Dec 05, 2025  
2025-2026 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
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2025-2026 Undergraduate Catalog

World Languages and Literatures

www.smu.edu/worldlanguages

Professor Hervé Tchumkam, Department Chair

American Sign Language
Lecturer: TBD

Arabic
Senior Lecturer II: Liljana Elverskog (Area Chair), Omar Al-Rashdan

Chinese
Senior Lecturer II: Yan Xia (Area Chair)
Senior Lecturers: Xiao Hu, Wei Qu

French
Professors: Dayna Oscherwitz, Hervé Tchumkam
Associate Professors: Maxime Foerster (Area Chair)
Senior Lecturer II: Gwendoline Aaron, Paola Buckley (Adviser), Janet Dodd, Thierry Tirado, Omar Al-Rashdan
Senior Lecturers: Caroline Grubbs, Yuliya Kruchkova, Rachel Ney
Lecturers: Antoinette Williams-Tutt (Adviser of International Film Studies Minor)

German
Senior Lecturer II: Stephen Grollman (Area Chair)
Instructor: Sabine Harvey

Greek
Senior Lecturer: Justin Michael Germain (Area Chair)

Italian
Senior Lecturer II: Brandy Alvarez, Teresa Brentegani
Senior Lecturers: Damiano Bonuomo, Daniele Forlino (Area Chair)
Visiting Lecturer: Arianna Avalle

Japanese
Lecturer: Makoto Negishi (Area Chair)

Latin
Senior Lecturer: Justin Michael Germain (Area Chair)
Visiting Lecturer: Crystal Rosenthal

Spanish
Professor: Denise DuPont
Associate Professors: Olga Colbert, Luis Maldonado-Peña (Adviser), Alberto Pastor, Elizabeth Russ, Rubén Sánchez-Godoy, Gabriela Vokic, Alicia Zuese 
Senior Lecturer II: Maria Eguez, Susana Fernandez-Solera, Leticia McDoniel, Lourdes Molina, Joy Saunders
Senior Lecturers: Donna Binkowski (Area Chair), Marlen Y. Collazo, Miroslava Detcheva, Constantin Icleanu, Allison Larkin (Associate Chair), Maria Villar Martin, Maria del Pilar Melgarejo, Talia Weltman-Cisneros
Lecturers: Sarah Bogard, Mariya Dzhyoyeva, Ana Echevarria-Morales, Monica Fernandez Martins, Yuriko Ikeda, Rodrigo Lopez, Gema Lopez Hevia

Russian
Senior Lecturers: Tatiana Zimakova (Area Chair), Yuliya Kruchkova

Second Language Requirement Adviser: Jay Orenduff

General Information

The Department of World Languages and Literatures offers nine modern languages and two classical languages. Students may pursue a B.A. degree in French, French Studies, Spanish, and World Languages and minors in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, International Film Studies, Italian, Italian Area Studies, Japanese, Latin, Russian Area Studies, and Spanish. The B.A. in World Languages allows students to specialize in two different languages.

In pursuing language study, students gain communicative proficiency in a second or third language, as well as cultural proficiency and heightened global awareness. Courses taught toward a language major or minor emphasize all of these through the study of communication, culture, literature, linguistics, history, film, politics, business and other diverse aspects of language and culture. Students may also apply these skills through a language-based internship, either in Dallas or abroad, and through independent research.

Department Transfer Credit Policy

Once students have matriculated at SMU, the World Languages and Literatures department accepts a limited number of online courses for transfer credit; students should consult the Second Language Adviser for details. For general University transfer course policies, students should refer to the Enrollment and Academic Records  section of this catalog.

SMU Abroad Rules for Credit

Students participating in an SMU Abroad term program may automatically count nine credit hours of courses taught in an approved program toward a B.A. and six credit hours toward a minor. Students studying abroad for a full year may apply 15 credit hours with specific approval from the area chair of the language.

Departmental Distinction

  1. Overall 3.500 GPA by the middle of the junior year.
  2. Overall 3.700 GPA in the major by the middle of the junior year.
  3. Invitation of area faculty after the area as a whole has discussed the student’s candidacy.
  4. Two extra courses beyond the requirements for the major. One course must include a major research paper, to be undertaken and completed in the first term of the candidate’s senior year.

Majors, Minors and Courses in World Languages

Requirements for a B.A. degree in French, French Studies, Spanish and World Languages, as well as for minors in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, International Film Studies, Italian, Italian Area Studies, Japanese, Latin, Russian Area Studies and Spanish are given below.

Programs

    Major(s)Minor(s)

    Courses

      American Sign Language
      Arabic
      Chinese
      French

      German

      Greek
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