Welcome to the Department of Asian and Slavic Languages and Literatures!
Yes, it is a rather long name. Yet, behind this protracted title stand an extraordinary faculty, staff and students whose expertise spans two continents, seven countries, and twelve time zones.
In May 2007 the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences elected to formally bring together the Asian and Slavic programs that have long shared the 6th floor of Phillips Hall. Board of Regents approval followed in July. Dean Linda Maxson asked me to serve as the first Departmental Chair (DEO), and I am very pleased to be able to address you today in that capacity.
As DEO, I have the pleasure of working with 25 faculty members and 28 graduate students. The quality and caliber of each of our individual language programs (and B.A. and M.A. degrees) has been maintained, if not enhanced, by this new configuration. The number of language majors in Chinese, Japanese, and Russian continue to grow each year, further impacting our students’ participation in study abroad in each of these countries. We have a new study abroad program for Czech (Charles University in Prague), Ministry of Education study opportunities in Zagreb (Croatian), and have just launched a Third-year language series in Korean. Our summer “Iowa in Tianjin” Chinese Program is flourishing, and our students continue to travel to Japan and India for both summer and semester programs.
We encourage you to visit us on campus; stop into our wonderful 6th-floor lounge and reading room to catch up on the latest newspapers from Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Mumbai, Zagreb and Moscow. Student visits to individual language classrooms are always welcome – please just contact the appropriate language supervisor listed on the respective language “links” on this site and s/he will identify a classroom for your visit. For a quick look at our language, literature, and cultural offerings, please check the list below:
Chinese (B.A., M.A.)
Japanese (B.A., M.A.)
Russian (B.A.)
Korean
Hindi
Sanskrit
Croatian
Czech
Sincerely,
Peggy Mills
Margaret Hill Mills, PhD, MPH
Professor of Russian
DEO, Department of Asian and Slavic Languages and Literatures
679 Phillips Hall
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa 52242
telephone: 319/335-2848
e-mail: margaret-mills@uiowa.edu
Fax: 319/353-2524
