The material on this page is from the 1998-99 catalog and may be out of date. Please check the current year's catalog for current information.
Associate Professors Sweet (on leave, winter semester and Short Term), Decker, Costlow, Acting Chair (fall semester), Browne, Strong, Chair, and Yang (on leave, fall semester and Short Term); Assistant Professor Mennel; Ms. Neu-Sokol, Ms. Miao, Ms. Ofuji, Ms. Hogan, and Mr. Zhou Students of German, Russian, and East Asian languages gain particular insight into peoples whose lives are in the process of unprecedented change. The curricula in Chinese, Japanese, German, and Russian emphasize the interconnections of society, culture, and language. They assert the vitality of traditions challenged and invigorated by change, and the importance of attaining fluency not just in language but in the nuances of cultural understanding. The department offers majors in Chinese, German, Japanese, and Russian language and literature. A secondary concentration can be pursued in all languages offered. Application for a secondary concentration should be made to the chair of the department. A secondary concentration requires a minimum of seven courses in the given language (or six courses and a designated Short Term unit). All courses taken at Bates must be from the curriculum of the department. At least one of the seven courses must involve a study of literature or culture (taught either in the language or in translation), but only one course in translation may be counted toward the concentration. A student may petition to have up to three comparable courses, completed at other institutions either in the United States or abroad, apply toward the secondary concentration. All students, and especially majors, are strongly encouraged to spend an extended period of time abroad prior to graduation. Opportunities to do so include participation in the Bates Fall Semester Abroad programs in China, Japan, and Germany, Junior Year or Junior Semester Abroad programs, summer sessions, and the various off-campus Short Term units sponsored by the department. Entering students are assigned to the appropriate level in language courses according to the following criteria: their performance on an Achievement or Advanced Placement Test of the College Entrance Examination Board taken in secondary school, relative proficiency based on length of previous study, and/or after consultation with an appropriate member of the department. Foreign Literatures and Cultures in Translation. While the department emphasizes the importance of acquiring the fluency needed to study literature and culture in the original, the following courses are offered in translation. See listings under individual languages for detailed descriptions of these courses.
Chinese 207. Masterworks of Chinese Literature.
German 250. Reason and Revolution.
Japanese 240. Japanese Literature: A Survey.
Russian 240. Women and Russia.
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