!مرحبا ¡Bienvenidos! Bienvenue! Benvenuti! ようこそ! Bem-vindos!
Welcome to the Department of World Languages and Cultures at UWM!
Take your education beyond the classroom and gain intercultural skills that will enrich your life and prepare you for a dynamic career in today’s globalized world.
The Department of World Languages and Cultures (WLC) aims to promote language learning and internationally focused education at UWM, increasing the understanding of world languages and global cultures as valuable components of both professional development and global citizenship. Students will immerse themselves in world languages, literature, and culture, as well as pursue experiential learning via study abroad, international internships, and undergraduate research. Upon graduation, students will have acquired the linguistic and intercultural ability to pursue a wide range of careers, such as foreign diplomacy, international business, journalism, education, global health, environmental advocacy, and more!
Knowledge of the Arabic language and its many variations is a high-demand skill in today’s global economy. It can be challenging, but it can also help you stand out from other job applicants since fewer students choose to study Arabic compared to other languages.
In the Comparative Literature minor, students examine literature across languages, geographic location, time periods, and genres. The discipline also explores the relationship between literature and other forms of cultural expression such as pop culture, technology, arts, music, or film, as well as the relationship between literature and other academic disciplines, like anthropology, history, religious studies, or women’s and gender studies. It’s a great minor for anyone who loves to compare, contrast, and explore other cultures.
The UWM French Program allows students to develop their proficiency in French and explore the cultures, arts, literatures, histories, and politics of France and other Francophone countries around the world.
Students have a number of options within the Global Studies Program. Within the major there are five tracks to choose from, allowing students to specialize in a particular area of global interest.
- Global Studies: Communication
- Global Studies: Health
- Global Studies: Management
- Global Studies: Security
- Global Studies: Sustainability
Learn more about the Global Studies program
Learn more about the Global Studies degrees offered (specialty tracks are shown on the BA major)
Italian is a Romance language that is the most direct descendent to Latin. It is a language of global communication, business, technology, and the arts.
Courses in Japanese culture, literature, film, and new media both in Japanese and in English are also part of the program. Our classes focus on Japanese topics but in the tradition of the humanities, we ask students to examine how humans live, think, interact, and express themselves.
Our course offerings reflect and respond to the diversity of our students, who include: heritage speakers, non-traditional students, professionals in a variety of fields, as well as traditional undergraduates. We encourage students to participate in study abroad programs and second-language activities as a means of improving proficiency.
Through effective communicative instruction, we prepare students to read, speak, write, and understand Spanish. Faculty are actively engaged in advancing knowledge in their respective areas of expertise and striving to link, in the manner most beneficial for students, critical and scholarly work to classroom instruction and advising activities.
Effective Fall 2026, the Translation and Interpreting Studies (TIS) program will suspend its admissions to the following programs: Grad Certificate in Interpreting, Graduate Certificate in Translation , MA in TIS, coordinated TIS/MBA, and coordinated TIS/MLIS.
Translation & Interpreting Studies (TIS) at UWM is a versatile online program with options adaptable to a range of careers. Find your path to a career in language services or enhance your readiness for success in another field by building skills as a translator (written) or interpreter (spoken language). Whatever your level—as a graduate or undergraduate student—and whatever your career goals, TIS can help you strengthen and diversify your professional skills.
Learn more about the Translation & Interpreting Studies program
Learn more about the Translation & Interpreting Studies degrees offered
Learning languages gives you access to new people, places, and professional opportunities. Whether your career goals involve politics, health, art, science, social services, architecture, technology, or communications, knowing more than one language will open doors.
Get to know us!
Take a virtual tour or view our Undergraduate Admissions info or Graduate Admissions info to start an application today!
Department News
- Spanish 391: Using Spanish in Our CommunityIn Fall 2025, Dr. Allison Libbey of the Spanish program launched a new service learning class allowing students to use their Spanish language skills while working …
- Japanese minor serves as youth ambassador at World Expo in OsakaUWM student Gabrielle Sweeney, a political science major and Japanese minor, worked at the American Pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan this summer as …
- WLC Faculty and Staff Honored as 2025 International AdvocatesCongratulations to Anita Alkhas of French, Masako Lackey of Japanese, and Christine Wolf of Global Studies, who have all been honored as 2025 International Advocates by the Center for International Education for …
- ITALIAN 333 Enacts Dante’s InfernoStudents in ITALIAN 333: Dante’s Divine Comedy in Translation act out a circle of Dante’s Inferno on Monday, September 15 at the fountain outside of Curtin …
Department Events
- Mar5March 5, 2026, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
- Mar7March 7, 2026, 9:00am - 12:30pm
