Declaring a Major in Modern Languages
For information about applying to UWL, please contact the Admissions Office. An Undergraduate Application for Admission is required of all freshmen, transfer, and post-baccalaureate applicants. For advice about General University Requirements, contact the Academic Advising Center.
If you are considering transferring to UWL from another state of Wisconsin college or university and are wondering what courses will apply toward one of the Moden Languages majors, please refer to the Transfer Information Systems (TIS) on the Office of Admissions' website for transfer students. You may also contact Scott Johns, the academic advisor for transfer students, at (608) 785-8939.
Once you have been admitted to UWL, we recommend that you formally declare a major as soon as possible in order to establish a plan of study, gain access to classes during the first phase of registration, and receive important information from the department.
The Department of Modern Languages offers courses in the following languages:
If you have any questions, or if you need help deciding which option is best for you, please make an appointment to speak with one of our faculty. You can stop by 315 Graff Main Hall to arrange an appointment. Instructor's schedules are posted outside their office doors and on the faculty directory page.
Majors: French, French with Business Concentration, German Studies, German Studies with Business Concentration, Spanish, and Spanish with Business Concentration.
Procedure for declaring a major in Modern Languages: Contact the College of Liberal Studies to declare a major at any time throughout the year.
College of Liberal Studies
235 Morris Hall
1725 State Street
La Crosse, WI 54601
Phone: (608) 785-8113 or 8116
Fax: (608) 785-8119
If you are considering applying for graduate school, please consult the Advising page of this site.
You should plan to apply for graduation at least one semester prior to the semester in which you intend to graduate (if you want to graduate at the end of Spring Semester, you should apply during Fall Semester). Make an appointment with an advisor in the College of Liberal Studies to do a credit check. Plan to do this well in advance of registration. Plan to bring a copy of your SNAP so your coursework can be evaluated (an unofficial copy will be fine). The final step will be to turn in your Intent to Graduate form. These forms are available in the College of Liberal Studies.
The Alvida Ahistrom Honors Program is available to studentsis availableto students with junior standing and a 3.6 GPA in French, German, or Spanish course work at the 300 or 400 level. The program involves additional coursework and a seminar paper or project to be submitted to and approved by the language sectional faculty.
Welcome to the Department of Modern Languages at UWL. The information here and on the rest of the site is intended to help you decide whether one of our languages is a good option for your studies. Please explore all of the information throughout our site, and if you have any questions please ask us.
Learning another language is, by itself, a highly rewarding venture. The pleasure of being able to communicate with people from another culture, to read their literature, and to understand their culture will last a lifetime. Traveling is far more rewarding when you can speak with the people who live in the area you are visiting. Also, research shows that learning another language develops areas of the brain tha timprove memory and reasoning in other subjects.
Learning another language is becoming an important skill to have for many careers. As globalization continues to increase, businesses and non-profit organizations have an increasing need for personnel who can communicate in various languages. Study abroad experiences can improve your language ability and set your resume apart from other applicants.
If you are thinking of declaring a Modern Languages major, it is to your advantage to declare your major as soon as possible in order to gain registration access. For details about registering for classes, please consult the Advising page of this website. If you have not taken a language course at UWL before, you may need to take the Placement Exam.
The UWL Foundation scholarship applications can be found by clicking here.
Study Abroad Scholarship Opportunity: CEA along with Abroad101.com are offering a $5,000 scholarship based on essay submitions. For more information, please click here.
The Spanish section of the Department of Modern Languages offers two scholarships whose recipients are selected by the faculty of the Spanish section. A third scholarship for female students is available for students majoring in various departments at UWL, as described below. In 2007 the Modern Languages Department and the Spanish section reviewed the list of possible recipients for this third scholarship and prepared the list of nominations that was submitted to the Foundation Office.
Please read the requirements for each scholarship. If you are eligible, please complete the online application. Only those students who are eligible and who have submitted an application form to the Foundation Office will be considered for nomination for the respective scholarship. The deadline for applications is on or before March 1st at 4:30 p.m. Shortly thereafter the Spanish language faculty will review the submitted applications and then prepare a list of nominations for each scholarship. The information describing the many scholarships and the application procedures is available online (go to the UWL Home Page, click on “Alumni & Friends,” then click on “UW-L Foundation Home,” and then click on “Scholarship Program”). To the very right of that section on the screen you should see a list that includes Scholarship Process, Scholarship Booklet, Application, etc. There is one application form used for all scholarships with a space where you type the specific scholarship for which you are applying. You may apply for any and all of the scholarships for which you are eligible.
In April 2008 over $500,000 in scholarships were awarded to more than 500 students. Please apply if you are eligible, not only for the Ruth Nixon-Davy and the Tamzin-Aldrich Esposito scholarships, but also for any other Foundation scholarship for which you are eligible.
The following are descriptions of the scholarships mentioned above:
The Department of Modern Languages supports numerous student organizations. For more information, please click here.
The Undergraduate Research program is available to students interested in pursuing a topic of study related ot their language program in consultation with an advisor. Modern Laguages majors are encouraged to discuss with faculty early in their academic career the possibility of applying for an Undergraduate Research Grant. We especially encourage you to begin thining about this opportunity before studying abroad, as you will likely be out of the country for a semester or a year. Furthermore, you also have the opportunity to apply for a special Internation Undergraduate Research Grant to work on your project while you are abroad. You can click here for further information. For examples of research conducted by Modern Languages students in the past, you can click here.