Make a Gift to the Department

You can help the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures fulfill its mission of sustaining a close-knit community of students and teachers, committed to the highest standards of academic excellence.

You can make a tax deductible donation to the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Foundation. You can even specify how you would like that donation to be used. Your entire donation, i.e., 100% of each dollar, will be used according to your specifications; there are no administrative charges that will reduce your financial level of participation. You may call (309) 438-3671 to pledge your support.

Thank you for your support!

Gifts to the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures can help to support the following initiatives:

General scholarships for Languages, Literatures, and Cultures students
General scholarships for students interested in majoring or minoring in Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (the first in our Department's history) would enable us to attract more students to Languages, Literatures, and Cultures study.

Scholarships to our study abroad programs
One of the most significant learning experiences for students is studying in the home culture where their language of specialization is spoken. Our department currently sponsors programs in: Angers and Grenoble, France; Quebec, Canada; Bonn, Germany; Nagoya, Hirakata, and Nakajo, Japan; Taxco, Mexico; and Granada, Spain. Scholarships would open this opportunity to many more of our students.

Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Film Festival and cultural programming 
Languages, Literatures, and Cultures study is much more than studying a language; it is also experiencing the culture of the country or countries where that language is spoken. In addition to study abroad opportunities, our department offers a rich array of cultural programs that bring some of that cultural opportunity to campus for students to experience.

Such programming includes: our annual the Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Living Center (designed to provide Languages, Literatures, and Cultures majors and minors with the opportunity to practice, maintain, and enhance their skills in French, German, or Spanish in a residence hall environment conducive to learning, cultural exchange, and academic diversity); and language clubs and honor societies for each of the languages offered in the Department. Increased funding would enable us to enhance our current offerings.

Outreach to and support of the Languages, Literatures, and Cultures teaching community in Illinois 
The Department currently sponsors two major outreach activities to the community of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures secondary school teachers in Illinois: our annual Saturday Morning Workshop (to bring news and hands-on practice in new teaching pedagogies to in-service teachers) and our biannual newsletter "Resources for Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Teachers," mailed to over 300 high school teachers statewide (and also available in electronic form on our website). Enhanced funding would enable us to: offer additional workshops during the year (particularly in the Chicago area); expand the newsletter to include more feature articles of interest and use to teachers; offer enhanced programming to in-service teachers, such as summer or weekend language immersion programs.

Language laboratories and library 
Our Languages, Literatures and Cultures Multi-Media Lab and Language Learning Lab enable students to learn outside the classroom as well as within it. Our labs are equipped with Pentium computers, a laser printer, TV/DVD's, including 2 region-free DVD players and 1 region-free VCR.  Our Multi-Media Lab is now equipped with a Smart Board which is not only a helpful teaching tool, it also gives teacher education students hands-on experience before they enter the K-12 classroom.  The Department also houses the Margery Ellis Library, founded by a former chair who donated her library to the Department. Financial support would enable us to: enrich our software, video, and library holdings, and renovate all these areas so as to provide a more welcoming environment for students.

Lecture series 
Our department sponsors three different colloquium series each year:

• Works in Progress (for faculty members to discuss their current research)
• Teaching in Progress (for faculty members to present innovative, experimental work in teaching)
• Technology in Progress (for faculty members to showcase initiatives in instructional technology)

External support would help us to expand these series to include invited speakers from other universities and from among our alumni.

Endowed chair 
An endowed chair in Languages, Literatures, and Cultures pedagogy (the first in department history) would enable us to attract a renowned teacher-scholar who would enhance the Department's role as statewide leader in instructing future Languages, Literatures, and Cultures educators and in developing Languages, Literatures, and Cultures pedagogy.