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Department of Modern Languages and Cultures

The Liberal Arts Multidisciplinary Scholars program, which is being introduced this fall, gives financial support to students in STEM majors who are interested in adding a second major from RIT's College of Liberal Arts.

While many colleges and universities require general education courses, RIT’s immersion requirement takes it a step further. Beyond the typical writing, math, science, social science, global studies, art, and ethics requirements, students are asked to fulfill an additional nine credits in a topic of interest. The intended result is to produce well-rounded students who have gained broader, more diverse perspectives.

Diverse subjects involving safety and autonomous automobiles, Black women in computing, and Italian cinema are just some of the winning entries for this year’s student writing awards, sponsored by RIT’s College of Liberal Arts.

RIT’s College of Liberal Arts began the academic year under new leadership. Dean Anna Stenport joined RIT from Georgia Institute of Technology’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts in September following a nationwide search. Stenport is a professor of communication and an expert in transnational cinema and media, modern literature and drama, and visual and cultural studies, with a focus on the Arctic and Nordic regions.

Study International features RIT's College of Liberal Arts and talks to Dean Anna Stenport.

Stenport is currently a professor of global studies and chair of the School of Modern Languages at Georgia Institute of Technology’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. She was selected as the RIT dean following a nationwide search and will begin her new leadership role Sept. 1.

Sarah Sabal secured two prestigious international scholarships—a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) and a Boren Awards Scholarship—that will allow her to spend a year intensively studying the Chinese language in an immersive setting. She is one of several students who contributed to a record-breaking year for RIT in terms of securing funding for international experiences.

As part of a gameplay and prototyping class at RIT this spring, 25 game design and development students got to participate in a virtual cultural exchange with 30 students at a Japanese college. The teams learned about each other’s cultures and overcame language barriers and time zone differences to create projects for a global game jam.

A number of students majoring in Applied Modern Language and Culture have earned a spot on the Dean's List for Fall 2020.

RIT's College of Liberal Arts honored student achievements in writing with 15 writing awards on Friday, March 19. This year marks the 41st year the awards were presented, though the first time the ceremony was held virtually.

LaVerne McQuiller Williams, senior associate dean of RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, has been named interim COLA dean effective June 1. McQuiller Williams succeeds Dean James Winebrake, who is leaving RIT on June 30 to become provost and vice chancellor of Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. 

RIT’s College of Liberal Arts honored student achievement in writing with more than a dozen writing awards for essays varying from wasteful energy, maternal mortality, eyewitness testimony policies and seeking worth in a liberal arts degree. Each department within the college selected student awardees whose work embodies the ideals and standards of excellence, creative endeavor and scholarship.