About Us
The Rassias Center
Dartmouth College’s Rassias Center for World Languages and Cultures operates under the Office of the Provost. Its overall goal is to promote cultural understanding and to strengthen communication among people around the world. More specifically, this translates into a mission of training teachers in various aspects of the Rassias Method® as well as offering world language instruction to diverse groups of students. These students include Dartmouth College graduate students, Upper Valley community members (children and adults), and visitors to Hanover from around the world, including executives, government employees, medical residents, educators, and travelers.
Mission
Find our mission statement here.
John Rassias
John Rassias (1925-2015), William R. Kenan Professor of French and Italian, developed this method for teaching language while training Peace Corps volunteers in the early 1960’s. He adapted it to teaching Dartmouth undergraduates in 1967. Since then, thousands of students have learned languages via the Rassias Method at Dartmouth and at many other schools, colleges and universities around the world. In 1978-79, Professor Rassias served on President Carter’s Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies, which sought to develop national policy guidelines for improving foreign language study in the United States. He received grants to further language instruction via the Rassias Method from such major corporations and foundations as the Dana Foundation, Exxon, The New York Times, and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Board of Advisors
Click on the names of our Advisors to read their brief biographies.
Programs
The Rassias Center works both on and off-campus to achieve its mission. Our programs reach people of diverse backgrounds and careers all around the world. Find out more about by visiting our Language Programs page.