Master of Arts in Modern Languages

 

The M.A. in Modern Languages is a 36-hour non-thesis degree that is designed to meet the educational needs of recent graduates as well as those in our community who desire to acquire greater proficiency in the languages and greater knowledge of the field.

Like traditional Masters programs in a specific language, this program will enable students to integrate the study of the language, literature and culture of the countries in which French and Spanish, respectively, are spoken. However, because it is also comparative, it also gives students the opportunity to situate their language within a larger context of concerns common to all linguistic study.

Those students who are or will be teachers also learn to make effective use of the latest technologies in foreign language teaching.

In addition, the program includes two courses in translation theory and practice, giving those students who opt to take these courses the possibility to expand their abilities in this valuable and extremely marketable skill.

This degree is unique in the North Texas region. Faculty members have designed courses based on their expertise and research and thereby enhance students' understanding of complex linguistic, cultural, historical, literary, technological, and pedagogical issues.

The individual concentrations of French and Spanish provide students with unique opportunities in the single chosen language and allow students to broaden their knowledge and facility of each of the languages, literatures, and cultures of their choice.

 

One course is required of all students in the program:

MODL 5304: Currents in European and Latin American Literatures and Thought (3 credits)

Additional MODL courses:

In addition to MODL 5304 (3 SCH), students must complete a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 9 SCH by choosing either 2 or 3 of the remaining 4 MODL courses listed below:

MODL 5302: Topics Across the Languages

MODL 5305: Methods of Language Teaching

MODL 5307: Topics in Language Acquisition

MODL 5310: Theories of Literature

One Possible Elective Substitution:

One of the designated electives listed below might be taken as a substitute for one of the elective MODL courses with proper justification and upon approval from the graduate advisor:

ART 5320: History of Art Criticism

ENG 5330: Topics in Criticism

ENG 5340: Critical Theory: The Major Traditional Texts

ENG 5360: Topics in Contemporary Critical Theory

HIST 5311: Colloquium in Early Modern European History

HIST 5312: Colloquium in Modern European History

HIST 5313: Colloquium in European Regional/Topical History

HIST 5341: Issues and Interpretations in European History

HUM 5303: Approaches to the Study of Culture

HUM 5307: Topics in Gender Studies

LING 5300: Linguistic Analysis

PHIL 5393: Philosophical Perspectives on the Humanities

ANTH 5340: European Culture and Society

ANTH 5344: Cultures of Latin America

Courses Freely Elected by Students:

Depending on the number of MODL classes taken (either 3 or 4), students will take either 9 classes (27 SCH) or 8 classes (24 SCH) from the list of courses in their specific language concentration area, French or Spanish.

Other:

• A knowledge of a second foreign language is required as demonstrated by one of the following:
  • The successful completion of two semesters of coursework at the second-year level,
  • MODL 5301, or
  • By an appropriate examination.
    
    
• As this is a non-thesis program, a final comprehensive examination is required after successful completion of the course work. The comprehensive examination will be based on course work and a reading list.

Graduate Courses:

MODL Courses

MODL 5302 Topics across the Languages (3-0).** This topic course varies in focus and will be taught by in-house faculty or visiting scholars. Taught in English, it will consider issues of cultural and literary concerns across the languages. Possible course offerings include:

• From Novel to Film
• History and/as Literature
• Propaganda as Literature
• The History and Aesthetics of Film
• The Other in Literature and Culture
• Freud and the Literary Imagination
• Modernism
• Technology and Language Instruction
• Translation Theory

MODL 5304 Currents in European and Latin American Literatures and Thought (3-0).** An examination of the mainstream genres and movements in European and Latin American literatures from 1600 to the present. Taught in English. Required for M.A. students in Modern Languages. May not be repeated for credit.

MODL 5305 Methods of Modern Language Teaching. Methods of Modern Language Teaching is an applied linguistics course for modern language professionals, focusing on the application of research and theory in linguistics and second language acquisition to the classroom setting. May include specific methods, language learning strategies, cooperative language learning, component and performance skills, and intercultural communication.

MODL 5307 Topics in Language Acquisition (3-0). May include topics in the areas of second language acquisition, methodologies, culture, and disciplines related to second language acquisition. May be repeated for credit as topics change.

MODL 5310 Theories (3-0). Readings, analyses, and applications of recent literary and cultural theories. Particular attention to how such theories may serve to focus or refocus literature as cultural production. Required for the M.A. in French and Spanish.

French Courses:

FREN 5101. Teaching Practicum I (1-0). Required of all teaching assistants in French in their first semester. May not be counted toward a master's degree. Graded P/F/R.

FREN 5102. Teaching Practicum II (1-0). Required of all teaching assistants in French in their second semester. May not be counted toward a master's degree. Graded P/F/R.

FREN 5190. Conference Course in French Language, Culture, or Literature (1-0). Graded P/F/R. Prerequisite: permission of Graduate Advisor.

FREN 5314. Advanced Stylistics (3-0). Focuses on advanced problems of grammar and style, including syntax, morphology, semantics and stylistics. Surveys the history of the French language, including influences of other languages and cultures on its evolution. Attention given to pedagogical models and approaches as well as intensive composition practices.

FREN 5316. Medieval and Renaissance Literature and Culture (3-0). A study of the main currents of French literature and culture in their social, economic and political context through the representative genres of the period: epic verse, poetry, tales, fabliaux, comic narrative, and theater to name a few.

FREN 5317. 17TH and 18TH Century Literature and Culture (3-0). A study of the main currents of French literature and culture in their social, economic and political context through the representative genres of the period: theater, the romance, the novel, the portrait and maxim, the philosophic dialogue and tale, among others.

FREN 5318. 19TH and 20TH Century Literature and Culture (3-0). A study of the main currents of French literature and culture in their social, economic and political context through the representative genres of the period: theater, the short story, poetry, the novel, manifestos, and film.

FREN 5321. Topics in Genres of the 17TH Century (3-0). Investigates ideology and practice through literature, the visual arts, music and other cultural "texts." Major topics may include "Versailles: Architecture, Literature, and Politics," "Jansenism and its Discontents: Pascal, Racine, de Lafayette," "Libertines: Masks and Counter Masks." May be repeated for credit when topic changes.

FREN 5325. Topics in Genres of the 18TH Century (3-0). Studies oppositional discourse as expressed through the different genres (theater, poetry, fiction, political and philosophical writings) popular in the 18th century as well as the role and the effect of these works in constituting the Republic of Letters. May be repeated for credit when topic changes.

FREN 5330. Topics in Genres of the 19TH Century (3-0). Concentrates on literature, the visual arts, entertainment, and technologies as expressions of modernity. The rise of the "petite bourgeoisie," social utopias, the rebuilding of Paris, and responses to capitalism will be studied in such courses as "Paris and Its Subcultures," "Impressionism and the Avant-Garde," "Tocqueville & the Idea of America." May be repeated for credit when topic changes.

FREN 5331. Topics in Genres of the 20TH Century (3-0). Focuses on the work of French and Francophone writers in the light of modernist and post-modernist aesthetics. Literature, art, architecture, music, film, video, television, and other forms of popular production are studied as reflections of an era in crisis. May be repeated for credit when topic changes.

FREN 5338. Topics in French Culture (3-0). Survey of themes and structures on a range of topics such as "Women in/as Fiction," "Self and Society," "Revolutions," "French Film." May be repeated for credit when topic changes.

FREN 5391. Conference Course in French Linguistics, Culture, or Literature. Graded R. 5398, 5698, 5998. THESIS. 5398 graded R/F only; 5698 and 5998 graded P/F/R. Prerequisite: permission of Graduate Advisor.

Spanish Courses

SPAN 5101. Teaching Practicum I (1-0). Required of all teaching assistants in Spanish in their first semester. May not be counted toward a master's degree. Graded P/F/R.

SPAN 5102. Teaching Practicum II (1-0). Required of all teaching assistants in Spanish in their second semester. May not be counted toward a master's degree. Graded P/F/R.

SPAN 5190. Conference Course in Spanish Language and Literature (1-0). Graded P/F/R. Prerequisite: permission of Graduate Advisor.

SPAN 5300. History of the Spanish Language (3-0). Development of the Spanish language from its earliest forms to the present. Required for the MA in Spanish and the MA in Humanities with Spanish concentration.

SPAN 5302. Spanish Dialectology (3-0). Phonological, lexical, and grammatical features in Iberia, South and North America, the Philippines, and in Sephardic dialect.

SPAN 5303. Applied Spanish Linguistics (3-0). Pedagogy, pronunciation and orthography, morphology, syntax, semantics, and culture. Required for the MA in Spanish and the MA in Humanities with Spanish concentration unless 5302 taken.

SPAN 5310. Topics in Peninsular Spanish Literature and Culture to the 18th Century (3-0). Topics may include: Medieval Spanish literature and culture, Golden Age Spanish literature and culture, or any particular movement, genre, work or author prior to the eighteenth century. May be repeated for credit when content changes.

SPAN 5311. Topics in Peninsular Spanish Literature and Culture, 18TH Century to the Present (3-0). Topics may include: Neoclassic peninsular Spanish literature and culture, peninsular Spanish literature and culture of the Romantic period, Realist or Naturalist Spanish literature and culture, peninsular Spanish literature and culture since 1900, as well as any particular movement, genre, work or author from the eighteenth century to the present. May be repeated for credit when content changes.

SPAN 5313. Topics in Hispanic Literature and Culture (3-0). Special studies in areas not ordinarily covered by regular course offerings. Different topics may be repeated for credit.

SPAN 5314. Topics in Spanish-American Literature and Culture to Modernism (3-0). Topics may include: Colonial Spanish-American literature and culture, pre-modern Spanish-American literature and culture, Spanish-American literature and culture of the Enlightenment, or any particular movement, genre, work or author prior to Modernism. May be repeated for credit when content changes.

SPAN 5315. Topics in Contemporary Spanish-American Literature and Culture, Modernism to the Present (3-0). Topics may include: Spanish-American literature and culture of Modernism, modern Spanish-American literature and culture, or any particular movement, genre, work or author from Modernism to the present. May be repeated for credit when content changes.

SPAN 5317. U.S. Latino Literature and Culture (3-0). Readings of poetry, theater, and prose in relation to the specific socio-historical and political context of U.S. Latino life. Charts changing concepts of cultural identity and the evolution of cultural coding in texts written after 1960.

SPAN 5318. Mexican Literature and Culture (3-0). Readings in all Mexican literary genres from various critical perspectives. Particular attention given to the novel, poetry, and essay of the 20th Century and to interrelationships between text and culture.

SPAN 5320. Topics in Spanish Linguistics (3-0). Special studies in linguistics not ordinarily covered by regular course offerings. May be repeated for credit when content changes.

SPAN 5327. Women in Hispanic Literature (3-0). Readings of literary texts by women writers from medieval Spain to contemporary Spanish America. Attention to recurrent motifs as well as to the literary expression of historical and cultural transformation.

SPAN 5330. Advanced Studies in Spanish Linguistics I (3-0). Topics may include: sociolinguistics, bilingualism, modern Spanish dialectology, as well as a detailed study on any one dialect or regional dialect of contemporary Spanish. May be repeated for credit when content changes.

SPAN 5332. Advanced Studies in Spanish Linguistics II (3-0). Topics may include: Old Spanish, Spanish philology, Spanish text linguistics, and Old Spanish dialectology, as well as a detailed study of any one dialect or regional dialect of Spanish. May be repeated for credit when content changes.

SPAN 5391. Conference Course in Spanish Linguistics and Literature

Graded R. 5398, 5698, 5998. THESIS. 5398 graded R/F only; 5698 and 5998 graded P/F/R Prerequisite: permission of Graduate Advisor