The Department of Languages and Literatures offers a program of
graduate study in the literature, linguistics and civilization of
the Hispanic world. This program, conducted totally in Spanish,
prepares students for further scholarship and teaching at all
levels or related careers.
Students are encouraged to participate in summer abroad programs
in Argentina and in Spain specifically trips to Cádiz and Madrid
where they can master important linguistic, cultural and social
skills in addition to course work.
The Department sponsors a series of lectures by prominent
literary figures from both Spain and Latin America and the
publication of the literary journal Anuario Medieval. Epsilon
Kappa, the St. John’s Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, publishes a
literary journal, Entre Rascacielos, to promote the creative works
of students enrolled in the program, alumni and invited guests.
This program will prepare graduates to:
Demonstrate advanced ability to
understand, speak, write, and reading the Spanish
language.
- Read in the original language (for each course, at least 10
books) and discuss in depth in class.
- Analyze the authors’ works and write scholarly and creative
responses: oral reports, term papers, poems, short stories.
Demonstrate understanding and familiarity
with major literary periods, theoretical perspectives of esthetics
of language and historical and social values reflected in
literature.
- Interpret texts from the most representative works of all the
literary periods, including Peninsular literature before 1700 and
of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, Spanish-American literature
from Pre-Colombian through the 19th Century and from Modernismo to
the present.
- Describe and analyze the different characteristics of literary
genres.