About

Contact Information

Office: Liberal Arts Building, Room 350
Phone: (508) 999-8332
Fax: (508) 910-6646

Mailing Address: GLC, UMass Dartmouth, 285 Old Westport Rd., North Dartmouth MA 02747

Misson and History

Mission

The mission of the Department is to provide all students with opportunities to learn about and reflect on diverse cultural perspectives, practices, and products, while at the same time developing students' communicative abilities in a foreign language.

The Department is aligned with the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages, defined by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). These standards are organized around the 5 C’s:

Communication: The communication standard stresses the use of the target language for communication in "real life" situations. It emphasizes "what students can do with language" rather than "what they know about language."

Cultures: Experiencing other cultures develops a better understanding and appreciation of the relationship between languages and other cultures, as well as the student's native culture. Students become better able to understand other people's points of view, ways of life, and contributions to the world.

Connections: Language instruction must be connected with other subject areas. Content from other subject areas is integrated with language instruction through lessons or courses that are developed around themes common to other subject areas.

Comparisons: Students are encouraged to compare and contrast target language structure with English structure and also to compare varied target language cultures with their own. They discover patterns, make predictions, and analyze similarities and differences across languages and cultures.

Communities: Extending learning experiences from the target language classroom to the home and multilingual and multicultural community emphasizes living in a global society. Activities may include service learning, field trips, participation in clubs, exchange, or study-abroad programs, and cultural activities.

History

The Department of Global Languages and Cultures has been an integral part of the evolution of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Professors and full-time lecturers who have served the department in the past include Joseph Vinci, Wesley Panunzio, James Weeks, Antone Felix, Gregory Rocha, Maria Moreira, Lew Kamm, Mel Yoken, Eugene Masse, John Twomey, Maria Elisa Rocha, Giulio Massano, Deborah Lee, Suzanne Pelletier-Massano, Ida and Larry Washington, Joseph Bronstad, and Christina Biron.

Part-time lecturers who have enriched the Department with their dedication and enthusiasm include Jane Campbell, Lorena Dauteuil, Daniel Ouellette, Michael Whitten, and Weihua Zhang.

The success of the language program at this University has been fostered by the continuing availability of the Foreign Language Lab, which opened its doors in the late 1960s under the direction of Robert Ouellette. The Language Lab, now called the Foreign Language Multimedia Center, is directed by Prof. Sandra Rivera.

The Department's first secretary, Dorothy Hanley, arrived in the late 1970s. After her death in 1981, Alcina Galego was hired as her replacement. Alcina was an essential and steadfast part of the successful operation of the Department until her retirement in 2012. Wendy Holmes then took over as the new secretary, and we were lucky to have her. Wendy passed away in 2018. She is sorely missed.