Romance Languages and Literature at Hamilton
Concentration
Special Opportunities On Campus
Special Opportunities Off Campus
Facilities
Department Faculty
Recent Courses
Recent Senior Theses
Alumni
Preparation
Further Information
French Department
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Spanish Department Web
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Course Catalogue
Romance
Languages and Literature at Hamilton
Concentrators are expected to reach a level of near fluency in Spanish or French and to gain a real understanding for the country's literature and civilization. Professors foster the notion of study abroad as an essential component of higher education for all students. The concentration is, of course, of great practical importance for careers in international affairs and in other areas which require advanced foreign language competency. Of deeper significance, however, is the reward of a greater appreciation of other cultures (and thus, by comparison, of one's own heritage) and of the complexity of language itself, in a world where dialogue, coherent communication and mutual understanding are more necessary than ever before.
A concentration consists of eight courses numbered 140 or higher, with specific requirements at the 200 and 300 level, in addition to a senior program that includes a substantial research paper. The average language class size (including introductory courses) is between 10-20 students. Many advanced literature classes have five-eight students.
A minor consists of five courses numbered 140 or higher, including at least one literature course and one course at the 300 level.
Special Opportunities On Campus
The department sponsors the Spanish and French clubs, the Spanish and French tables, the French newsletter La Gazette, a weekend cultural excursion to Montreal, weekly radio shows in a foreign language, and a series of lectures, films and presentations. Language Teaching Assistants are drawn from students at the advanced level and are trained to conduct drill and conversation sessions in lower level courses. La Vanguardia, a Latino student organization, adds to the cultural richness and diversity of the campus. Qualified seniors participate in the Hamilton chapter of the Phi Sigma Iota Foreign Language Honor Society.
Special Opportunities Off Campus
The department sponsors programs in Madrid and Paris which are distinguished for their academic quality, the attention which they give to individual student needs and the thoroughness with which they immerse students in the language, history and culture of Spain and France. The Hamilton College Academic Year in Spain functions in collaboration with the faculties of Williams and Swarth-more colleges, and allows for a one semester, as well as a full year, of stay. Each term begins with a 10-day orientation program in the coastal villages of Comillas (fall) and Nerja (spring). The Junior Year in France begins with an orientation period in Biarritz in September and October, prior to the year program in Paris, and is open to third-year students only. To be admitted to either program, students must demonstrate a strong academic record and advanced knowledge of the language.
Ample computer facilities, a modern language laboratory, an Audiovisual Center and a Recording Studio are available to Hamilton students.
All members of the department are active scholars and experienced teachers. In addition to Language Pedagogy, their research interests include:
Spanish
Diego Alonso (Ph.D., Princeton University) - Latin American
literature and culture
Mar Campelo (Master's in Spanish Philology, Universidad
Autonoma de Madrid) - Spanish Language and Linguistics
Ariadna Garcia-Bryce (Ph.D., Princeton University) - Early
Modern Spanish literature and culture
M. Cecilia Hwangpo (Ph.D., ABD, Yale University)- Latin
American literature and culture
Jeremy T. Medina (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania) - Modern
and Golden Age Peninsular literature; Peninsular culture
Susan Sanchez-Casal (Ph.D., University of California at
Riverside) - Latin American and Latino literature and culture
Santiago Tejerina-Canal (Ph.D., University of Massachusetts at
Amherst) - Peninsular and Latin American literature and
culture
French
Francoise Davis (Baccalaureat es Lettres and License es Lettres,
University of Bordeaux)
Martine Guyot-Bender (Ph.D., University of Oregon) -
20th-century French literature; Magh-rebi literatures and
cultures
Marine Lauzel (Master of French Literature) - Medieval French
& English Literature - 1999-2000 Teaching Fellow
Roberta L. Krueger (Ph.D., University of California at Santa
Cruz) - Medieval and Renaissance French literature and culture;
feminist theory
Cheryl A. Morgan (Ph.D., Columbia University) - 19th-century
French literature and culture; modern French women writers
Joseph E. Mwantuali (Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University) -
Francophone literature and cultures
John C. O'Neal (Ph.D., University of California at Los
Angeles) - 18th-century French literature and philosophy
Introduction to French Literature I and II
Contemporary France
French Women, Then and Now
The Art of Translation
Francophone Culture
Phonetics and Theatre
Advanced Composition and Oral Practice
Signs of War and Love in Medieval France
Comic Visions in Early French Literature
The Golden Age of French Literature: Politics, Polemics and
Passion
Libertine Discourse in 18th-Century Literature
19th-Century French Literature: Figuring the Revolution
The 19th-Century Novel and Society
Forms of Escape in Early 20th-Century French Literature
20th-Century Literature: A New Fin de Siecle
Fictions of Desire: Rise and Fall of Romantic Love
Topics in Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Arthurian Legend and the Problem of the Other
Fictions of the Self
Morality and Education in Medieval Society
Libertine Discourse
Intensive Spanish I and II
Spanish for Native Speakers
Advanced Spanish
Introduction to Spanish Literature
Special Topics in the Spanish and Spanish- American World
The Latino Experience
Latin American Civilization I and II
Spanish Civilization
Introduction to Spanish-American Literature
Women Writers of Spain
Hispanic Cinematic Voices
Medieval Spanish Literature
Masterpieces of Golden Age Literature
Modernismo
Contemporary Latin American Novel
Contemporary Latin American Narrative in Translation
Contemporary Latin American Cinema
20th-Century Latin American Poetry
Contemporary Spanish Novel
20th-Century Spanish Theatre
Latin American Women Writers
Topics in Latin American Colonial Literature
The Realistic Novel
Visions of Utopia in Latin American Writing
The Generations of 1898 and 1927
Special Topics in Spanish Literature
Spanish Women Writers
Cervantes' Don Quijote
Cervantes' Don Quijote in Translation
Honors Project
During their senior year, concentrators work closely with a faculty member on independent research projects of their own choosing. Titles of recent senior projects include:
Le recit romantique chez Chateaubriand
El papel de las mujeres en la industria turistica del Caribe
The Question of the Soul in Rousseau's Emile
La obra de Rosa Montero
Le merveilleux dans Les Lais de Marie de France
Mujeres atrapadas: una critica feminista de los cuentos de Amparo
Davila
Recent alumni of the Romance Languages and Literature Department are doing graduate work at Duke University, New York University, Stanford Engineering School, University of Virginia, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Middlebury in France, among other places. Others are pursuing careers in film making, social work, law, international business and many other fields. Examples include:
Concentrators usually come to Hamilton with several years of high school language. However, through intensive courses and/or study abroad, it is also possible to begin Spanish or French as a first year student and still complete the concentration requirements.
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