UMN Languages

05/22/2026

05/18/2026

Black Europe covers the long history of the African diaspora in Europe through trade, colonialism, and migration. We will discuss the Danish colonies in the Caribbean, a Finnish museum's attempt to replicate the MN Somali museum, the impact of Audre Lorde's visits to Germany on Afro-Germans, and more — all through reading Black authors' experiences in these nations.

AFRO/GSD 3861: Black Europe
Fall 2026 | M/W 1:00-2:15 PM
LE: Arts/Humanities, Global Perspectives

College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota U of M African American and African Studies Department of German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch, University of Minnesota

05/14/2026

After years of careful development, the Language Center is thrilled to announce that the Vietnamese for Heritage Learners curriculum is open for enrollment in Summer ‘26! The two-course sequence brings representation and community to speakers of this Southeast Asian language.

Read the full article to discover why these courses were developed with Vietnamese heritage students in mind:

https://cla.umn.edu/language-center/news-events/story/new-vietnamese-courses-heritage-learners-why-moment-matters

U of M African American and African Studies
Department of American Indian Studies - University of Minnesota Twin Cities
University of Minnesota, Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
UMN Classical & Near Eastern Religions & Cultures
Department of French & Italian at the University of Minnesota
Department of German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch, University of Minnesota
UMNLinguistics College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota
UMN Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies

05/13/2026

Fulfilling LEs while watching films, and all on your own schedule? You heard that right! This summer, CHLS 3223 explores Chicana/o/e representation in film, asking students to analyze tropes versus reality and to recognize the difference when Latinos are behind the camera, telling their own stories. Course and films are entirely in English!

CHLS 3223: Vatos Locos, Latin Lovers, and Spicy Latinas
Summer 2026 | June 8 - July 31
Fully asynchronous (no class meetings; all tests and assignments are turned in online)

Department of Chicano and Latino Studies, U of MN UMN Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota TandemPlus

05/13/2026

When a student is interested in learning a language that their institution doesn’t offer, it can feel like the language isn’t valid. CourseShare, UMN’s alliance with other Big Ten schools, offers language learning beyond one institution and prioritizes students’ evolving interests. Here’s a look at CourseShare and how students can approach this language study resource at the University of Minnesota.

z.umn.edu/CourseShareOptions

Read the full article to find out what students love about CourseShare!

U of M African American and African Studies
Department of American Indian Studies - University of Minnesota Twin Cities
University of Minnesota, Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
UMN Classical & Near Eastern Religions & Cultures
Department of French & Italian at the University of Minnesota
Department of German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch, University of Minnesota
UMNLinguistics College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota
UMN Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies

05/07/2026

LING 1912: Invented Languages

Fall 2026 | M/W 2:30 – 3:45 pm
Freshman Seminar | 3 credits

Why is it, with more than 7,000 languages spoken today, do humans continue to invent new languages? Some do so to correct perceived flaws, others to explore new linguistic possibilities, and still others to enrich the world-building for their imagined tales and heroes.

In this course you will learn about the inner workings of natural languages and use that knowledge to invent a language of your own. Will you imitate or deviate from the properties of natural languages? Is your invented language pleasant-sounding or harsh? Its sentences invitingly simple or mind-numbingly complex? Each week you will refine your language, and step by step you will find your way into the community of language inventors.

College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota UMNLinguistics U of M African American and African Studies
Department of American Indian Studies - University of Minnesota Twin Cities
University of Minnesota, Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
UMN Classical & Near Eastern Religions & Cultures
Department of French & Italian at the University of Minnesota
Department of German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch, University of Minnesota
UMN Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies

04/27/2026

Viet 1015: Vietnamese for Heritage Learners

This four-credit online course promotes the development of cultural and linguistic skills in Vietnamese and has been designed with heritage learners in mind. The course follows a curriculum that aims to increase your proficiency in tone awareness, writing and spelling conventions, grammar, and sentence structure, alongside your knowledge and participation in Vietnamese culture in American immigrant communities and abroad.

Fall 2026 | 4 credits
M/W Remote | 5:00 - 6:15 pm

College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota University of Minnesota, Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies