As the world continues to get smaller, the value of being bilingual grows. Language nurtures personal relationships, unlocks professional opportunities and invites new experiences around the world.

The Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures emphasizes the use of language as a critical tool to help broaden students' awareness of the similarities and differences between cultures while sharpening their appreciation for the nuances of their own native language. Please contact our department for questions.

Majors & Minors

Dragon head from a statue at USF.

Chinese Studies, Minor

Classrooms extend into the city, which serves as a living laboratory with its unrivaled array of academic, linguistic, and cultural experiences.

Kalmanovitz Hall amphitheater

Classical Studies, Minor

How are the intellectual achievements and philosophical debates of ancient Greece and Rome relevant in our everyday lives?

Student listens attentively in class

French Studies, BA & Minor

When you study French at USF, you're starting a conversation with more than 220 million French speakers around the globe.

Group of students in a lounge using public computers to work on a project.

German Studies, Minor

The German minor at the University of San Francisco teaches language and culture in a meaningful and relevant context, training students to hear, speak, read, and write German.

Student sits on a bench in SF's Chinatown.

Japanese Studies, BA & Minor

Develop a well-rounded foundation in Japanese language, culture, literature, linguistics, art, history, religion, and business.

Student leans back listening in class

Spanish Studies, BA

The Spanish Studies major and minor programs are more than a foreign language — they provide full immersion in a second language, culture, and history, with social and political contexts vital to living in diverse communities within the global climate.

Foreign Language Requirement

Language nurtures relationships, unlocks opportunities, and invites new experiences around the world. That’s why we require our undergraduate students to study a foreign language offered by the university.

Foreign Language Requirement

Student Support

Our Language and Culture Center and tutoring programs offer students the extra academic support they need outside of the classroom.

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