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Professors: Herbert Arnold (German Studies), Stephen Crites (Philosophy), Peter Frenzel (German Studies), Leo Lensing (German Studies), Joyce Lowrie (Romance Languages and Literatures), Jan Miel (Romance Languages and Literatures), Howard Needler (Director), Catherine Poisson (Romance Languages and Literatures), Franklin Reeve, Paul Schwaber, Richard Vann (History), Ellen Widmer (Asian Languages and Literatures)

Associate Professors: Laurie Nussdorfer (History), Hope Weissman

Assistant Professor: Noah Isenberg (German Studies)

Visiting Associate Professor: Howard Bernstein

Visiting Assistant Professor: Thomas Huhn
(Philosophy)

The College of Letters (COL) offers an interdisciplinary major program for the study of literature, history, and philosophy. The core of the program is a series of five colloquia designed to acquaint students with works of predominantly European literature, history, and philosophy in (respectively) the 20th century, the Ancient World, the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the 17th and 18th centuries, and the 19th century. In addition to these wide-ranging colloquia, students take more specialized seminars and independent work in tutorials. In all of these contexts, much emphasis is put on the development of skills in writing and speaking, but our general goal is cultivation of oethe educated imagination.”

To enter the College of Letters, a student must have acquired the status of a sophomore and must have completed the requisite amount of work (see summary of requirements, below) in French, Hebrew, Italian, German, Russian, Spanish, Latin, or Greek. In order to perfect his or her knowledge of the modern language studied, the student is required to spend a semester abroad in a country where the language is spoken. This period is normally the second semester of the sophomore year if the language is French (Wesleyan Program in Paris), German (Wesleyan Program in Regensburg), Spanish (Wesleyan/Vassar Program in Madrid), or Hebrew (Wesleyan Program in Jerusalem). Students studying Italian or classics (American Academy in Rome) will also go abroad in the second semester of their sophomore year. Individual arrangements are made for students who are pursuing Russian.

The purpose of this semester abroad is not merely to enhance language proficiency but also to enhance the understanding of a foreign culture and to give the student a new perspective on his or her own culture. Native tutors supervise the work done abroad, usually with the cooperation of Wesleyan faculty or other American faculty members on leave.

During each of five semesters in residence in the College of Letters, COL majors participate in a colloquium organized around the study of a period in European culture. They also elect a minimum of four seminars, as well as two credits for independent study, to make up the equivalent of at least eleven course credits required to complete the major. The four-seminar minimum must include one seminar each in history and philosophy, and two literary seminars, one of which must be taught in the foreign language in which the student is most proficient. Letter grades are not given in courses taken for COL major credit, and College of Letters seminars do not generally have final examinations. Tutors write detailed evaluations of their studentsà work at the end of each semester, and these are kept on record (and discussed with each student upon request).

COL majors must complete three colloquia (sophomore and both junior colloquia) in order to be eligible to take the Junior Comprehensive Examination, which is based largely on the material studied in the colloquia, but allows students to draw on other work they have done in the college to that point. The examination, which has written and oral components, is given in late April and early May by two examiners from other universities, and is intended to encourage students to integrate the work they have done up until that time. Citations of high honors (in very exceptional cases, highest honors), honors, and creditable are awarded, but an ungraded option (pass/fail) is available. During the senior year each major is required to complete an honors thesis or essay, under the guidance of a tutor. Theses may be essays on critical, historical, or philosophical subjects, as well as works of fiction or poetry or creative projects in the arts; and they may be presented for honors. A senior essay is a one-credit (rather than two-credit) project, and any student electing to present an essay, rather than a thesis, will need an additional seminar credit to complete the major
requirements.

The academic standards of the College of Letters are reflected in the fact that its graduates have consistently entered the best graduate and professional schools, including schools of law, medicine, and business administration, as well as communications and the liberal arts. They often have won national fellowships and scholarships on the basis of evaluations of the work done in the college.

The College of Letters attempts to integrate the social and intellectual lives of its members by inviting guest lecturers and by providing opportunities for students and faculty to meet such guests (and one another) informally. There are also informal social gatherings in the College of Letters library on a regular basis. The structure of the College of Letters and the smallness of its classes bring about a close rapport between tutors and students and a lively and continuing dialogue between students of different classes.

Summary of College of Letters major requirements (exclusive of semester of study abroad)

* Five colloquia.

* One literary seminar in the foreign language in which the student is most proficient.

* Five additional credits from seminars and independent study, of which at least one must be a senior essay or two for a senior thesis, and which must include at least one seminar each in history, philosophy, and literature.

A College of Letters student spends the second semester of her or his sophomore year abroad, and this requires intermediate-level work in the appropriate foreign language. It is expected that students entering the college as sophomores will be ready at the beginning of their sophomore year for the intermediate level of study (or its equivalent) in the language of their choice. That normally means French 215, German 211 or 214, Hebrew 202, Italian 112, Spanish 112, or Russian 112. (In Greek or Latin, the corresponding level would be 202.) Students should therefore take the Wesleyan language placement test and enroll in appropriate language classes during their first year.

First-year students interested in the College of Letters are also advised to elect courses from the First Year Initiative in the Humanities Program, or in history, philosophy, or literature.