World languages have been taught at Iowa State since its establishment (as Iowa Agricultural College) in 1868. Originally, Latin and French were the only two languages taught on campus with German fluctuating in and out of ISU’s curriculum over the first decade or so. In 1899, The Department of Modern Languages was created.
Since then, our department has had a few different names, our current name, the Department of World Languages and Cultures, was adopted in 2005. We have become the home to 19 different disciplines since our inception. We now offer language coursework in American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. We also cover cultural education in the forms of anthropology, Classical Studies, International Studies, U.S. Latino/a Studies, and World Film Studies. We also help educate future teachers with our Educator Preparation Program.
In 2003, we established our languages and cultures for professions (LCP) program. This addition strengthened our ties with the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Business, and Engineering. We see our students moving into industries seamlessly and harnessing their language and cultural training to become global leaders in their respective fields. As one of the flagship programs of its kind in the nation, LCP gives students a competitive edge in the job market.