Many continue their study because they may want to study or work abroad, to read great works of literature or religion or philosophy, or to communicate with relatives or friends. Others simply enjoy studying languages. The MCL department offers small classes with excellent instruction so that students can become proficient in their study. Senior faculty are among those who teach language courses regularly. The university requires the equivalent of three semesters of one foreign language to fulfill the Language and Culture core.
Every language is an arbitrary system through which an individual culture perceives the world.
To be locked within a single language is to know only one way of experiencing reality. To know two languages is to have two ways of looking at the world. Knowing languages no longer spoken gives us the opportunity to see how the world was perceived in other times as well as in other places. When we can read a work in its original language, we gain an appreciation of the beauty and nuances of the text and a deeper understanding of its content and meaning. If we want to engage in business successfully with diverse peoples, then we have to know them and their cultures, understand the assumptions and perceptions that we each bring to the encounter, and have a true appreciation and knowledge of one another's language.