Diplomat + Engaged Professional + Scholar + Global Citizen = Ambassador

Ambassador Model for Learning and Teaching

The Ambassador Model for Learning and Teaching upholds our vision of what our majors achieve and how we help them reach their goals and affirms our common commitments to four areas that underpin the virtues of ambassadorship.

The Modern and Classical Languages Ambassador Model, in part, is informed by the Languages for the Professions and Specific Purposes (LPSP) movement in language pedagogy. 

Learn about the Ambassador Model for Learning and Teaching (PDF)

Learn about LPSP (PDF)

Our History

1963   The Foreign Language Unit becomes a separate department within the Humanities Faculty; faculty are hired to staff the new programs to train teachers of French and Spanish 7-12.

1968   The college establishes its first study-abroad program in Siena, Italy; it continues for 40 years.

1970   The college jointly with SUNYAB establishes a study-abroad program in Salamanca, Spain.

1973   The department reaches its zenith in terms of full-time staffing: 18 faculty.

1976   The Italian BA program begins a period of expansion, including the in-house journal Italiana Americana.

1978   The department creates a ceremony to recognize undergraduate student achievement: the Messner and Falbo Awards are established on an annual basis.

1983   Hiring of part-time teaching staff moves beyond the “Spanish for Spanish Speakers” courses, ultimately sustaining offerings in Chinese, German, Japanese, Polish, Russian, and Swahili. The college adopts a 2-year single language requirement for all students in BA programs.

2000   The department name is officially changed to Modern and Classical Languages.

2003   The new Language Learning Laboratory makes its resources available to students, just as the college reduces the language requirement for BA students from 2 years down to 1.  Graduate courses in French and Spanish are developed and offered for a while.

2009   The French and Spanish teacher education programs receive ACTFL-NCATE National Recognition; a gradual shift begins toward language learning for the 21st- century global workforce.

2012   Dr. Andrea Guiati (Italian & French) attains the SUNY rank of Distinguished Teaching Professor. 

2015   Adoption of the Ambassador Model for Learning and Teaching, an important statement of our collective commitment to fostering students' cross-cultural and global competencies, while the teacher education programs are phased out.

2018   Departmental Award Affordable Learning Materials initiative begins; hiring of full-time faculty with translation and interpreting credentials begins, a key part of our move toward a focus on producing language professionals.

2021   The department marks the 95th anniversary of the start of language instruction on campus (in 1926) technology continues to permit multiple language-learning platforms and modes, as needed.