UCLA introduces new European languages and transcultural studies department
UCLA recently established an interdisciplinary European studies department, UCLA Newsroom announced Monday. The department plans to offer students European language instruction and historical and cultural courses. (Liz Ketcham/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Kari Lau
Feb. 9, 2021 5:53 p.m.
UCLA established an interdisciplinary European studies department to allow students to study European languages and culture in greater depth.
The university merged several of its European language departments – including Germanic languages, French and Francophone studies, Scandinavian and Italian – to create the Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies, UCLA Newsroom announced Monday.
Campus leaders and faculty from departments in the merger unanimously voted to create the ELTS department. Dominic Thomas, a French and Francophone studies professor, was appointed department chair.
Students can take German, Dutch, Italian, French, Swedish and Yiddish language courses within the department.
The department also plans to offer students European culture and history classes, according to UCLA Newsroom. Students will be able to take various humanities courses, including gender and sexuality studies, postcolonial studies and literature, among others.
Courses will include the findings of theorists, writers and filmmakers from areas other than Europe, like Africa and Central and South America. In doing so, the department hopes to provide a deeper understanding of European history and the continent’s global impact, according to UCLA Newsroom.
The new department will prepare students to participate in a globalized world through its language instruction and interdisciplinary classes on European culture, David Schaberg, senior dean of UCLA college and dean of humanities, said to UCLA Newsroom.
