Modern Languages
Whether or not you plan to use a foreign language in your future career, studying one at Bentley can significantly enhance your career options. It will also make you a more well-rounded individual and culturally sensitive global citizen. We offer a diverse and engaging array of courses in Chinese, French, Italian and Spanish. Each class is carefully designed to help you hone your language and communication skills while also developing the critical cultural awareness necessary for success in our ever-expanding global community. Additionally, you’ll have the opportunity to venture outside the classroom through study abroad and internship opportunities that offer experiential learning and cultural immersion. Whichever career path you ultimately choose, our Modern Languages courses help you prepare for future success by fostering a deeper awareness and understanding of our interconnected world.
Degree Programs
Minor Programs
Language Placement
New book from Astourian explores ethnography in 1960s French cinema
Since publishing her book, “The Ethnographic Optic,” in June, Associate Professor Laure Astourian has been sharing insights about 1960s French cinema around the globe.
In addition to presentations at Columbia University’s Maison Française, the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, the University of Toronto and UCLA, she was featured on NPR and discussed the book during an episode of New Books Network’s film podcast. Astourian also filmed a video essay related to Chapter 2 with Icarus Films, the leading documentary film distributor, and shared an excerpt from Chapter 4 with the global streaming platform MUBI.
Matachana Lopez examines how Puerto Rican youth respond to discrimination
In “Linguistic discrimination and resistance: Puerto Rican youth language ideologies,” published in Applied Linguistics, Assistant Professor Claudia Matachana Lopez explores how Puerto Rican Spanish speakers experience and respond to linguistic discrimination.
Drawing on data collected during interviews in Massachusetts, the study shows how language ideologies and negative stereotypes shape perceptions of bilingualism and contribute to feelings of linguistic insecurity. The results also highlight how participants resist and challenge these narratives, reclaiming pride in their bilingualism and advocating for a more inclusive language education that recognizes diverse Spanish varieties.
Students secure positions with international companies
Congratulations to Italian language student Magdalena Bunster ’24 (left) who, with the support of Alessia Dalsant, senior lecturer and director of Bentley’s Center for Language and International Collaboration (CLIC), secured a full-time position with Vetii, an Italy-based company that produces, imports and distributes luxury kitchens and interiors to the U.S.
Congratulations also to Zoe Grondin ’26 (right) a Language, Culture, and Business (LCB) major currently combining two of her passions — French and business — during a year-long internship with the French American Chamber of Commerce of New England (FACCNE). She learned about FACCNE and met its director, Ludivine Wolczik, during “Francophone Entrepreneurs,” a course taught by Associate Professor Laure Astourian that featured a podcast competition sponsored by Bentley’s Entrepreneurship Hub (E-Hub).
Contact
Christian Rubio
Professor and Department Chair
Adamian Academic Center 241
781.891.2694
crubio@bentley.edu
Darlene Saunders
Senior Academic Coordinator
Morison 109
781.891.3137
dsaunders@bentley.edu