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Graduate Programs in the Department of German and Romance Languages The Department of German and Romance Languages and Literatures has graduate-level programs in the literatures of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Latin America . Students also have the ability to take a course of study in Comparative Literature in the literatures taught in the Department. Students normally devote three years to coursework and spend the fourth year studying and conducting research in the country of concentration. An official presentation to the Department (the ABD) is required for official candidacy for the PhD. The well-prepared student can expect to receive the PhD after five years of study. Students are also required to perform apprentice teaching during their tenure in the Department. Students will lead one section of an undergraduate-level language course (in their area(s) of study) which will normally require three to four hours per week of class time. With the exception of Singleton fellows, all students teach each year they are in the program with the exception of 2 semesters studying abroad. Students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in the language(s) of their area of study. Further, students in the Spanish and Italian sections of the Department must also demonstrate proficiency in French and one additional foreign language. Should the student's area of concentration also require that they be proficient in Latin, Greek, or German, the student must also demonstrate knowledge of those. The French Program You might sum up the French Department at Johns Hopkins by saying that it's "live with Paris." "Live," in the sense of a constant flow of students and professors coming to the department from Paris and Geneva to study and teach; but "live" also in the reverse sense of our faculty and students studying and teaching as visiting professors in such key institutions as the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, the Collège de France, the two branches of the Ecole Normale Supérieure (Ulm & Fontenay/St Cloud), Paris 4, Paris 8, the Institut National de la Langue Fraçaise, the Ecole Nationale des Sciences-Politiques, the University of Geneva. The interaction works bi-laterally and at all levels: undergraduate, graduate, faculty. This means that historians, anthropologists, philosophers, literary theorists, writers, art historians, literary historians, comparatists, linguists, disciplinary specialists of all kinds, regularly come to Hopkins not for a single lecture, but to teach seminars ranging from two intensive weeks to a whole semester. These figures don't come once, never to be seen again. They come on a regular basis, get to know our students who then continue studying with them when they go to Paris and Geneva as part of their training. Indeed, the integration of the French department with the Francophone world is so natural that all dissertations in the department are co-directed by a Hopkins faculty member and a major specialist from Paris or Geneva. This means that graduate students have the advantage of a double tutelage. We don't think that in this day and age, you can measure the quality of a French department simply by counting the number of full-time faculty, or looking solely at the courses offered within the department itself. This would be like saying: "if you want to study French you're limited to the competence of the current faculty. Sorry about that." At Hopkins, we feel that a viable French program has got to be in touch with a broad spectrum of ideas and movements. Not all students are going to be interested in the same things. Why shouldn't students be able to design programs around their interests drawing upon faculty and cultural resources from a broad range of sources, not only within the University, but also from the major university and research facilities in Paris and Geneva? At Hopkins, we view French as dynamically linked to other departments in the Humanities and social sciences where significant interest and research in French occurs. Specialists in the history of the book, like Roger Chartier or Henri-Jean Martin, teach seminars jointly for the French and History departments. Jean-Luc Marion, the noted Descartes specialist, will teach for Humanities, German, and French. The list is literally endless because every month, every semester, every year sees new and familiar examples of dynamic interaction between Paris and Hopkins. The German Program The German section offers programs of advanced study and research in German language and literature leading to the Ph.D. Although an M.A. degree is granted, candidates who seek only that degree are not ordinarily admitted. The research interests of the faculty make possible a special emphasis on comparative literary studies. The series of courses regularly offered provides a well-balanced program of German literary history and critical theory. Because of strong interdisciplinary cooperation at Johns Hopkins, students have a broad range of possibilities to work with faculty in other departments. Teacher training and practice teaching are considered an essential part of the graduate program. Candidates for advanced degrees in German are required to teach. Exchange Programs Exchange programs with the University of Hamburg and the Humboldt University in Berlin offer the opportunity for graduate students to study in Germany. In addition, a special agreement with the University of Munster in Westphalia makes it possible periodically for a group of graduate students to spend several months studying there. Requirements for the M.A. Degree In addition to fulfilling the general University requirements for advanced degrees, candidates for the M.A. must demonstrate fluency in spoken German, be able to write German reasonably well, have a good knowledge of the history of German language and literature, be familiar with the general cultural background, and have read extensively in German literature, particularly in the periods after 1600. During their first two years at Hopkins, candidates for the M.A. degree must pass a series of three topical examinations. The Spanish Program The graduate program in Spanish and Latin American literatures offers driven and highly independent students the opportunity for advanced graduate work specifically tailored to their own intellectual interests. The internationally visible faculty consist of four senior members and is complemented by a regular stream of visiting scholars from top universities in the US and abroad. Flexibility and interdisciplinarity are the section's signature qualities. Students normally take five semesters of graduate courses and take a series of comprehensive examinations during their sixth semester in the program. A normal course load consists of three seminars, but a minimum of 15 seminars is required. Conducting research abroad is expected and is usually undertaken in the fourth year, although students with a compelling reason to conduct research at another institution in the US may do so. While in residence our students also learn to be teachers. Each graduate teaching assistant teaches a section of Spanish language, ranging from Elements to more advanced subjects, under the guidance of our world-class Spanish Language Pedagogy staff. Students in their last years are eligible to propose courses on their research topic to be taught under the Dean's Teaching Fellows program. Coursework encompasses pre-conquest, colonial, and modern Latin American literatures as well as medieval, renaissance, baroque, and modern literatures of Spain, along with whatever other coursework the student and advisor deem necessary for the chosen course of study. The Italian Program The Department of German and Romance Languages and Literatures offers individually planned programs leading to the Ph.D. in Italian. There is no terminal M.A. program: graduate study of Italian at Johns Hopkins is oriented toward completion of the Ph.D. We welcome students who have completed the M.A. in Italian at other institutions, as well as those who have completed the B.A. only. Study on Campus in Baltimore As with all graduate programs in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, the Italian Ph.D. emphasizes work in three complementary areas: literary history, close textual analysis, and theory of interpretation. Critical and historical fields of concentration for the Ph.D. in Italian normally fall within one of the canonical periods (Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries) and genres (poetry, fiction, drama). However, specializations involving other languages, literatures, and humanistic disciplines can be arranged by Ph.D. candidates in Italian. The student will normally take three years of graduate courses on the Johns Hopkins campus. (A minimum of five semesters of course work is required.) The student is expected to take occasional courses outside the department, especially in the areas of linguistic and literary theory, comparative literature, philosophy, history, and history of art. The student will also demonstrate at least a reading knowledge of two other foreign languages (normally French or Latin and Spanish or German). At the end of the third year, the student will take a comprehensive written examination to demonstrate his or her knowledge of the major outlines of Italian literary history. If completed successfully, the comprehensive examination admits to candidacy for the Ph.D. Study in Italy The student will normally devote the fourth year of study to research in Italy for the dissertation. This research is conducted on fellowship support from the University. Comparative Literature A student may pursue a comparative literature track in the Department. Coursework, exams, and teaching responsibilities will be determined upon consultation with their advisor(s) and the respective language coordinators. |