About

About the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

Mission Statement

This department has a three-fold mission: (1) to encourage and facilitate the study of languages, literatures, and cultures of the world, the nation, and the Commonwealth; (2) to represent international perspectives on academic endeavors and to contribute to the international presence at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; and (3) to promote the integrity of our component academic fields and to support the vitality of each of the programs housed in the department. Exploiting the synergistic potential inherent in combining both national and transnational approaches in a single entity, the department advocates an inclusive and interdisciplinary scholarship that develops new models, both theoretical and pragmatic, for the study of languages, literatures, and cultures.

Governance

Department Chair
Julie Candler Hayes, Professor of French

Executive Committee

This committee is responsible for long-range planning in the department.
The 2009-2010 Executive Committee roster:

Elena Chiu, Assistant Professor of Chinese
Christopher Couch, Lecturer in Comparative Literature
Sara Lennox, Professor of German; Director of German and Scandinavian Studies
Luis Marentes, Associate Professor of Spanish; Director of Spanish and Portuguese
Patrick Mensah, Associate Professor of French; Director of French and Francophone Studies
William Moebius, Professor of Comparative Literature; Director of Comparative Literature
Jose Ornelas, Professor of Portuguese
Michael Papio, Associate Professor of Italian; Director of Italian
Robert A. Rothstein, Professor of Slavic Studies
Amanda Seaman, Associate Professor of Japanese; Director of Asian Languages and Literatures
Robert Sullivan, Associate Professor of German

Department Personnel Committee, 2009-2010

Luiz Amaral (Spanish and Portuguese)
Susan Cocalis (German and Scandinavian Studies), Chair
Andrew Donson (German and Scandinavian Studies)
Frank Fagundes (Spanish and Portuguese)
Kathryn Lachman (Comparative Literature)
Nancy Lamb (French and Italian)
Elizabeth Petroff (Comparative Literature)
Elizabeth Mazzocco (French and Italian)
Amanda Seaman (Asian Languages and Literatures)
David K. Schneider (Asian Languages and Literatures)