Welcome!

The Department of World Languages and Cultures is an inclusive community of faculty and students committed to creating a more diverse and equitable world by raising intercultural awareness and creating better understanding across cultures.

Expert Faculty

Our department brings together world-renowned faculty specializing in a variety of fields, including:

  • Cinema and media studies
  • Cultural history
  • Gender and sexuality studies
  • Historical memory
  • Linguistics
  • Music
  • (Post/de)colonial studies
  • Race and ethnicity
  • Second-language acquisition 
  • Trauma studies
Professor speaks with a student in a World Languages & Cultures class at UMass Lowell.

Academics & Events

We strive to create transformational education for our students by offering a variety of opportunities, from beginning language classes to advanced seminars in various subject areas. In addition, our community-based research projects integrate current pedagogical practices as well as cultural programming beyond the classroom. 

Our small classes allow us to work closely with students. Working together, we will help you link your linguistic and cross-cultural communication skills with your professional goals.

The department also hosts events, such as weekly language tables and cafés, film series, lectures and performances to create a lively intellectual life and supportive community.  

Study Abroad

Most of our students study abroad for a semester, a summer or a winter session, allowing them to solidify and expand their linguistic and intercultural skills in the context today’s global world. Our partnerships with professional and community organizations in the region allow students to gain hands-on experience.