Welcome
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The Department of Romance Languages offers W&L students a
number of rich opportunities to explore the languages, literatures,
and cultures of the Spanish and French-speaking worlds. (See
“Mission Statement”)Students may choose to major
in Romance Languages,
French, or Spanish, pursue the
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Interdisciplinary Program, or take language coursework in
Italian
and Portuguese. Additionally, many students choose to complement
their coursework with a double major or other interdisciplinary
programs.
 Students
in the Romance Languages have access to a number of meaningful
resources, both on- and off-campus. On-campus, the Department
supports various initiatives oriented towards language learning. Among others, the Tucker
Multimedia Center provides students and faculty with a highly
modern facility dedicated to the teaching of languages through
technology. The Casa Hispánica
serves as a theme house where students can live and speak solely in
the target language. The ESOL
Program (English for Speakers of Other Languages) offers ESOL
classes and one-on-one tutoring arrangements, Spanish classes for
adults, free translation of documents
(Spanish-English/English-Spanish), and a hotline to provide
immediate interpreting services, all with the intended purpose of
facilitating communication within the increasingly diverse
population in Rockbridge County. The Department also presents
annual dramatic performances in French and Spanish, and hosts the National Symposium
on Theater in Academe.
Off campus, the Department administers and
supervises its own programs abroad during the
Spring Term, including
programs of study in
Spain,
Costa Rica, and
France. Additionally,
students may choose to study abroad during the twelve-week term
or for the full academic year through a number of approved programs independent of W&L. (For
twelve-week programs consult
Center for
International Education or for departmental programs
see the Romance Languages Study Abroad page.) In recent years, the
Department has also overseen an
Internship Program in Mar de Plata,
Argentina.
The Department is comprised of a diverse
faculty with
international backgrounds and experiences, a strong research agenda,
and a commitment to teaching excellence. Its members participate in
all levels of its curriculum, from elementary language instruction
to advanced seminars. The RL faculty is also highly involved
with other aspects of university life, including serving as Program
Heads, Core Faculty, and Affiliates for the
Latin American and Caribbean Studies,
Women's Studies,
Medieval and Renaissance Studies and
African-American Studies
Interdisciplinary Programs among others.
Romance Languages Mission (1999)
We have revised, and will continue to modify as
necessary, the French and Spanish curricula in order:
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that our majors may have a solid foundation in
either French or Hispanic literature, thus understanding the
overall development of said literatures and of at least one, if
not several, of their genres. They should also be familiar with
the principal authors of either French or Hispanic literatures
and should acquire related cultural awareness, as well as
analytic skills, through literary analysis.
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that our majors may acquire, in either or both of
our target languages, a level of proficiency, both
conversational and compositional, that will enable them to excel
in either studies abroad or in graduate studies or in a
competitive workplace requiring use of their major foreign
language(s).
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that we may constantly address the changing
interests of the student population. While we still feel that
teaching literature is one of our main purposes, we will offer
new courses in advanced civilization and culture and in advanced
language so that our students may feel comfortable in any
increasingly international environment.
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that we may fulfill our students’ growing need
for information literacy which will enable them to be successful
in a society that depends increasingly on technology,
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that we may fulfill our commitment to general
education requirements in foreign languages articulated on page
82 of the university’s 1999-2000 catalogue.
Faculty
Dr. Laurent Boetsch – [on
leave 2007-08] Professor (Spanish / Italian) – 19th and 20th
century Spanish poetry and prose, 20th century Spanish culture and
civilization
Dr. Jeffrey C. Barnett
–
Professor (Spanish) -- Civilization and
Cultural Studies, Contemporary Spanish-American Narrative;
Historical Novel; Caribbean literature; LACS, Program Head.
Dr. Mónica
Botta -- Assistant Professor (Spanish) -- Latin American
Theatre, Postdictatorial Literature, Memory Studies; LACS core
faculty
Dr. Gwyn E. Campbell --
Professor (Spanish / French) -- 16th and 17th-century Spanish
Literature & Golden Age women writers, Women's Studies, Film;
Medieval and Renaissance Studies core faculty
Dr. A.G. Fralin --
Professor (French / Spanish / Italian) -- First- and
second-generation French and American existentialist novelists,
French novels of adolescence and French Caribbean novels.
Dr. Françoise Frégnac-Clave -- Associate Professor (French / Spanish) --
19th and 20th Century French Literature, the short story, French
Cinema, Civilization and Cultural Studies; Medieval and Renaissance
Studies affiliate faculty.
Dr. Mohamed Kamara
-- Assistant Professor (French / Literature in Translation) -- 18th
Century French literature, Post-Colonial Studies, Francophone
(Caribbean, Quebec, and Africa); Women's Studies, African-American
Studies, LACS affiliate faculty.
Dr. John Lambeth -- Associate
Professor (French) -- 20th Century French and Francophone
Literature; Muslim Immigrant Communities in France; French Critical
Theory .
Dr. Ellen Mayock -- Associate
Professor (Spanish / French) -- 20th-Century Spain, Latin America,
and U.S./Latina; Women's Studies; the novel; LACS and Women’s
Studies core faculty; ESOL co-adviser
Dr. Domnica Radulescu,
Professor ( French / Italian), Theater and Performance Studies,
Medieval Renaissance Studies, Women's Studies - Program Head
Dr. Cecile West-Settle –
Professor and Department Head, Romance Languages, 2007-08 (Spanish)
-- Spanish lyric poetry, The Ballad, Novel & poetry of 19th & 20th
century Spain.
Adjunct Faculty (2007-08)
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