Department Profile

The Department of Modern Foreign Languages enhances your opportunities to stand out in the global economy. In addition to opening the door to diplomacy, military affairs and international business, foreign languages are a tool for upward mobility in business, health care and government at home. Preparation includes exchange programs abroad, exposure to international organizations, case studies, and other activities that enable you to reach competency in communication, cross-cultural understanding and professional skills.

Our students go places! Hampton students have taken courses on campus in Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Chinese and Arabic. Hampton students have studied abroad in places, like Spain, Mexico, France, and China. The Language Department proactively responds to students' needs to communicate, to understand the world and its peoples, and to be a part of a growing international marketplace of commerce and ideas.

Students majoring in Spanish may specialize in literature, language, culture, or business or medical Spanish. We think this is a flexible program and that enables students to move easily to graduate school or employment in a wide range of careers.

Our Goal

The goal of the Department of Modern Foreign Languages is to prepare students to compete in the global job market, by enabling them to function professionally in the language they choose. It is committed to developing proficiency in speaking, understanding, reading, writing and culture at all levels of instruction. The service mission of the department is to offer a task-based program of instruction to students who wish to learn a foreign language. Many majors require that students reach a minimum level of a foreign language, and the Department of Modern Foreign Languages makes this possible. The expertise mission of the department is to educate majors in Spanish who concentrate in either language, literature, culture, or language for specialized fields such as business or health. Expertise Students will attain a high level of linguistic skill, cultural sophistication and critical thinking ability in these areas, so that ultimately they may promote understanding among people of English and Spanish-speaking communities.