Language, Literature and Culture Overview

The Language, Literature and Culture Department aims to promote students’ competency in learning other languages, and to broaden and enrich their education through in-depth study of other cultures. Mastering a language includes listening, speaking, reading and writing proficiency.  Students can easily apply these skills to other disciplines at Clark and to their future professions. 

Students can study ASL, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Latin and Spanish at Clark, and can major in Ancient Civilization, Comparative Literature, French or Spanish. It is also possible, at the department’s discretion, to major in more than one language taught at Clark (the Combined Language major), or to self-design a major in German. Students can also apply skills in Asian languages to an Asian Studies major and skills in Hebrew to a concentration in Jewish Studies.

The Language, Literature and Culture Department is part of the Alice Coonley Higgins School of Humanities.

For more information, please visit the Language, Literature and Culture Department’s website.

Spanish Major Requirements

A student who wishes to major in Spanish at Clark must take a total of nine courses including:

• Eight courses in Spanish literature, cinema, or culture

• SPAN 131  or SPAN 132  (mandatory)

• SPAN 237   or an equivalent abroad (an advanced grammar and composition course) (mandatory)

• SPAN 296   (Capstone seminar, taught only in the fall) (mandatory)

• Five extra elective courses in Spanish literature, culture, or cinema chosen from the following list: any courses above SPAN 131/132 and all the SPAN courses with a number 200 or higher.

•CMLT 130  - The National Imagination (mandatory; taught only in the spring)

At least four of the eight Spanish required courses must be taken in residence at Clark. In order to fulfill the Spanish major, students must take a minimum of 2 courses in a Study Abroad program in a Spanish-speaking country. In order to count towards the Spanish major, courses taken abroad must be conducted in Spanish and be related to Hispanic cultural studies or literature. Topics accepted include: Spanish Creative writing, Hispanic culture (drama, music, art, cinema…), Hispanic history, politics or philosophy. Courses in the hard sciences (math, science) or fieldwork in the social sciences do not count towards the Spanish major. In order to make sure that the courses taken abroad count towards the major, they should be selected with the guidance of the major adviser.

Only courses with a grade of C or better may be counted towards the Spanish major.

Honors

This honors program is for language, literature and culture majors only. By November 1 of the capstone semester, faculty will identify qualified senior majors (with a minimum GPA of 3.5) and invite them to submit a proposal for a semester-long honors thesis during the spring of their senior year. Other students who wish to take honors should identify an area of interest during the capstone semester, consult with the capstone professor and/or an appropriate honors adviser, and submit a proposal (by December 1) to the professor they would like to direct the project.*

• Proposals will be approved at the discretion of the individual professor.
• The Department Chair must also approve the project.
• The honors candidate and adviser will decide on a work schedule, but a preliminary draft must be completed by the first week of April.
• The final version is due one week before the last day of classes.
• A second faculty reader will participate in the final evaluation of the honors project.
• An honors project counts as one unit of credit.

*Students graduating early and wishing to do an honors project should see their adviser during the fall of their junior year and get approval for the project from the thesis director and the department chair.

Language, Literature and Culture Faculty

Languages, Literature and Culture Courses

Courses offered within the last 2 Academic Years