Department Policy

Enrollment in Language Courses

It is the policy of the Department of Modern Languages to exclude from its elementary- and intermediate-level courses any student who the Department deems to have significant knowledge of the target language. The departmental policy will be determined by examination of the student's transcript and/or administration of a placement test. Students who demonstrate native or near-native proficiency in the target language may apply for a waiver from the foreign language distribution area. Such students are encouraged to enroll in advanced (300-level and above) language, culture, and literature courses.

Transfer Credit Policy

A student who transfers from another accredited institution may be granted up to fifteen credits toward the major requirement. Transfer students must, however, consult with the department chair as early as possible after registration.

Honors

The Department of Modern Languages offers an honors program in all its majors: French, German Studies, Italian, and Russian Studies. To be eligible, students must have a) completed at least six courses towards the major, not counting intermediate proficiency in the language; b) achieved a University cumulative GPA of 3.0 and a 3.25 cumulative average in major courses through the junior year. A student wishing to do honors work should seek out a departmental advisor willing to direct the honors paper. After receiving approval from this advisor, the student must apply in writing to the chair of the department for admission to the honors program, preferably before the beginning of the senior year.

An honors candidate enrolls in his/her major's "Honors Research Project" course (498) in the first semester of the senior year. If this course is completed successfully, the student enrolls in "Senior Honors Thesis" (499) in order to complete his/her research and write the thesis. All theses will have two or three readers: The advisor and one or two other faculty members chosen by the student with departmental approval. All readers must approve the thesis, which will then be submitted to the department in a timely fashion to meet the College's deadline. The student will present his/her final thesis to the department.

General Requirements for Major in French, German Studies, Italian, Russian Studies:

• Only one course taken on a pass/fail option can be counted toward the major.
  
• No course with a grade below C- can be counted toward the major.
  
• Students must attain a 2.0 average in their major in order to graduate.