Language, Business and Culture Program Launch Event: Alumni Welcome!

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Feliciano School of Business are pleased to announce the launch of a new interdisciplinary degree in Language, Business and Culture. Students can invest in personal global marketability by selecting this unified program of business fundamentals and a language concentration with a choice of Arabic, French, German, Italian or Spanish.

“The B.A. in Language, Business and Culture promotes the importance of language and culture studies in an increasingly global society and marketplace,” says Dr. Enza Antenos, Italian professor of Modern Languages at Montclair State. “It provides the liberal arts and business background that students need to become functioning, effective and educated citizens of the global community.”

Majors explore the relevance of foreign language learning in a globalized world by honing target-language skills and applying knowledge to a range of business and professional-related fields. Students develop the hard and soft skills that employers seek: transferable soft skills, including intercultural competence, writing skills, oral communication, critical thinking and cognitive flexibility, and the knowledge base of international business, accounting, economics, finance, technology and cross-cultural business communications.

Former Montclair State students, Bobby Nelson ’15 and Emilia D’Albero ’15, recognize the competitive edge and impact that their degrees in German and Italian had on their professional careers.

Nelson’s background in German was a determining factor in landing his first job at Casper, a New York City-based online mattress retailer. “I was actually recruited (which is very rare for startups) because I had some experience with Accounts Payable and a German degree,” says Nelson. “My company was expanding to Germany and needed a way to translate and account for invoices coming from our new business. I was one of only two people they found with qualification in NYC and was able to land a job here.”

Fundamental to the major are experiential learning components—the required international experience and the capstone course—which offer undergraduate students unique opportunities to interact with organizations, businesses and governments and then to reflect critically upon these experiences

For D’Albero, who has held various positions at Eataly, including junior education and events coordinator, education and events manager, and cheesemonger, her experiences in the Italian program and studying abroad were crucial as they made her stand out as an applicant. “The Italian Program at Montclair State prepared me for the job market in New York City because of the range of topics covered and the dedication of the faculty to teaching those topics,” says D’Albero. “I left a well-rounded, well-read and well-traveled young professional, confident in my abilities and with a wonderful support system in my former professors.”

Cid Wilson, president and chief executive officer of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), also recognizes the value that a degree in Language, Business and Culture degree can add to student’s future career endeavors.

“When I talk to companies, I tell them you can’t take a one-size fits all Latinos approach: what works on the east coast will not work on the west coast; what works in Seattle is not going to work in Florida,” says Wilson. “That is where you must have not only a strong Latino/Hispanic inclusion strategy, but you need to develop a multicultural intelligence, to understand what the differences within the communities are. Those are things that are very important and the Language, Business and Culture degree will help students acquire both the linguistic and cultural aspects and develop essential career skills.”

Applications for the major are now being accepted for Fall 2019. To celebrate the launch of this program, a celebratory event will take place on Wednesday, May 1, from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. in the Feliciano School of Business. Alumni are invited to attend along with business leaders, political dignitaries and university partners. Attendees will have an opportunity to learn about the program and the competitive edge that it will provide students. Guests also will hear from University leadership and select alumni who are in careers that exemplify the many intersections of language business and culture in the global marketplace. Invitation to follow.

If you have questions regarding the event, please contact Jenna Villani in the Office of Alumni Engagement at 973-655-7872. To learn more about the Language Business Culture Program, contact Dr. Enza Antenos, Program Director, Language, Business and Culture, at antenosconfe@montclair.edu or 973-655-7943.