Center for World Languages and Cultures

Office: Sturm Hall, 391 Suite
Mail Code: 2000 E. Asbury Ave. Denver, CO 80210
Phone: 303-871-4601
Website: https://liberalarts.du.edu/cwlc
Email: cwlc@du.edu

About the Center

The Center for World Languages and Cultures (CWLC) supports and encourages the study of languages and cultures and provides free language tutoring for all DU students at the Language Center in the Anderson Academic Commons. The CWLC oversees the first-year language curriculum at DU. Course descriptions can be found in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures and the Department of Spanish Language, Literary and Cultural Studies. In addition, the Center facilitates credit-bearing and noncredit study options for a number of less commonly taught languages. The CWLC also administers the language placement tests for DU undergraduate students, as well proficiency tests for graduate students and language majors. The CWLC is generally open from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday.

Our Mission

The Center for World Languages & Cultures is committed to students' academic, professional, and personal growth. The CWLC puts language at the core of transformative learning and prepares students to communicate effectively -with intercultural knowledge and competence- in more than one language. Experiencing the world through the lens of a different language enhances students' capacity to identify their own cultural patterns, to compare and contrast them with others, and to respond empathetically to unfamiliar ways of being. For this reason, the Center aims to integrate languages and cultures into all fields of study, and to build and support intercultural communities at the University of Denver with its local and global communities and partners.

Our Goals

  • To enrich the first-year academic experience through excellence in teaching;
  • To develop linguistic skills and cultural appreciation;
  • To prepare students linguistically and culturally for studying abroad;
  • To provide access to a diverse portfolio of language learning opportunities;
  • To develop cross-cultural relationships with international strategic partner universities;
  • To promote the integration of language and intercultural perspectives within the curriculum;
  • To establish and maintain proficiency standards and coordinate language assessment across the University's programs and divisions;
  • To provide support for DU's current and future language programs.