The World Language and Culture programs at Montclair build on this, standing out as some of the best in the country. A few examples:

• �ѴDzԳٳ���������’s French Program was in 2025 the sole university to be named as an by the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF).
• In 2025, German and French Professor Pascale LaFountain was awarded �ѴDzԳٳ���������’s first Presidential Excellence in Teaching Award as well as the national AATG award for Outstanding Post-Secondary Educator.
• Italian faculty member Enza Antenos has been named national Educator of the Year by the Italian Language Foundation, and the American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI) has recognized Dr. Antenos with its national Distinguished Service Award in 2023.
• �ѴDzԳٳ���������’s German Program in 2020 became one of a very selective group of by the American Association of Teachers of German.
• Italian faculty members Marisa Trubiano and Teresa Fiore have both been named to the prestigious .

With the faculty frequently publishing on their teaching and cultural scholarship, and being invited to share their expertise around the country and the world, each faculty member is also fully committed to teaching and advising at all levels.

Italian Professor Marisa Trubiano notes, “In my twenty-five years of teaching here at ����vlog, every new semester has brought together an exciting, challenging, inquisitive new group of young people into a community of inquiry that it has been a privilege to teach. These students’ intellectual and professional development is always first and foremost on our minds as we all find innovative ways to facilitate and support their growth and readiness for our rapidly changing world.”

Many students choose to double major in Arabic, Asian Languages, French, German, or Italian alongside majors in business, sciences, humanities, education and the arts. While participating in World Language and Culture programs, students engage in collaborative and community-building projects such as the Haitian Poetry Project, Teaching German in the SPARK for German Teaching Lab, performing theater in Italy, and capstone courses in Language, Business & Culture featuring conversations with business leaders applying their language skills for career success.

After graduation, many students take on positions in international companies, win international Fulbright grants after graduation, or pursue advanced degrees.

With its standout programs in World Languages and Cultures, Montclair significantly contributes to preparing the next generation of globally ready diplomats, entrepreneurs, teachers, and innovators.

The highly competitive scholarship program, which receives over 200 applications annually, selects just ten female and ten male Italian American college students for a two-week cultural immersion trip to Italy.

“I’m deeply honored to be one of ten female students nationally selected for this NIAF Voyage program,” said Sabrina. “As a second-generation Italian American, this is like a dream come true—the perfect reward for my passion, hard work, and dedication to celebrating our culture. I look forward to exploring Rome and Lazio with their incredible history, to network with others, and truly connect with my roots.”

Sabrina’s selection comes as no surprise to those familiar with her. Beyond her remarkable enthusiasm and engagement in her Italian classes, she previously served as a Coccia-Inserra Intern and also held an internship with the National Organization of Italian American Women (NOIAW). Additionally, she is an alumna of the Italian American Future Leaders (IAFL).

The NIAF Voyage of Discovery program, established by Ambassador Peter F. Secchia to help young Italian Americans explore their heritage, has sent nearly 1,000 students to Italy since its inception.

Teams, co-coached by World Language faculty and students, played fast-paced 20-minute games in a round-robin format. Arabic faculty member Mazooz Sehwail and experienced recreational soccer students refereed the games with objectivity and precision. Teams were well-matched with scores often fluctuating until the final minutes. German faculty member Pascale LaFountain notes, “I love the camaraderie. Even on our diverse campus I think sometimes people come to the field with some cultural stereotypes. The soccer field really brings people together across identity groups and connects through a shared love for the sport.”

The field was lined with avid fans displaying flags from around the world, cheering for teams in a harmony of languages, sharing summer travel tips for world explorations, discussing study abroad plans, taking final pre-graduation selfies, and enjoying pizza with their teams. Faculty and their families, world language classmates, and friends all joined to support the students. This program is part of Montclair World Languages’ commitment to bringing language learning beyond the classroom, which the program does through a lively schedule of co-curricular activities, , , and career planning opportunities.

“Regardless of their background, major, language, gender, or experience level, everyone is so respectful on the pitch,” says LaFountain. “Maybe the World Cup could even learn something from these students!”

Winning the International Soccer Tournament Trophy from the French/Francophone team, the 2025 winners were the Arabic team! Yalla yalla! The Arabic faculty will display the trophy with honor … until it returns to the field next year as part of the warmup to the World Cup festivities.

Left: Professor Mazooz Sehwail poses with the trophy. Right: Students on the winning Arabic team pose together with Professor Sehwail.

Information sessions for the 2026 cohort will be held in May, July, and September. In November 2025, Dr. Miele, in collaboration with the ����vlog Galleries will host a workshop on campus with NJEEPRE (). The event will bring Reggio-inspired educators from all over the state to campus and give faculty and students an opportunity to network and continue learning about the Reggio approach to education.

A standout student at ����vlog, Charvi is pursuing a double major in Language, Business & Culture with a concentration in Italian, and Data Science. Her active involvement in the Italian program includes participating in ITALengAmerica virtual exchange, holding an assistantship with the Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies, and working as a marketing and communications intern at WorldLangAmerica—a position made possible through support from the NJ Italian Heritage Commission.

“I’m beyond grateful to receive a scholarship that gives me the opportunity to immerse myself in Italian at Middlebury this summer,” says Charvi. “Learning languages has always been a passion of mine, and this opportunity is the best I could have asked for. It will allow me to deepen my understanding of both the language and culture in a fully immersive environment. I can’t wait to challenge myself and grow.”

Charvi’s dedication to the Italian program has consistently stood out among her peers. Her scholarship is one of eight competitive awards Middlebury grants annually to students from Historically Black Colleges, Tribal Colleges, and Hispanic Serving Universities. Notably, ����vlog has achieved remarkable success with this scholarship program, producing winners three years in a row, including two previous recipients from the German program in 2023 and 2024.

Dr. Antenos, director of the Language, Business & Culture program, celebrates this achievement: “This continued recognition from Middlebury speaks to the dedication of our students and the strong foundation they build in the World Language and Culture programs. We’re proud to see them pursuing opportunities that will shape their future careers in the global marketplace.”

The career opportunities for students learning world languages range immensely, even for those with only a few years of exposure. Students who have taken one of the 14 languages at Montclair alongside other studies are using their skills in fields from the arts to the sciences, from business to the humanities and health or social science fields. With the recent launch of the public Montclair CHILL – Career Hub for International Language Learning, students can explore career applications for their languages at any point in their college experience.

The launch on December 11 brought together faculty, advisors, administrators, career counselors, study abroad officers, Modern Language Association representatives, and students, all of whom explored this new online resource, received career advising on how to foreground their languages, and entered raffles to win internationally themed prizes. A particular highlight of the hub is the collection of Languages on the Job videos made by recent graduates who use their languages in fields ranging from IT to manga editing, HR and beyond.

Students can also experiment with finding a fit for their own personal interests with the . Here, they can learn about a variety of jobs that require or encourage language knowledge or proficiency, including positions as international admissions counselor, change management team member, court interpreter, online content editor for gaming sites, and dozens more across fields.

Montclair offers an innovative Language, Business & Culture interdisciplinary major with a capstone international experience. In addition, many students also choose to pursue a language as part of a double major or minor, or add on a faculty-led, summer, or semester-long study abroad experience in addition to their world language requirement to demonstrate their international flair.

Having explored another language shows employers in any field that you are ready to speak to partners on their terms and ready to manage new cultural situations.

At the launch, faculty members and College of Humanities and Social Sciences Career Services representatives reminded students of the importance of highlighting multilingual experiences on their resumés, and of connecting with alumni. They emphasized that language exploration reflects professional readiness, demonstrating cognitive flexibility, resourcefulness, and the ability to build bridges with collaborators here and abroad.

A faculty member told students, “New Jersey is so diverse. On the one hand, we have many immigrant groups here who need health, justice, and education professionals comfortable working in their languages. And at the same time, we are home to so many large and expanding international businesses where our students with language skills can make special connections with managers and international clients.” Students applying for positions in these fields attract supervisors’ attention when they bring language skills to the table.

The CHILL website shares the stories of recent graduates using their language skills to facilitate internal communications at Audi, to recruit international students at colleges, to work abroad in their expert fields, and more. Professor Elizabeth Emery, who served as Principal Investigator on the Modern Language Association Pathways Grant that helped fund this grant, notes that this launch is only the beginning: “So many doors open for graduates with language knowledge–even just a few semesters of a language–and so many Montclair students have amazing language skills, that we hope that these tools will help students and advisors showcase their talents. Visualizing the paths taken by recent graduates also helps make it much less scary to plan for the job search!”

Students can meet to discuss how to use their languages with career advisors at the College for the Humanities and Social Sciences any time. The CHILL website is publicly accessible and will continue to serve as a career resource for students with language skills across all majors.

Curious what 14 languages Montclair teaches? Click here to find out!

Since its launch in 2020, ITALengAMERICA has organized weekly virtual meetings, where students engage in tandem conversations, improving language proficiency while gaining insight into each other’s daily lives, traditions, and perspectives. Dr. Antenos, who herself attended the Sunday morning sessions, shared: “I decided to integrate this exchange as an option for my students, providing those who opted in with meaningful interactions with native speakers. The program’s structure perfectly accommodated our participants’ diverse language proficiency levels. The peer tutoring component and consistent one-on-one pairings—which remained stable throughout the 10-week program—were instrumental in fostering both academic growth and personal connections.”

Students who participated in the ITALengAMERICA program met virtually every Sunday morning and immersed themselves in bilingual discussions (30 minutes in Italian, 30 minutes in English), fostering confidence and proficiency. In addition to honing their developing language skills, the one-on-one conversations had students act as peer tutors, guiding grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. This collaborative approach promoted active engagement and mutual learning.

The informal, yet structured environment created an ideal space for learning, as nursing major Rosanna Hefner declared: “It was truly a special experience to be able to improve upon my Italian while teaching someone else how to speak and better improve their English. Not only were these Sunday chats a chance to improve upon my Italian, but also a learning experience about what it is like to live in Italy. Conversations each week ranged from talking about what school is like to how you celebrate different holidays. If I were given another opportunity to participate in a program like this, I would 100% do it because not only does it help me improve upon a skill that I have, but it gives me the chance to help somebody else.”

Sabrina Gatti, a visual arts major, reflected on the relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere of the sessions: “The Zoom meetings with our ‘Italian pen pals’ were more relaxing and exciting than I expected. At first, I was nervous, but talking to someone from your own age group despite being from different cultures helped make it more fun.”

Throughout the program, faculty from participating institutions monitor students’ growth and engagement. Professors join breakout rooms to observe conversations and provide occasional support. Students who actively participated in the sessions were awarded a Certificate of Attendance, recognizing their commitment and achievement in this intercultural exchange.

The program’s director, Giovanni Minicucci, affirmed: “Since 2020, I have run this program fueled by the passion to connect American students with Italian students to immerse them in the language, culture, and warm welcomeness of my homeland. Growing to such an impressive number of participating institutions in 2024, the project provides students with an incomparable resource: real-world communication with native speakers. Success with any language lies in engaging in authentic practice. Communicating with native speakers brings a certain charm into our experience that cannot be replicated in a classroom. We live and breathe the language in these moments, which enables us to sharpen our skills and deepen our understanding of the culture and context behind every word. I am so grateful all our wonderful partnering professors understand the value of this and am looking forward to how the program will grow and the beautiful friendships that will develop between our students.”

At its heart, ITALengAMERICA is more than just a language program. It is an opportunity to bridge cultures, spark friendships, and forge connections that transcend geographical boundaries. Through weekly conversations, students did not just practice vocabulary and grammar—they exchanged stories, explored traditions, and discovered the shared human experience that unites us all.

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Locally, the 17 students in �ѴDzԳٳ���������’s award-winning German program have just started a new season teaching in the SPARK for German KinderUni program, part of a national network of over that introduce children to basic German vocabulary through songs, games, STEM crafts, and more. Faculty mentors ensure that student instructors gain valuable professional skills in collaboration, material creation, organization, public-facing communication, and work with diverse audiences – skills that students can apply in any professional field after graduation. Many of the Montclair SPARK program’s former college student participants credit SPARK for German with the skills they used to land positions at Audi, internships with the UN, travel grants from the program, spots in paid Fulbright English teaching assistantships after graduation, or as teachers in local schools. Building on the program’s role as a hub for local German networking, students also frequently take on immersion childcare positions, tutoring work, and other language education gigs facilitated by mentor faculty.

French

Montclair French students are also strikingly active building cultural and linguistic bridges in local and international communities. Students working on the “Phares Haïtiens” have presented their work in local libraries and other educational settings. It is perhaps no coincidence that a number of Montclair students have recently won coveted to travel and teach in France for a year after graduation, sometimes choosing to do graduate study, work, and live in Europe for years afterwards. Montclair is also one of the strongest educators of New Jersey French teachers, with graduates of �ѴDzԳٳ���������’s French BA and MA programs teaching in many of the townships surrounding the campus. A particular French educational highlight is the annual campus French Day, which often brings together as many as 400 local middle and high school students, their teachers (many of whom are alumni), alumni in other sectors, undergraduates, graduates, and professors. In the spirit of “everybody teaches, everybody learns,” workshops are typically co-led by a team of professors and alumni, with support from undergraduate students. “I love seeing the full pipeline of learners and teachers all in one place, playing with the language, immersing themselves, and modeling deep cultural exploration,” says French Professor Pascale LaFountain.

Asian Languages

�ѴDzԳٳ���������’s lively Chinese, Japanese, and Korean programs pride themselves on interactive playful classes that encourage authentic engagement with popular media and culture, as students learn not just to speak, but also to sing, dance, prepare food, collaborate with local Asian American Pacific Islander advocacy organizations, and immerse themselves in Asian cultures. After graduation, students of Japanese often take their skills on the road by teaching English in Japan through the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET). For example, Cara Rosner ’21 and Stephanie Vincitore ’19 are currently Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) at an elementary school and a junior high school. Cara has cultivated strong bonds with the local Japanese community through her Japanese skills: “I’ve created lifelong friends and memories that I’ll never forget!” Some alumni continue their passion for promoting linguistic and cultural exchange after working as ALTs. Tatiana Figarola ’23 was an English teacher in Osaka, while Christopher Mack ’05 works at the Hirakata Board of Education. Jena Greco ’15 is a manga translation coordinator in Tokyo after passing the JLPT N2 exam. Japanese faculty member Yahui Olenik praises alumni for using Japanese in their workplaces: “We are very proud of Jena’s accomplishment in using Japanese and English while working among native speakers!”

Italian

�ѴDzԳٳ���������’s Italian program also serves as a community hub for all things related to Italian teaching and culture. The Italian program has a rich teaching tradition and a vibrant network of alumni, many of whom teach in local schools, cultural centers, and other venues. For 17 years, the Italian Program and Coccia Institute have co-hosted a signature October event, Teaching Italian, which is led almost entirely in Italian since it is one of the few American teacher professional development programs that is focused on Italian. This annual symposium welcomes approximately 90 Italian teachers from around the country to campus. Many of the participants are Montclair teacher education students, undergraduate volunteers curious about teaching, and graduates. All share in discussion about the newest pedagogical innovations and the growing need for world language education today.

Dr. Enza Antenos, a professor of Italian and the symposium chair who has played many leadership roles in the American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI) and who also leads �ѴDzԳٳ���������’s innovative interdisciplinary major in Language, Business & Culture, notes, “It is so exciting to see our students enrolled in the Italian teacher education program working alongside established alumni for the day, seeing what a rewarding career could await them after graduation.” The Italian Summer Intensive Program for Early College Credit also fosters a sense of community. Led by a Montclair alumna and promoted by the many alumni teaching in the area, the program not only brings high school students to campus, but gives them opportunities to work alongside college students, alumni professionals, often participating in cooking, site visits, or other collaborative explorations. The Montclair Italian program casts itself as an essential link in the “full circle” of local Italian teaching and learning and see this in action, every fall, high school students from around the region, some of whom themselves aspire to become Italian teachers, drop in on Italian classes, testing the waters to join one of the most active Italian programs in the region.

Preparing for the World

As international collaboration increases from year to year and the need for effective global diplomacy with international partners has never been greater, the need for multilingualism continues to grow. When students return to classes each fall, new students enter language classes and new future teachers discover their own spark to share language and culture with the next generation.

Montclair students’ commitment to balance majors and minors, or often double majors in a language and another field, makes students especially versatile and creative candidates for post-graduate positions. Many students also note that interviewers for graduate schools, scholarships, and work positions mention their community engagement and teaching experience as assets for career preparation.

Whether teaching or tutoring in the towns of New Jersey or immersing themselves in the career-launching experience of paid travel and teaching after graduation, Montclair students across the languages build communities through education while also opening doors to influential careers in professional settings of all sorts.

Since 2021 Dr. Marisa Trubiano, Associate Professor of Italian, and Dr. AJ Kelton, Director of the CHSS Digital Co-Lab, have been collaborating on a unique research project. The Digital CoLab team has created and manages a learning experience module on the free software program ArcGIS StoryMap, and each semester, together they measure how students use ArcGIS storymapping: 1) to map out their self-identities and experiences and to understand those of others; 2) to become more attuned to and appreciative of diverse transnational linguistic and cultural experiences and 3) to become effective digital story-mappers and -tellers in both the target language of Italian and in English. Drs. Trubiano and Kelton assess the changes in students’ reflections about new spaces in which languages and people merge, at a time when social isolation is more pronounced than ever.

This project also seeks to enrich the conversation around language learning technology. Effective digital storytelling and data visualization are skills that can enhance a student’s ICC by breaking down perceived barriers and understanding the dynamics of peoples’ and languacultures’ merging in virtual and physical piazze. Students enhance both their global fluency and their digital fluency through this mapping work.

Anonymous student surveys reveal that students’ appreciation for the linguistic diversity of their class generally increases due to this project and their peers’ presentations. In addition, their responses reflect a heightened awareness for links between languages, place, and individual and community identity formation.

Below are some StoryMaps from ITAL 102 section 01, Spring 2024. They are remarkable for their authors’ heartfelt stories and visual recreations of linguistic, cultural and personal experiences in specific places important to each of them.

Anxhelina Banushi:

Liana Nativo:

Melissa Motta Lopez:

Rosanna Hefter:

Funded by the and housed under the MLA’s new initiative, the grants provide up to $10,000 to support faculty members with the development of new structures, programs and resources that bolster the recruitment, retention and career readiness of undergraduate students, especially students of color, first-generation college students and Pell Grant recipients.

Led by Professor of World Languages and Cultures Elizabeth Emery, the Montclair team – which also includes faculty members Kathleen Loysen, Wing Shan Ho, Thomas Herold, Enza Antenos and Pascale LaFountain – will use the funds to develop a cocurricular career resources hub, which will offer tools for defining career pathways for students in modern languages.

The recipients of Pathways Step Grants will present their projects at the 2025 MLA Annual Convention, to be held in January of 2025.

“We are honored and delighted to have been selected for a MLA Pathways grant,” says Emery. “The funding will support the construction of new resources, like a language careers calculator to help students understand how best to hone and leverage their language skills in the workplace, and improve communication with partners on campus and in local communities. We are particularly excited to improve the career prospects of multilingual students in New Jersey, a state in which more than 200 languages and dialects are spoken.”

Montclair offers a diverse range of programs spanning 13 languages – Arabic, ASL, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. In addition to language study, students focus on the business practices, journalism, technology, health care, literature, cinema, music, art, cuisine and other cultural aspects of the countries in which these languages are spoken. They can major, minor or even double-major in individual languages, in translation studies or in �ѴDzԳٳ���������’s bachelor’s in Language, Business and Culture program.

“Our World Languages and Cultures faculty are a dynamic and talented group who care deeply about the well-being and future success of our students,” says College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Peter Kingstone. “This project is a critical part of our effort to help students choose to study languages and see its value in the workplace.”

For more information on World Languages and Cultures at ����vlog, visit .