Mission & Values

Mission

The mission of the EML Department is to provide a superior education in our academic disciplines by cultivating critical and creative thinking and refining communication skills in our students through rigorous study of language, texts, and contexts.

Values

We reiterate our adherence to Cal Poly Pomona’s core values of Academic excellence and Diversity and affirm the following departmental core values:

• Engagement with language. Language is at the heart of what we do. We value languages as tools for aesthetic expression, effective communication, self definition and thought shaping; as transmitters and manifestations of traditions and cultures; and emblems of our personal, communal, ethnic, and national identities. We affirm our commitment to language diversity in the study of literary, linguistic, and cultural phenomena.
• Critical inquiry. We value critical thinking as a fundamental intellectual instrument and ethical stance that enables us to examine and challenge inherited beliefs, conceptual structures, and social structures, as well as to propose alternative viewpoints and frames of reference.   
• Creative thinking. We value divergent and original thinking, multiple interpretations and solutions, and fresh perspectives. We take creative thought to be an indispensable resource in professional and civic life.
• Analytical thinking. We understand that the ability to take a text or problem apart and look at its constituent parts gives insight into the whole.  Synthesizing, the opposite process, is equally important, and moving from examination of the pieces to examination of the whole leads to seeing the whole as more than the sum of its parts.
• Professional formation. We embrace the pre-professional aspects of our programs. We are committed to preparing students for careers, leadership, and advanced study in a learn-by-doing mode through a variety of pre-professional training experiences.
• Civic engagement. We strive to create opportunities to become involved with the community to address critical societal issues, to contribute to the public good, and to prepare educated and engaged citizens with an ethic of commitment to global responsibility and service.