The 1985 course catalogue lists Dr. Joan Hinde Stewart (Ph.D. Yale) as acting head, and the department's description is as follows: "Languages are keys to the world. The continuous expansion of international relations makes the knowledge of foreign languages a critical need for today's professional. There are careers in politics, diplomacy, commerce, banking, agriculture, science, and research in which a thorough knowledge of foreign languages is crucial for success. The demand for multilingual personnel extends to all fields of human enterprise and will continue to grow in the coming years." In 1986, Dr. Stewart became the first female department head and still serves at this time.

Under Dr. Stewart's direction, the department moved closer to becoming a full partner in NC State's mission. After decades of steady growth the department has reached significant proportions - 60 faculty members taught over 8,300 students in 1994-95. There are over two-hundred minors and one-hundred majors. The language laboratory has evolved into the Foreign Language Technology Center (located in the former "Laundry Building" behind Poe Hall), an international, multi-media resource for the university. D. H. Hill Library has hundreds of international films in the Media Center's film collection, available to all students and faculty, thanks to the department's on-going acquisitions efforts. Faculty not only teach and fulfill university and community services, conduct outreach visits, receive outside research funding, and participate in professional organizations, but also are active, publishing scholars in the fields of literary criticism, literary history, historical, descriptive, and applied linguistics, as well as foreign-language pedagogy.

The department currently has its administrative and faculty offices in the 1911 Building, and its classrooms spread throughout the campus. It looks forward to having a centralized location one day with its offices, classrooms, Technology Center, and meeting rooms all in the same place, which will serve as a center for international studies and cultural events on campus. In the last several years the department has added Chinese, Swahili, Hindi, Urdu, and Hebrew to its curriculum as well as many new courses such as German Cinema, Medical Terminology, Francophone Culture and Civilization, and Latin-American Poetry. In collaboration with the Department of English, it co-sponsors a curriculum in World Literature that offers such courses as Masterpieces of Ancient Literature, The Modern Japanese Novel, and European Drama. There are study-abroad programs in France, Mexico, Spain, Japan, and Austria. Televised long-distance courses are offered in French, Spanish, Hindi, and English as a Second Language. With grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the North Carolina Humanities Council, the department has offered summer seminars for school teachers of French and Spanish on topics in literature, language, and culture. The Japanese program is the largest and strongest in North Carolina. Programs for Master's degrees in teacher-education in French, Spanish, and World Literature are currently in the planning stages, a move toward the department's goal of becoming a nationally recognized department in the years to come.

NC State students have a wonderful educational resource in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures - courses are taught by tenured and tenure-track faculty members and by visiting faculty with Masters or Doctoral degrees. This practice contrasts with that of many research universities where a great number of courses are taught by graduate-student teacher assistants. The excellent classroom experience, so vital to learning a second language, is one of the outstanding features of the department. Majors continue to be offered in French and Spanish, while minors are available in Chinese Studies, Classical Studies, French, German, Italian Studies, Japanese, Linguistics, Russian Studies, Spanish, and World Literature. Whether they are preparing for a career in teaching, business, government, law, education, human services, the sciences, agriculture, textiles, veterinary medicine, the military, design, or one of many other professions, access to the international community that foreign-language learning provides gives NC State students a competitive edge in the job market. The department, as far back as the first years of Professor Hinkle, has always worked toward this goal and will continue to do so.

The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, in its centennial year, strives to serve the interests of North Carolina by contributing to its advancement in international awareness and by providing direct contact with other languages and cultures in today's global society for the social and economic development of the citizens of North Carolina. There are already over eight- hundred international firms in North Carolina who have invested more than one billion dollars and created thousands of new jobs, and the state's international exports are at an all time high. Over two-hundred thousand Americans lose out on jobs with business each year because they do not know another language. It is no surprise since four out of five jobs in the United States created today are a result of foreign trade. Employers increasingly seek graduates who can interact confidently and appropriately with diverse populations. NC State students need to respond to this demand to compete successfully in the global economy.

NC State must continue to provide its students the career-related advantages of knowing a foreign language, and also the enjoyment of understanding other people and cultures. For beyond all of the practical reasons, so many of NC State graduates have gone beyond their foreign-language requirement and enhanced their personal growth. They have added to their lives the fulfilling experience of communicating with other people, learning their cultures, living their customs, and expanding their own horizons. As a result they have become well-rounded, informed individuals who better understand their country and its role in global affairs. Those who incorporate foreign-languages into their university education are preparing themselves to be citizens of the world who will thrive in the truly international environment of the twenty-first century. The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures looks forward to another century of promoting such international competency for the students of NC State and for the citizens of North Carolina.