Department Resources

Resources available for our students include the Modern Language Laboratory, Graduate Reading Room, Chinese Reading Room, Toshiko Mishima Memorial Tea Room and Persian Studies Center. The department also offers several links to helpful websites relating to your program of study.

The Modern Language Laboratory consists of a teaching laboratory (Humanities 402) and a student computing center (Humanities 404) for the use of students studying foreign languages. The teaching lab seats up to 50 students and contains workstations with the latest language learning software and internet resources. Students may also check out audio-visual material for use on site. The student computer center contains both Apple Macs and PCs, and are for general student use during hours of operation. 

The Graduate Reading Room (Humanities 472) is a quiet space used for scholarly presentations, faculty meetings, dissertation defenses and oral exams. The room contains 40 seats situated among shelves full of classic foreign language books and journals. Use of the Graduate Reading Room is restricted to department faculty, staff and graduate students. Advance booking is required through the Foreign Language Department Office (Humanities 475).

The Chinese Reading Room (Humanities 514) holds more than 1,000 volumes of books on Chinese language, literature, linguistics, history and philosophy, as well as Chinese language reference dictionaries and rare antiquarian thread-bound Chinese classics. The Chinese Reading Room is not a lending library, and use of the materials, open to all SFSU students and faculty, must be on site. The key to the Chinese Reading Room can be retrieved from the Foreign Languages Department Office (Humanities 475).

The Toshiko Mishima Memorial Tea Room (Humanities 117) is a traditional Japanese-style tea house located on the first floor of the Humanities Building, used for demonstrations of the Japanese chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony) for which the Japanese Program is known.

The Persian Studies Center, located in Humanities 413, is the reading room, tutorial center, office of student organizations, as well as the cultural center for students of Persian Studies and Middle East Studies. The center provides access to reference materials, textbooks, journals, maps, online learning resources, International television, and radio programs broadcasted in the original languages through a Satellite system, and other related cultural materials. The center offers students use of computers, printers, and other equipment. Academic and cultural events, such as film screenings, book signings, poetry readings, and annual festivals are also held at the center and are open to all.