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1190 · 03-12-2008, 10:12 PM

A month old thread and two requests for help – hope this answers some questions.

The English Department has traditionally been one of the strongest and most popular on campus. About 8% or so of students major in the field and large numbers choose to take electives. Freshmen seminars limited to 15 students are especially popular. This year, Prof. Hecker’s “Shakespeare on Film” was probably most popular among the department’s freshman offerings, as in standing ovation popular (true for most of his advanced Shakespeare courses as well). Classes are uniformly kept small with a seminar discussion style dominating. Writing is a very important component of the program at Carleton. Graduation requirements include a writing element and the school’s efforts in this regard have been used as a model by others nationally. Study abroad is almost de rigueur at Carleton (about ¾ of students participate for at least a term). The school sponsors its own program in London (Theater and Lit) and also in Ireland (Lit in Dublin, Belfast, Sligo – Yeats) with multiple other destinations available via a bounty of approved affiliates.

Spanish is a much smaller major turning out only a handful each year (1-2% of grads). However, there is a large enrollment of students in beginning-intermediate level classes, in part due to interest, in part due to graduation requirements. Because of this, the department offers about a dozen Teaching Assistantships yearly to help tutor students with lower level Spanish grammar - not a bad gig. Much of Spanish’s strength is found in affiliated offerings outside the standard classroom setting: Language immersion while living in Parish House with on-floor native speakers, Carleton-run study abroad programs in Mexico, Madrid and Brazil (elsewhere via affiliates), year-round volunteer opportunities with Northfield’s Spanish-speaking immigrant children, “Coffee and News” – a popular partial credit pass/fail course meeting once weekly to discuss news of the Spanish speaking world, and sponsorship of independent summer research fellowships internationally.

Hope this helps!

03-12-2008, 10:12 PM	#3
1190 Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 211	You've been patient A month old thread and two requests for help – hope this answers some questions. The English Department has traditionally been one of the strongest and most popular on campus. About 8% or so of students major in the field and large numbers choose to take electives. Freshmen seminars limited to 15 students are especially popular. This year, Prof. Hecker’s “Shakespeare on Film” was probably most popular among the department’s freshman offerings, as in standing ovation popular (true for most of his advanced Shakespeare courses as well). Classes are uniformly kept small with a seminar discussion style dominating. Writing is a very important component of the program at Carleton. Graduation requirements include a writing element and the school’s efforts in this regard have been used as a model by others nationally. Study abroad is almost de rigueur at Carleton (about ¾ of students participate for at least a term). The school sponsors its own program in London (Theater and Lit) and also in Ireland (Lit in Dublin, Belfast, Sligo – Yeats) with multiple other destinations available via a bounty of approved affiliates. Spanish is a much smaller major turning out only a handful each year (1-2% of grads). However, there is a large enrollment of students in beginning-intermediate level classes, in part due to interest, in part due to graduation requirements. Because of this, the department offers about a dozen Teaching Assistantships yearly to help tutor students with lower level Spanish grammar - not a bad gig. Much of Spanish’s strength is found in affiliated offerings outside the standard classroom setting: Language immersion while living in Parish House with on-floor native speakers, Carleton-run study abroad programs in Mexico, Madrid and Brazil (elsewhere via affiliates), year-round volunteer opportunities with Northfield’s Spanish-speaking immigrant children, “Coffee and News” – a popular partial credit pass/fail course meeting once weekly to discuss news of the Spanish speaking world, and sponsorship of independent summer research fellowships internationally. Hope this helps!