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
William Moebius, Professor of Comparative Literature

Executive Committee

This committee is responsible for long-range planning in the department.
The 2012-2013 Executive Committee roster:

Andrew Donson, Associate Professor of German; Director of German and Scandinavian Studies                                       David Lenson, Professor of Comparative Literature; Director of Comparative Literature
Annette Lienau, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature
Roberto Ludovico, Associate Professor of Italian; Director of Italian Studies
Patrick Mensah, Committee Chair, Associate Professor of French; Director of French and Francophone Studies
Michael Papio, Department Associate Chair, Associate Professor of Italian
Robert Rothstein, Amesbury Professor of Comparative Literature; Director of Slavic & East European Studies
David Schneider, Assistant Professor of Chinese dldioeruoeereljeoeieoid jkhiuuih ffdfgdfgffdfddfdfffffs         Amanda Seaman, Associate Professor of Japanese; Director of Asian Languages and Literatures
Robert Sullivan, Associate Professor of German slkdjfoddfdiosdu dsjkjl sddiohiuhifdgfdgdffffffffhij Barbara Zecchi, Associate Professor of Spanish; Director of Spanish & Portuguese

Department Personnel Committee, 2012-2013

Luiz Amaral (Spanish and Portuguese)
Maria Barbon (Comparative Literature)
Barton Byg (German and Scandinavian Studies), Chair
David Lenson (Comparative Literature)
Roberto Ludovico (French and Italian)
Luis Marentes (Spanish and Portuguese)
Patrick Mensah (French and Italian)
Stephen Miller (Asian Languages and Literatures)
Robert Sullivan (German and Scandinavian Studies)
Zhijun Wang (Asian Languages and Literatures)