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Modern Languages and Literatures

The study of international languages and cultures has become increasingly essential in today's globally interdependent society. The study of modern languages helps facilitate cultural understanding and appreciation, as well as encourages a greater exchange of material and intellectual goods. 

Oswego's Department of Modern Languages and Literatures is one of the largest programs in the SUNY system. We promote engagement, belonging, inclusivity, and partnership through our course design, teaching practices, extracurricular activities, and study abroad experiences. Our diverse department offers a wide variety of languages as majors and minors. 

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Practice Your Language Skills in Our Friendly Department Foyer

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures common areas welcome students to converse in the language of their choice with fellow students and people from all over the world, relax, work on homework, or read a book.

Events

Anastasia Valecce

Disobedient Women: Art, Resistance, and Afro-Queer Puerto Rico

Join the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures on Monday, October 5th in MCC 132 at 5:00pm for a conversation with Associate Professor Anastasia Valecce about her forthcoming book, Disobedient Women: Decolonial Movements of Afro-Queer Puerto Rican Artists.

The event will explore how Puerto Rican and Caribbean artists use art as a form of resistance to colonial, racial, and gendered structures, with particular attention to Afro-Queer expression, feminist resistance, and the politics of visibility.

Dr. Anastasia Valecce is Associate Professor at Spelman College and author of Disobedient Women: Decolonial Movements of Afro-Queer Puerto Rican Artists (University Press of Florida, 2026), and Neorealismo y cine en Cuba: Historia y discurso entorno a la primera polémica de la Revolución (Purdue University Press, 2020). Her work centers on the creative and intellectual practices through which colonial, racial, gendered, and heteronormative structures are challenged, opening new possibilities for identity, agency, pleasure, and resistance.

Organized by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures(MLL) with the generous support of Hart Hall, Artswego, and the Gender and Women's Studies (GWS) Program.

All students, faculty, staff, and members of the campus community are welcome. Event is free and open to the public.

Possible Landscapes, a documentary film. An aerial view of a small motorboat on top of whitecap waves.

Possible Landscapes, directed by documentary filmmaker Kannan Arunasalam and produced by Tao DuFour and Natalie Melas, explores relationships to place, history, and one another across the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Natalie Melas, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at Cornell University and a scholar of Caribbean thought, will join us for the screening. The event will include remarks and a discussion led by Gonzalo Aguiar-Malossetti, Associate Professor at SUNY Oswego. 

Wednesday, November 11 | 6:00 p.m. | Shineman 122

Spanish Movies

Monday, September 14: In The Time of the Butterflies (Dominican Republic) 

Time: 5:00pm     Location: 132 MCC (Auditorium)

 

Monday, September 28: Butterfly (Spain) 

Time: 5:00pm     Location: 132 MCC (Auditorium)

 

Monday, October 19: All About My Mother (Argentina)

Time: 5:00pm     Location: 132 MCC (Auditorium)

 

Monday, November 2: Abuse At The Border (Mexico)

Time: 5:00pm     Location: 132 MCC (Auditorium)

 

It is our pleasure to inform the Oswego campus that Carolyn Adams was selected to receive one of the 2026 Pi Delta Phi French Honor society scholarships. The Joseph W. Yedlicka award will allow Carolyn to study at IAU (Institute for American Universities) College in Aix-en-Provence, and it includes the 2026 tuition for the summer session from May 30-July 11, travel expenses up to $1,000.00, housing and board. Her achievements reflect both her dedication and strong education taking place on our campus! Congratulations to Carolyn on this honor!

Student Spotlight

Our student Menelek Prosser participated in the Sixth Undergraduate Research Conference, The Body Tells the Story: Embodied Histories and Social Change in Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAS) at Binghamton University this past semester. He presented his paper, “Warriors of the Womb,” which examines women’s reproductive rights in Puerto Rico. He also presented part of his research findings at Quest 2026 at SUNY Oswego.

Menelek Prosser

Our student Menelek Prosser participated in the Sixth Undergraduate Research Conference, The Body Tells the Story: Embodied Histories and Social Change in Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAS) at Binghamton University this past semester. He presented his paper, "Warriors of the Womb," which examines women's reproductive rights in Puerto Rico. He also presented part of his research findings at Quest 2026 at SUNY Oswego.

A female student standing in front of a poster about scholarships

Rashelle Torres-Mendoza

Rashelle Torres-Mendoza (Class of 2028), a dual major in Adolescent Education and Spanish, participated in the Study Abroad Fair on September 16th and helped students enter the raffle for a $250 scholarship towards their application process. She decided to volunteer at the fair to share her knowledge about the process to go abroad and to share the wonderful experience she had in Mexico City. "I had an amazing time abroad! My professors in Mexico were great and I am truly grateful that I was able to go!"

Faculty Spotlight

Dr. Georgina Whittingham

We are delighted to present Hugo Salcedo's "Los hijos de la Malinche," translated to English by Carolyn Malloy and Georgina Whittingham.

 

Dr. Gonzalo Aguiar Malosetti

As President of Middle Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies, Dr. Gonzalo Aguiar Malosetti helped organize the annual conference at Salisbury University, MD, in March 2023.

Dr. Roseli Rojo

Dr. Roseli Rojo contributed to Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas with her piece, "Havana on Steam Power: Literature, the Railroad, and the City in Nineteenth-Century Cuba."

Contact Us

245 Marano Campus Center
8 am - 4:30 pm

Phone: 315.312.2196
[email protected]