Division of Literature and Languages

Majors in the Division of Literature and Languages choose a specific field of study, but are encouraged by divisional offerings and requirements not to regard national literatures as the sole criterion for organizing their program.

A student may choose ancient Mediterranean studies, Chinese, English, French, German, Russian, or Spanish literature. Besides these majors, the division also offers a comparative literature major for students interested in literary research that crosses the boundaries between national canons or disciplinary fields. Students of comparative literature who wish to explore the analytic and interpretive challenges that arise at the intersections of different cultures, traditions, and disciplines are encouraged to design a program of study that reflects a balance between courses stressing literary history and those focused on literary genres, the study of a single author, or literary theory.

Another program represented in the division is the study of cinema and media. Both a film and media studies major and minor are available. The division offers courses on film and media theory, film adaptation, and national and translational cinemas, including American, Chinese, French, Francophone, German, Jewish, Latin American, Russian, Southeast Asian, and Spanish films. Students can study film by taking such courses as part of their major within any of the departments in the Division of Literature and Languages, or as part of the program in film and media studies.

Divisional and general college requirements ensure that students will take courses outside their concentration, but in fields related to it. For instance, one such requirement explicitly encourages work in the Division of the Arts. A number of courses within the division bring together works of widely differing national origins, many of which are taught in translation and open to first-year students.

In addition to comparative literature and film and media studies, interdisciplinary majors under the supervision of special committees are also available, such as: comparative race and ethnicity studies with a concentration in English , history/literature , literature/theatre , and religion/ancient Mediterranean studies .

Language Laboratory

The language laboratory, which coordinates activities with the instructional media center (IMC), is designed to augment language competence at all levels. The lab maintains assignments in Chinese, French, German, Russian, Spanish, and other languages. Twenty computer workstations with headsets and microphones are available for oral and aural language practice. The computer desktops also have shortcuts to alternate keyboard sets, spell checkers and grammar checkers, dictionaries, bookmarked websites, and other pertinent software. Many non-English-language computer functions are available as links on language course web pages and the IMC Language Resources page. The IMC is adjacent to the lab and houses a library of non-English-language films on videocassette and DVD for class or individual use.

The lab is open to students 85 hours per week during the academic year, providing a welcoming atmosphere for language studies.

Senior Thesis

The senior thesis may take the form of a detailed critical or historical essay on a topic drawn from any of the major fields of study embraced by the division, or it may take the form of a creative work. All thesis proposals must be approved by the division; approval of a creative thesis proposal is given only if the candidate shows a developed sense of their craft and submits a writing sample that shows promise of creative talent.