Comprehensive Exam Reading Lists
Language Skills in the Workforce
Some faculty are posting syllabi and grades on the departmental course listing page.
Click here for departmental course listing
note: This listing changes per semester and is not the official catalog description. This is often in draft form until classes begin.
Spring 2010
305.12 Histoire de la Civilisation Francaise
11-12:15 Tuesday & Thursday – 3 Semester Hours
Dr. James Reid, 438-7894, jhreid@ilstu.edu
This course provides an overview of the history of French civilization. We will study the political, social (class), economic, and cultural aspects of recognized periods of French civilization since the year 1000. We will develop narratives of how these contexts evolved over the last 1000 years.
There will be daily reading and question sheets, a term paper on one aspect of the evolution of French civilization, a mid-term exam, and a final exam.
328.12 Selected Topics in 19th & 20th Century French Literature and Culture
5:30-8:20 Monday – 3 Semester Hours
Dr. Roxanna Curto, 438-3583, rcurto@ilstu.edu
“The German Occupation in French Literature and Film”
German forces occupied many European countries during World War II; but only the French government collaborated with the Nazi regime, and thus played an active role in sending its own citizens to the death camps. As a result, the period from 1940-1944 marks a traumatic moment in the French national psyche. Although the memory of this time was repressed in the decades following the end of the war, it resurfaced in the 1980s as a national obsession, which was famously described by Henry Rousso as the “Vichy syndrome.” This course will explore how the German Occupation is imagined and remembered in French literature and film from 1945 to the present. Topics to be explored include: the legacy of the Dreyfus affair; Franco-German relations; the Holocaust in France; Vichy and colonial rule; the myth of the Resistance; the public intellectual (with regard to Sartre); De Gaullisme; and French collective consciousness and national identity. We will combine readings from historiography, cultural studies, and literature with the viewing of films. Authors and filmmakers to be studied: François Truffaut, Claude Berri, Marcel Ophüls, Marguerite Duras, Patrick Modiano, Vercors, and Georges Perec.
450.12 Seminar on French Prose
5:30-8:20 Tuesday – 3 Semester Hours
Dr. Mary Trouille, 438-7983, mstroui@ilstu.edu
This course traces the metamorphoses of the Don Juan myth in French literature from Molière's seventeenth-century play (inspired by the Spanish play by Tirso de Molina) to Laclos's Liaisons dangereuses and Flaubert Madame Bovary in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Suzanne Lilar's neo-Romantic version, Camus's existentialist hero, and finally the demise of the Don Juan character in Montherlant's play Don Juan, ou la mort qui fait le trottoir and Cesbron's novel Don Juan en automne.
310.13 Advanced Study of the German Language
4- 5:15 Tuesday & Thursday – 3 Semester Hours
Dr. James van der Laan, 438-7270, dlvan@ilstu.edu
The study of linguistic concepts and their advanced application through the integration of practical work to improve language skills with appropriate theoretical topics in linguistics.
385.13 Selected Topics in German Literature or Culture
5:30-8:20 Monday – 3 Semester Hours
Dr. Andrew Weeks, 438-7120, caweeks@ilstu.edu
Participants will read and discuss the work of contemporary novelist Daniel Kehlmann. In particular, his “Die Vermessung der Welt” will be examines as a humorous novel in the context of theories of humor and as a historical novel reflecting certain aspects of 19th-century German intellectual history.
SPANISH
305.15 Current Topics in Hispanic Civilization & Culture
3:35-4:50 Tuesday & Thursday – 3 Semester Hours
Dr. Ryan Davis, 438-7759, rdavis2@ilstu.edu
Medicine and Culture in the Hispanic World
This course will explore medicine in as well as medicine as culture in the Hispanic world of, mainly, the 19th and 20th centuries (primarily, though not exclusively, in Spain). Historical readings will provide an overview of the development of medical practice during the period. Topics in this vein will include: folk medicine (magic, witchcraft, quackery) v. academic medicine, medical education, the role of the laboratory, the rise of the hygiene movement, competing theories of contagion, etc. Through theoretical readings, we will grapple with the meaning and evolution of concepts such as disease, health, contagion, and immunity in an effort to understand how they impacted individuals, societies, and the values espoused by both. Specific diseases to be discussed include cholera, the "Spanish flu," and tuberculosis. We will also deal with mental health issues. To complement the historical and theoretical readings, we will explore representations of these disease phenomena in cinema (e.g., Buñuel), music (e.g., tango), and brief literary excerpts (e.g., Galdós, Pardo Bazán, Horacio Quiroga, Ramón y Cajal).
311.15 Spanish Phonetics and Phonology
2-3:15 Tuesday & Thursday – 3 Semester Hours
Dr. Benjamin Schmeiser, 438-7703, schmeiser@ilstu.edu
This course treats the core components that comprise the Spanish sound system. The objectives for this course are two-fold. First, the student will learn the basic components of Spanish Phonetics and Spanish Phonology for both ‘Standard Spanish’ and regional varieties. Second, the student will compare these components to English and his/her own pronunciation of Spanish. By learning these basic components and applying them to his/her own Spanish, the student will gain insight into the Spanish language and s/he will also improve upon his/her own language skills. This course will be conducted in Spanish. Though not expected, it is preferable to have basic knowledge of the main field of linguistics and/or have taken a course an introductory course in Linguistics. This course will be conducted in Spanish.
325.15 Spanish-American Literature
1-1:50 Monday, Wednesday, & Friday – 3 Semester Hours
Dr. James J Alstrum , 438-7620, jjalstr@ilstu.edu
Masterpieces and Movements
We will examine the unique facets of Spanish American poetry and prose with emphasis on the writers of the 19th and 20th centuries through the prism of a representative sampling of works from the principal writers of the major artistic movements of their respective times. We will start with the foundational writings from the colonial period by the mestizo Renaissance man known as El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and the baroque feminist vantage point of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and then will continue with Romanticism, Modernism, the Avant-garde, the Boom or Nueva Narrativa and the post-Boom including more women and hertofore marginalized voices. The writers whose works we will analyze will consist of the following: the Cubans, José María Heredia, Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, José Martí and Nicolás Guillén, the Colombians, José Asunción Silva, Luis Carlos López and Gabriel García Márquez, the Chileans Pablo Neruda, Vicente Huidobro and Isabel Allende, the Argentines Esteban Echeverría, Alfonsina Storni, Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar, the Mexicans, Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera, Octavio Paz, Rosario Castellanos, Carlos Fuentes and Elena Poniatowska, the Peruvians, Ricardo Palma and César Vallejo, the Uruguayan Horacio Quiroga and the Nicaraguan Rubén Darío. Both undergraduate and graduate students will be required to take a midterm exam and write at least a fifteen page research paper in Spanish (25 pages for graduating seniors fulfilling their culminating experience requirement in this course) about the the nouvelle or a full length novel. Undergraduates will also be required to take a final examination but graduate students may substitute a second shorter ten page paper in Spanish about a poet or poetic movement from any historical period of the 19th or 20th centuries.
385.15 Topics in Hispanic Literature
4-4:50 Monday, Wednesday, & Friday – 3 Semester Hours
Dr. Juliet Lynd, 438-7347, jlynd@ilstu.edu
Women Writers of Spain and Latin America
This course will study issues of feminism in Spain and Latin America through an analysis of narrative strategies forged by literary texts written by women. Although women have been writing for centuries, we will focus on twentieth and twenty-first century texts. We will examine writing as a space for exploring feminine subjectivity, rethinking women’s “place” in society, and creating alternative narratives of history. At the same time, we will question the category of “women’s writing” and consider its relevance for thinking about gender, society, and literature today. By reading literary texts from both sides of the Atlantic, as well as key essays in feminist theory and gender studies, we will consider the tensions between globalizing feminist theory and historical specificities. Moreover, we will consider the exploration of gender as part of a larger narrative of social critique in the literary works under study.
425.15 Seminar in Spanish Linguistics
5:30-8:20 Tuesday – 3 Semester Hours
Dr. Benjamin Schmeiser, 438-7703, schmeiser@ilstu.edu
This course considers current issues in Spanish phonology. The course will be mainly conducted in a seminar format, which includes reading and presenting current articles. We will analyze and discuss current models and frameworks and see how they are used to solve problems for Spanish phonology. The student will be expected to offer a thorough analysis of the articles read and discuss them in class. We will also discuss the format for linguistics papers and how to be a successful linguistics graduate student. Finally, the student will be asked to carry out original investigation of a particular topic. A primary goal of the course is to illustrate excellence in research and investigation, along with exhibiting strong academic writing skills, and a solid command of the subject matter. It is highly preferable that the student has either taken a phonetics/phonology course previously or will take one concurrently. This course will be conducted primarily in Spanish.
484.15 Seminar in 20th and 21st Century Spanish Literature
5:30-8:20 Monday – 3 Semester Hours
Dr. Maria Pao, 438-7374, mtpao@ilstu.edu
The Spanish Silver Age: A Poetry Seminar
Have you ever asked yourself, What's poetry got to offer me? Why do poets have to be so hermetic? Where the subject of the verb in this convoluted sentence?!? With apologies to David Letterman, here are top ten reasons to take a course on poetry:
The fine print: Two papers, short presentations, one brief quiz, one exam, an option of final projects tailored to your primary area.
320.11 Foreign Language Teaching in the K-12 Setting
3:00 – 5:25 Tuesday & Thursday – 2 Semester Hours
(1st 6 weeks only)
Dr. Susan Hildebrandt, 438-7874, shildeb@ilstu.edu
Building on skills learned in 319.11, students will focus on the pragmatics of teaching everyday in the K-12 setting. Classroom management, parent-teacher conferences, and lesson planning will be the foci of this class and will help prepare the student for a successful student teaching experience.
321.11 Integrating Technology into the Foreign Language Classroom
3:00 – 5:25 Monday & Wednesday – 2 Semester Hours
(1st 6 weeks only)
Dr. Rachel Shively, 438-7185, rshivel@ilstu.edu
This course will develop skills in selecting, creating, and evaluating technological resources and tools for foreign language teaching, with an emphasis on integrating technology into the foreign language curriculum in a theoretically and pedagogically sound manner. Technologies to be explored include: presentation and web-based tools, interactive multimedia, audio, video, and computer-mediated communication. Participants will engage with the course content through readings, discussion, reflection, demonstration, and hands-on experience.
405.11 Introduction to Cultural Studies
5:30-8:20 Wednesday – 3 Semester Hours
Dr. Benjamin Schmeiser, 438-7703, schmeiser@ilstu.edu
In this course, we will study different cinemas from around the world, with special emphasis on the French-, Spanish-, and German-speaking countries. The student will be exposed to a variety of styles and genres and will see both canonical and more obscure works. The student will be expected to thoroughly discuss the films within the parameters of cinema studies and carry out original investigation of a particular topic. A primary goal of the course is to illustrate excellence in research and investigation, along with exhibiting strong academic writing skills, and a solid command of the subject matter. This course is taught in English.
480.11 Advanced Topics in Foreign Language Instruction
Internet/Hybrid – 3 Semester Hours
Dr. Montserrat Mir, 438-7856, mmir1@ilstu.edu
In the first three/four weeks of the course we will explore the origins of Task-Based Instruction (TBI) within communicative language teaching and second language acquisition research. We will also look at some research studies on using TBI and its effects on participants’ target language complexity, accuracy, fluency, etc. We will then move on to how to prepare a research project using TBI. Students will carry out their own research study with a partner where students will design a language task, will implement it in a language classroom and will analyze the effects of this task in students’ language performance. Students will present their research in the Graduate Symposium at ISU. The rest of the semester students will analyze examples of TBI and will create their own tasks to be used in their language classes. The major component of the course will be the research project.
*Some changes may become necessary due to staffing or other changes.