and offer a learning environment that promotes cultural understanding and fosters a sense of international community in our students. Studying another language and culture teaches us to respect and better understand those who have a different perspective on the world. It enriches our own lives and serves us both abroad and within our own community.
We offer academic programs for Spanish majors and minors. We also offer minors in American Sign Language, French, German and Japanese along with courses in Arabic, Chinese, Ancient Greek, Korean, Latin, and Russian.
News, Events, & Study Abroad Opportunities
Discover exciting study abroad opportunities on our dedicated news, events, and press release page. Stay informed about new programs, scholarships, and application deadlines that can enhance your academic experience. Join us in exploring diverse cultures and academic landscapes around the world!
Fall 2024 Newsletter
Welcome to the Department of Languages and Cultures and to our most recent Newsletter. In these pages, we want to share information about who we are, what are some of the accomplishments of our students, faculty, and staff in the last semester, and the journeys you can take with us as a student.
If you are a student of languages and cultures or are interested in joining one of our programs, please read on, and contact our faculty or some of the students in our programs to learn more about specific courses and the different ways you can learn about other ways to communicate with people around the country and around the world.
About Micro-Credentials & Digital Badges
Unlock your linguistic potential and open doors to new opportunities in the global job market with our brand-new micro-credentials in languages! In today’s workforce, the demand for multilingual professionals and cultural proficiency is higher than ever. These specialized courses are meticulously crafted to provide you with practical language skills and cultural expertise sought after by employers worldwide. Once you’ve successfully completed the required courses and demonstrated your proficiency, you’ll receive a digital badge from Credly, perfect for showcasing on your LinkedIn profile to signal your language skills to potential employers and recruiters.
Student Experiences
Juan Pablo Maldonado - Ices, FranceNews from Abroad
“I will never regret having taken the leap of learning another language at the next level and for that, I am eternally grateful to my teachers and the department.”
Hello everyone! My name is Juan Pablo Maldonado. I am currently a senior here at UCCS as a student of Biomedical Sciences but just as importantly, I also have taken part within the Languages Department for some time as a tutor and now as a French Language student.
This semester (sadly, my last one) I have decided to embark on the opportunity of a lifetime: studying abroad in France! UCCS, along with the Department of Languages and Cultures have helped me out immensely through the process of building my own path within my own language-learning and cultural studies as well.
It has been a month since my departure from the U.S. and so far, my experience has been of course, incredible, but most of all, eye-opening. Having been given the chance and all of this time to spend amongst others that differ so much from us at home has been one of the best decisions I have taken. This ranges from getting up every morning and ordering breakfast in a different language, to learning about French businesses and the formation process students take to be successful here. In addition to surrounding myself by French culture, I have also gotten the chance to get to know other students from around the world such as Spain, Turkey, Russia, Poland and Romania; to name a few. In every day there awaits something exciting but most importantly: extraordinary.
The transition of course, has not been the easiest nor seamless whatsoever, but like with anything else, things have a tendency to fall in place. To help me, I like to remember a saying, originally in Spanish, that says: “One can become used to anything but being hungry” which is what I try to remember when going through uncomfortable situations. With this, I encourage you, even if at the moment it is a distant desire of yours to experience to go abroad, to go to that info session, to go talk to your language teacher about it (they themselves have experienced it!), to do some research and look into what might interest you!
Like I know many of you do, I also take a huge interest and pay its deserved importance to cultural exchange and personal development outside of the classroom, whether it is remembering formulas or what sometimes may seem like a thousand verbal tenses. I will never regret having taken the leap of learning another language at the next level and for that, I am eternally grateful to my teachers and the department. I could not have done it without their help! I wish you all great luck this semester and hope you consider taking that trip you always wanted.
Juan Pablo
jmaldona@uccs.edu