Information found in this online edition of the 2008-09 catalog is unofficial and for informational purposes only. By authority of the dean of the College, some factual corrections to the printed version may appear here. The official document of record is the printed edition of the 2008-09 Catalog. For more information, please contact the Office of the Registrar.
Foreign Language (proficiency requirement)
The acquisition of a language other than one's own has always been a hallmark of a liberal education. In today's increasingly interdependent world this is all the more true. Only by learning the language of another people is one able to adequately understand the subtleties and nuances of its culture, for language is the gateway to all cultures.
At Lewis & Clark College in particular, studying a second language has a place of central importance--both because of Lewis & Clark's historical commitment to international studies and because providing all students with an encounter with another culture has become a defining feature of the undergraduate program of studies. Not only does language study open up our appreciation for and sensitivity to other parts of the world, it also better enables us to understand and appreciate our own native language. For these reasons, Lewis & Clark College requires of its students the serious study of at least one language other than English.
Lewis & Clark has a foreign language proficiency requirement for all students. This requirement may be satisfied in one of the following ways:
- Completion of a foreign language through the 201 level.
- Completion of an approved language-based overseas program. (The list of approved programs is available from the Office of Overseas and Off-Campus Programs.)
- Placement into 202 or above on the foreign language placement examination.
- A score of 4 or 5 on an Advanced Placement Language or Literature Examination; or a score of 5, 6, or 7 on an International Baccalaureate Higher Level Language Examination.
International students whose first language is not English are exempt from the foreign language requirement.