Academic Programs

Foreign Languages and Humanities serves the University in three important ways:

• Baccalaureate degrees in teaching and non-teaching foreign language majors.
• Graduate courses in Spanish for credits toward a post-baccalaureate degree.
• Providing courses for the general education curriculum.

• Majors • Minors • Certificates

• General Education • Program Information

• Advanced Placement • Retro Credit

Majors:

Bachelor of Arts in French, French Teaching, Spanish, or Spanish Teaching

A student may take a teaching or non-teaching major in French or Spanish. Non-teaching majors consist of a minimum of 30 hours in their language of the 200 course-level or above with a grade of "C" or higher. Teaching majors must take a minimum of 30 hours in their language at the 200 course-level or above as well as 34 hours of teacher education requirements.

Bachleor of Arts in Comparative Humanities

A degree in Comparative Humanities is the Liberal Arts degree at EKU. You follow your own course of study, pursuing courses in a wide range of departments according to your own interests. Humanities makes an ideal second major for teachers who want to teach Arts and Humanities and for everyone who wants to show their employers that they have had a broad Liberal Arts education. The major consists of 36 credit hours in four units.

Minors:

Minor in French, Humanities or Spanish

A student may take a teaching or non-teaching minor in French or Spanish as well as minor in Humanities which provides a meaningful complementary curriculum for any specialized major field of study.

Certificates:

Certificate of Conversation and Culture in French, German, Japanese, or Spanish

The Department offers a Short Certificate of Conversation and Culture available for students in French, German, Spanish, and Japanese.  This Certificate is issued by the Department and indicates a basic degree of study in a language and culture.

General Education:

Our general education offerings consist of courses in French (FRE), German (GER), Japanese (JPN), Spanish (SPA), Foreign Culture and Civilization (FCC), Foreign Language Studies (FLS), and integrated Humanities (HUM). We also offer Latin (LAT) and other lesser known but vital languages (under FLS) studies as demand grows for their interest.

Through the study of foreign languages and cultures, students develop a broader perspective on the world and compete more successfully in the increasingly multinational job market. Study of the languages, literatures, and cultures of other nations also increases students' logical thinking skills, enhances their understanding of English, and provides access to some of the world's greatest literary works.

Our Humanities courses assist students in a search for meaning through study of selected examples of literature, visual art, and music. Students learn a process of integrative thinking which includes the examination of their present ways of thinking, the discovery of new possibilities for life, and the development of world views appropriate for living meaningfully, responsibly, and productively in today's world. Humanities students also develop an inquisitiveness about meaning, an appreciation for human values, an awareness of selected cultural traditions from around the world, critical perspectives on those traditions, and a sensitivity to language and the arts.

Program information:

1. Certain courses may be inappropriate for students with native or near-native fluency in a particular language; therefore written approval from the department must be obtained by students wishing to enroll for credit in these courses.
2. Students must earn 30 of the last 36 hours, exclusive of student teaching, through EKU.
3. 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 foreign language faculty.
4. 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.
5. A grade of "C" or higher is required in each course to be applied toward the major, minor, or certificate.
6. Students in teaching programs must attain a minimum of 2.75 GPA in their teaching major to be recommended for student teaching.
7. All majors must 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 year.

Advance Placement (AP) Credit:

For a score of three (3) on the AP Language Exam, students will be awarded nine (9) hour credit for 101, 102, and 201 of that language. For a score of four (4) or five (5), students also receive an additional 3 hours credit for 202 level of that language.

For a score of three (3) or above on the Language Literature Exam, students will be awarded three (3) hours credit for 310 of that language.

Retrocredit:

Retrocredit recognizes successful previous study of a foreign language and encourages students to start their language study at Eastern at the highest level appropriate for them. Students beginning their study at the 102 level will receive retrocredit of three (3) extra hours for 101 if they make an "A" in 102. Students beginning their study at the 201 level will receive six (6) extra hours for 101 and 102 if they make an "A" or "B" in 201. Students beginning their study at the 202 level will receive nine (9) extra hours for 101, 102, and 201 if they make an "A" or "B" in 202.