COURSEWORK
A major requires a minimum of 9 classes including the senior seminar. Students are required to take courses that reflect the interrelated aspects of the major:
Proseminar
| CSLC 200 | Literature, Culture, Self: Being in the Wor(l)d | 4 |
Foreign language
Students must select three 300-level courses in German, Greek, Latin or Russian.
Literary and Cultural Studies
Students must select two 200-level CSLC courses.
*This course is preferably chosen from outside the student’s major language concentration (courses outside the department allowed by approval)
Interdisciplinary requirement
Students must complete two additional courses which reflect a thematic or comparative language based concentration. The two interdisciplinary courses should be chosen in consultation with the student’s adviser.
Senior Seminar
Students must pass a language proficiency exam prior to the beginning of their senior year and enrollment in the senior seminar. Please consult the departmental website for current information about courses which satisfy requirements.
WRITING REQUIREMENT
Students majoring in CSLC will satisfy the final component of Occidental College's writing requirement by taking a 300-level CSLC junior seminar with a writing component. At least one substantial writing assignment incorporating primary text in the student's target language will prepare students to do their Senior Comprehensive Project. The instructor will deem a student's writing proficient with a notation of "Satisfactory" for the junior writing requirement.
COMPREHENSIVE REQUIREMENT
All students majoring in CSLC will be required in their Senior Year to complete a comprehensive project consisting of a Senior Thesis of a minimum of 25 pages and to present a 15 minute presentation based on the thesis to CSLC faculty and students.
In the fall of their senior year, each CSLC major will enroll in a 4 unit senior seminar and will be expected to produce a full length draft of the comprehensive essay by the end of term. The student will have the winter break and the first month of spring term in his or her senior year to revise the long essay, and to compose a 15 minute presentation. Students graduating in the fall of Senior Year must complete a final draft of the paper and give a short presentation before fall comps grades are due.
The comprehensive essay must include extensive analysis of a foreign language text or texts. The thesis should demonstrate an awareness of its own methodologies, and a substantial knowledge of the critical traditions and contemporary understandings of the texts under consideration. CSLC students will additionally be expected to incorporate into their senior thesis the interdisciplinary perspectives gained in the two thematic-focus courses they have selected for their major. Additional requirements for comps may be required in each language emphasis, particularly if a student uses a language outside of the CSLC major in their comps.
HONORS
The Department of CSLC awards Honors to students who have demonstrated excellence in their departmental work. In the Spring semester, CSLC faculty review each Seniors’ record of work in the department and make their determinations based on achievement in coursework, sophistication of the comprehensive project, and contribution to the intellectual community of the department.