THE DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES offers graduate programs in French and Spanish leading to the Master of Arts in Romance Languages degree.

Courses at the graduate level are more specialized and are much more research-oriented than undergraduate courses; consequently, no course below the 500 level will be counted toward graduate degree requirements, and at least one half the work credited toward the degree must be in 600-level courses or above. Graduate students are required to maintain a "B" average or better in order to remain in the program. They are also required to pass a comprehensive examination.

The Department's goals and objectives at the graduate level are:

1. to provide advanced training in understanding, speaking, reading, and writing a foreign language;

2. to promote those values in the liberal arts tradition that derive particularly from the study of language and literature; heightened awareness of literary currents and methodologies, increased understanding of language itself as structure and process, and the enlightening encounter with cultures and modes of thought different from one's own;

1. To perfect students' ability to express themselves orally and in writing through preparation of oral presentations and written research papers;

2. To increase students' knowledge of literature and culture and to enable current or prospective teachers to interpret and explore texts with their own students;

3. To instruct students in the use of periodicals, books and technology for use in their own research;

4. To provide models of successful teaching of language, culture and teaching.