RGRLL Mission Statement

The Department of Romance, German, Russian Languages and Literatures teaches the languages, literatures and cultures of the Spanish, French, German, Italian and Russian-speaking peoples to undergraduate and graduate students at California State University, Long Beach. The department recently began to offer courses in Arabic, Hebrew and Portuguese and plans to expand these language programs.

It is the mission of the Department to deliver the highest quality information in the various disciplines it represents to its students and to the extended University community through the application of the most current and innovative teaching methodologies and technologies. The Curriculum supports B.A. and M.A. programs in French, French Studies, German, Italian Studies, and Spanish and Minor programs in Italian, Spanish, Russian, German, French, and Liberal Studies; the Department also participates in the granting of the Singles Subject Credential in French, German, Italian and Spanish. Our Department also supports programs that require our courses, such as International Studies and International Business. High standards are maintained through scholarly contributions and active service to the University, profession, and community.

Our commitment to scholarly and instructional excellence is manifest in the training the Department provides for prospective foreign language teachers and instructors K-16; Ph.D. students in French, Spanish, German, Romance Languages, Linguistics, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies; language professionals in the fields of translation and interpreting, travel and technical disciplines. Considering the rapidly evolving fields of language-acquisition, pedagogy, cultural and literary studies and their interrelatedness, the Department promotes research activities of both a theoretical and applied nature.

The Department considers teaching and scholarship to be of primary and equal importance and places high value on activities that integrate the two. University service is also an essential component of a candidate's program.