Chair

Dr. Abbey Poffenberger
(859) 622-2996
Crabbe Library 112

Faculty

A. Buck, A. Bolanos-Acevedo, J. Endonino, B. Freed, J.J. Gómez-Becerra, A. Green, D. Joseph, E. Liddell, S. McSpirit, P. Paolucci, A. Poffenberger, R. Polk, K. Powell, S. Rico-Godoy, K. Swisher, and S. Zaragoza

Mission and Goals

The Department of Language & Cultural Studies, Anthropology, and Sociology is a multi-disciplinary unit which offers a variety of programs through which students gain new insights into other cultures; explore biological, physical, and social evolution; advance their understanding of the modem social structures, its institutions, and interactions; and develop the language skills necessary for participation and leadership in the global community.

Baccalaureate Degrees

Language & Cultural Studies

The Language and Cultural Studies programs, including the Spanish Studies program, prepare the students to communicate in a major world language spoken on several continents. Our Spanish teaching degree helps meet the increasingly critical need for foreign language teachers in Kentucky. We offer certificate programs primarily for non-language majors with concentration on basic conversation skills and cultural understanding, currently available in French, German, Japanese, and Spanish.

The department helps students to fulfill General Education requirements in Elements 3, and 6 through course offerings in Chinese (CHN), French (FRE), German (GER), Japanese (JPN), Spanish (SPA), and occasionally other languages such as Arabic and upper division Chinese (as FLS courses); through foreign culture and civilization courses (FCC); and also, through the basic sequence of Humanities courses (HUM). AJI our courses, whether in language, literature, culture, or humanities, strive to foster an atmosphere in which students can experience the joy of learning and intellectual fulfillment while developing deeper understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity.

1. Certain courses are inappropriate for students with native or near native fluency in a particular language. Native speakers of a foreign language (i.e., a language other than English) are welcome to take our courses at an appropriate skill level. However, such students cannot be given credit for introductory courses (100/200 level), in their native language either by enrolling in the course or by taking an exam for credit Exceptions to this restriction, such as heritage speakers who need to take a lower-level course to correct language deficiencies, must be approved by the relevant foreign language faculty in consultation with the chair. Other exceptions may apply, at the discretion of the coordinator and foreign language faculty in conjunction with the chair.
2. Students who transfer credits must earn no fewer than 15 upper-division hours in the major and 9 upper-division hours in the minor at EKU, the exact minimum to be determined by the department chair in consultation with the faculty in the major area.
3. Eastern Kentucky University students are required to obtain the department chair’s written prior approval of any course work they plan to transfer back to EKU for application to the major or minor.
4. A grade of “C” or higher is required in each course to be applied toward the major and minor.
5. Students in teaching programs must attain a minimum 2.75 GPA in their teaching major to be recommended for student teaching.
6. Spanish majors must attain a minimum 2.75 GPA in the major and must also pass a departmental proficiency exam which covers spoken and written language, culture, and literature. Teaching majors must pass the proficiency exam to be recommended for student teaching. Students will ordinarily take the exam no later than in the first semester of their senior you.

Bachelor’s

Minors

Certificates

Courses

Anthropology

French

German

Japanese

Sociology

Spanish