Why Study a Foreign Language?

Our programs develop students' ability to use spoken and written language as they learn about the culture, history, and literature of the areas of the world where this language is spoken. The study of foreign languages broadens global perspectives and deepens cultural understanding.

Our Programs

Our programs develop students' ability to use the spoken and written language as they learn about the culture, history, and literature of the areas of the world where this language is spoken.

We offer small classes, which promote student participation and proficiency in the foreign languages and afford our students the opportunity to get to know their professors well.

Find a Program

Faculty writing on a white board

Our Faculty

One of the great strengths of our program is the cooperation among faculty of diverse languages and specializations. 

Meet Our Faculty

Student in Italy

Opportunities Abroad

We strongly encourage our majors to study abroad. The International Education Office provides numerous low-cost opportunities for global learning.

Learn about International Education Opportunities 

Our Mission

Under the overarching mission of Buffalo State and the School of Arts and Sciences, the Modern and Classical Languages Department is a nurturing community of faculty and students who learn and use languages other than English to study other peoples, their cultures, as well as their arts and letters.

We perform a particularly significant role in fulfilling Buffalo State's mission of promoting respect for diversity and individual differences, as well as community and global engagement. We uphold an Ambassador Model to our students throughout their course of study, one that centers on scholarship, diplomacy, global citizenship, and engaged professionalism.

Within the time-honored tradition of a language department’s commitment to language and letters, our academic programs engage students in thinking critically about the historical role of scholarship in the target language’s cultures, arts and humanities, while promoting high, diplomatic standards of correct and socio-culturally appropriate use of the target language. Ever mindful of the rise of civic and economic globalization, we are dedicated to providing the highest-quality preparation of reflective and engaged language professionals who possess and demonstrate life-long commitment to an expanded sense of global citizenship.