With this issue, the CRIMSON concludes its annual series of articles analyzing fields of concentration, which it hopes can be of some assistance to freshmen who have not yet decided in what department to concentrate, or do not know what to expect in the fields they have chosen.
Romance Languages . . .
For the student who wants to see Europe in his junior year, concentration in Romance Languages is his best bet--his only bet in fact, except for the Department of Germanic Languages. Starting this year, the Romance Language Department is sending third-year students to the University of Paris to study with full credit.
Romance Language concentrators may take the same courses as French students at the Sorbonne, but are given different examinations at the end of the year. The students, who travel with a co-ed organization called the American Study Group, may take courses in Fine Arts and Philosophy as well as in French Literature. The only hitch is that they must be on the Dean's List at the end of their sophomore year.
Program Still Experimental
The program for study abroad is now in a three-year experimental stage, and conceivably will be extended to other departments at the end of this period.
Another change in the French Department next year is the appointment of Herbert Dieckmann as associate professor of French Literature. Dieckmann, whose specialty is 18th century French literature, attracted notice recently as the result of his discovery of several unknown Diderot manuscripts in a French Chateau. He will fill the vacancy left by Jean-Joseph Seznee, professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, who resigned as chairman of the department to accept a professorship at Oxford University.
Emphasis on Literature
Emphasis in the Department of Romance Languages rests on literature rather than on proficiency in speaking the language. "The department is not a Berlitz school," explained LeRoy C. Breunig, assistant professor of Romance Languages and Literatures.
Students must perfect themselves in one language for both concentration and honors, although honors candidates must have a reading knowledge of another Romance Language. From one-third to one-half of the men concentrating in the field go out for honors.
The department has set no specific limit on the number of men who can be admitted next year, but has made an attempt to discourage all students who are not primarily interested in the culture of the country in whose language they wish to concentrate.
Semitic Languages . . .
Students who have a genuine interest in the culture and history of the Near East, and who are intrigued by the possibility of concentrating in a department in which the number of faculty members is nearly equal to the number of concentrators, should consider enrolling in the Department of Semitic Languages and History.
Because the field is such a technical one, not more than two or three undergraduates choose to concentrate in the department There are only two faculty members of the undergraduate branch of the department, so concentrators are assured of receiving top-level personal attention.
Professor Harry A. Wolfson and Dr. Robert H. Pfeiffer give all the undergraduate courses in the department, from Semitic Aa (beginning Hebrew) to Semitic 125 (Research in Semitic Languages). Both men are competent scholars and understanding teachers.
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