Each of the modern languages taught in the Department of Comparative Literature, Languages, & Linguistics is a major language, spoken by millions of speakers. In fact, the languages taught in the department are spoken by the vast majority of the world's population. Achieving fluency in one of these languages is a highly regarded professional asset.
Many professions are already built on languages other than English. This is true of law (Latin) and medicine (Latin and Greek).
Examples of other industries where our alumni are applying their language studies include:
- K-12 Education
- Publishing
- Translating and Interpretation
- Health Care
- Journalism
- International Business
- Video Game Design; Technology
Positions our alumni hold:
- Attorney
- Educator/Lecturer
- Research Assistant
- Store Manager
- Video Campaign Manager
Some of our alumni have worked overseas for American-based companies. Many of our graduates have pursued advanced studies in Classics, Japanese, Education, Law, and Medicine at distinguished institutions like:
- Adelphi University
- College of William & Mary
- Columbia University
- CUNY Hunter College
- East China Normal University
- Hofstra University
- Long Island University
- Pace University
- SUNY Farmingdale State College
- University of Alabama
- University of Iowa
- University of Kent, Canterbury
- University of Vermont
- University of Washington
- Wayne State University
Among 2019-2020 Hofstra graduates from the School of Humanities, Fine & Performing Arts, 89% of survey respondents reported that within one year of graduation they were employed and/or attending or planning to attend graduate school. Among respondents who reported salary, the mean annual self-reported salary was $41,000.
Information on careers that may be of interest to Hofstra students with a major in the Department of Comparative Literature and Languages, such as those in journalism, interpreting, government, art, or pursuing graduate education in business, law or education, is available in the Occupational Outlook Handbook of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Alumni outcomes data is based on the results of Hofstra’s annual Alumni Outcomes Survey and other reliable sources. Of the 1,425 undergraduate students who graduated between August 2019-May 2020, data was collected via surveys and other reliable sources resulting in knowledge about the outcomes for 69% of the 2019-2020 undergraduate alumni. Salary data is self-reported voluntarily by students and is based upon a 47% response rate for full-time employed undergraduate survey respondents. Salary figures only include annual base salary. They do not include bonus, commission or any other guaranteed compensation.
Hofstra Alumni:
Where Are They Now?
Andrew Garrett ‘17 completed the master’s program in Developmental Economics at the University of Sussex. Andrew was a dual degree student at Hofstra. He was a double major (BA) in Japanese and Political Science, and (BS) in Mathematical Business Economics. Andrew also had minors in Asian Studies and International Affairs and was a 2016 recipient of a Critical Language Scholarship to study in Japan. He is now a statistician at the United States Department of Labor in Virginia.
Naomi Gunkel '15 double majored in Asian Studies and English (with a concentration in Publishing Studies and Literature) and minored in Japanese. After graduating from Hofstra, she attended Drexel University for a master’s in Library Science. She is now a lab support associate for quality control at Syneos Health.
Diana Honerkamp '14, a graduate of the Asian Studies program, lived in Tokyo teaching English and translating Japanese scripts to English until 2016. Then she returned to the U.S. as a junior recruiter at TOP Group, a Japanese recruiting agency in New York City. She works as a talent acquisition specialist for j2 Global.
Sean Kelly ’14 earned a BA in Classics and a BS in Music at Hofstra. He then earned an MA in Classics at the University of Notre Dame. Sean also studied Classical Languages and Literature at the University of Oxford and is now the development manager at Heartbeat Opera in New York City.
Chika Okuyama '14, a dual major in Asian Studies and Film Studies and Production, received honorable mention in the Marleigh Grayer Ryan Writing Prize on Asian Studies. In the spring of 2014, her final semester at Hofstra, she presented a paper, “Francis Ford Coppola and Japanese Culture,” at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies' second annual undergraduate conference at the University of Oklahoma. She now serves as the president of the Nippon Culture Society and an assistant area manager at the Zenken Corporation in Tokyo.
Jody Kass ’13 completed graduate school at CUNY Hunter, earning an MAT degree in Latin Education. She is a Latin teacher at Commack High School on Long Island.
Natalie Hoeting ’12, a Biochemistry and Classics major at Hofstra, earned an MD and MPH from Emory University School of Medicine and has published research in cardiology.
Mandie DeCamp ’08 is an executive producer at Us Weekly. She previously worked as a producer on "The Rachael Ray Show" and the Food Network.
Megan Plassman '08 earned an MAT degree in Latin Education at CUNY Hunter and teaches Latin at Maspeth High School in Queens, where she is now the Classical Languages Department Chair.
Kathleen Hunker '07 received a JD from Columbia Law School and an LLM from University College London, specializing in comparative constitutional law and human rights. She is a member of the New York State Bar and currently works as a counsel member to United States Senator Ted Cruz.
Patrick McDonald '07 earned a JD at Suffolk University Law School. He is a member of the Rhode Island Bar and the Massachusetts Bar and is an associate attorney at Roberts Carroll Feldstein and Peirce, Inc.
Mary Ellen LeBlanc '07 received a Fulbright grant to study in Bonn, Germany, and earned her PhD in German Studies at University of California-Berkeley. Her thesis was on “Inheritance and Inflectional Morphology: Old High German, Latin, Early New High German, and Koine Greek.”
Danielle Rosen '06, a dual major in Asian Studies and Philosophy with a minor in Japanese language, earned a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and is now a litigation attorney at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP.