International Language and Culture Studies

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Department of International Language and Culture Studies
College of Liberal Arts 

Liberal Arts Building 267 ~ 260-481-6836

Stephen Buttes, Chair
Ana Benito, Lead Advisor
Suzanne Randall, Administrative Assistant

The Department of International Language and Culture Studies offers:

• Bachelor’s degree in Spanish
   
• For details on pursuing a secondary education second degree (BSEd) to teach Spanish in middle school/high school, click on the links to the Secondary Education - Second Degree  Program and the School of Education  page in this catalog.  Note:  The BSEd as a second degree in these programs cannot be earned without completion of the bachelor’s degree in the content area from the College of Liberal Arts.

• Minors
  • French
  • German
  • Spanish
• Limited courses in other languages are also available.  Visit the Department of International Language and Culture Studies for details and other opportunities.

For related studies, also see the International Studies Certificate .  This certificate can be earned and awarded separate from any other degrees students may be pursuing.  Lachlan Whalen is the Program Director for this certificate.

For details on all of these programs, see Program Descriptions  in this Catalog.

Independent Study Policy for the Department of International Language & Culture Studies:

The objective of an independent study is to accommodate students who, for reasons beyond their control, have been unable to take a course required for their major within the 4-year plan framework.

• Independent study courses are designed to accommodate advanced students only. A student should have completed at least 40% of their program before taking an independent study and have a GPA of 3.0 or better. 
• An independent study will only be allowed in exceptional cases when the Department or program has been unable to provide a course needed for graduation.
• Students who are unable to take a course due to scheduling conflicts are not eligible to take an independent study unless special permission is granted by the faculty in their major and in consultation with the chair of ILCS.
• Each independent study should be roughly equivalent to 64 hours of work (based on the model of one hour per week of contact time and three hours of additional work in a 16-week semester). The ratio of contact time to independent work will be decided by the individual instructor.
• Students may not take lower-division courses (100 or 200 level) by independent study.
• An independent study can be one credit or more, however the typical independent study is three credit hours. In general, no more than three credits of independent study may count towards graduation. Exceptions are rare and will only be granted to students in extraordinary circumstances.

Study Abroad

Both majors and non-majors are encouraged to study abroad.  Programs are available at all levels to study French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and many more.  Students can take courses in language and culture, content area courses in a host language, or a mix of English and host language courses.  Students have the option of over 600 programs in over 90 different countries for anywhere between two weeks and two semesters; plus financial aid applies.  Pay PFW tuition and housing and study in over 50 countries with ISEP exchange.  There are also many generous scholarships for students to study a language abroad for either a summer or semester.  For further information you can visit the Office of International Education in Walb Union Room 145 or phone 260-481-6494.

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