GERMAN. Courses in the modern languages have held undisputed place in every curriculum of the woman's college throughout its history. "The only living tongues admitted to the curriculum," says President Raymond, and other presidents apparently agree with him, "are the French and German." The group, first including only French and German, later embraced Spanish and Italian, and now at Radcliffe introduces the study of Russian and of Portuguese. The necessity of offering introductory courses suited to students of different degrees of preparation complicates the beginning work and apparently increases the size of the department of German. All of the colleges make allowance for the students who have studied no German, and for students who have passed by examinations the different units of admission requirement. It is questionable whether the content of an elementary course in a modern language can be college material, or should be credited as such. Almost any other elementary course may make greater demands upon the intellect than an elementary course in a language. Such courses might be offered to students without preparation, but need not count for credit. Beyond the introductory courses, dealing with language, the advanced courses include two kinds: Those devoted to practice in speaking and writing German, and those bearing on an intensive study of the phases of the language, Old High German, Middle High German, and history of the German language. Except for Radcliffe, which with its graduate courses naturally offers the most hours, the other four colleges offer very nearly the same number of hours of work devoted to the German language. Of courses which are more distinctly literary Barnard takes the lead by five and onehalf hours, and is only one and one-half hours behind Radcliffe, which has its graduate courses. An examination of the literature courses with reference to the completeness of the period basis shows that at Vassar, Wellesley, Barnard, and Mount Holyoke, except in outline courses, the work deals almost entirely with nineteenth century, romantic, cr contemporary literature. At Radcliffe the periods from the twelfth century to the twentieth are covered. The study of Goethe occupies a prominent place in the German curriculum. At all of the colleges, except Radcliffe, from three to five hours, besides parts of other courses, are devoted entirely to Goethe. At Radcliffe, Goethe appears only in a course of comparative literature in which Faust is used as the basis of a study of kindred dramas in European literature. The practical tendencies of the German courses are partly indicated by the stress laid on training in oral German. Vassar states that all of the courses in the department are conducted in German. In addition, it gives two courses in German conversation, one of which counts toward the degree. At Wellesley, except in a philology course not given in 1915-16, the language of the classroom in all courses is German. A course called "studies in modern German idiom" offers special vocabulary training. At Radcliffe, the courses are conducted in English, mainly in German, or entirely in German, according to the course. Two semester courses are given to practice in speaking and writing German. At Barnard, as at Radcliffe, there is no universal use of German in the courses. An intermediate practice course, all in German, and an advanced colloquial practice course are offered for training in conversation. Mount Holyoke offers a year of oral German to seniors who wish to be recommended to teach German. Furthermore, a course in the teaching of German is offered in the department of education. These two courses are the only recognition in any of the five colleges of the vocational application of the subject. An analysis of the teaching force brings out the fact that for the number of hours offered, the work, except at Barnard, is carried by comparatively few teachers. Barnard leads in the ratio of the number of teachers to the number of hours taught. The percentages of the teachers of the grade instructor are: Vassar, 50 per cent; Wellesley, 331 per cent; Radcliffe, 83 per cent; Barnard, 44 per cent; Mount Holyoke, 25 per cent. At Radcliffe the proportion of instructors on the teaching staff is largest, and at Mount Holyoke, smallest. The percentages of teachers with the doctor's degree are: Vassar, 66 per cent; Wellesley, 33 per cent; Radcliffe, 663 per cent; Barnard, 77 per cent; Mount Holyoke, 50 per cent. Barnard has the largest proportion of teachers with doctorates, and Wellesley has the smallest. VASSAR. Of the modern language departments, German is chosen because of its size and importance in the college curriculum. In the five colleges, the German departments not only offer more courses than any of the other modern language departments, Mount Holyoke excepted, where an equal number is offered in French, but they are outnumbered in courses by only a few other departments in the colleges. The language and the literature courses in German are so much more closely correlated than in English that it is impossible to draw a distinct line of demarcation between them, nearly all of the composition courses including the study of literature. The following separation is based on the kind of work which predominates in the course. At Vassar the modern language requirement may be passed off if the student can satisfy the department of her ability to read and pronounce the language. No course therefore can be said to be required of the students. The department offers two introductory courses, one, an introduction to literature to students who have offered German at entrance, and the other a course in which students may begin the study of German. The latter course is continued a second year. Beyond these introductory courses the language work offered is as follows: Middle high German, a three-hour course for a year, of which one hour is spent on the German literature of the Middle Ages, and two hours on the language. Advanced German and composition; purely a language course. One-hour year course. German conversation. Two years of conversation are offered, the first counting as one hour, the second not to be counted toward a degree. These special courses, in addition to the fact that all courses in the department are conducted in German, give the student a working knowledge of the language. Of courses predominately literary, the following are offered: Introduction to the classical literature of the eighteenth century, dealing with the works of Lessing, Schiller, and Goethe; 3-hour year course. Goethe, his life and works; 3-hour semester course. Goethe's Faust; 3-hour semester course. Critical and æsthetic writings of the classical period; 3-hour semester course. German literature in the first half of the nineteenth century; 3-hour semester course. The German novel of the nineteenth century; 2-hour year course. German romanticism; 3-hour semester course. Modern German drama; 2-hour semester course. Contemporary German drama; 2-hour semester course. Arranged by periods, a large proportion of the above literature work is included within the nineteenth century or at either border 41596°-18-7 of it. The greatest stress is laid on the study of Goethe, two courses and part of a third being devoted to it. WELLESLEY. At Wellesley the requirement of a language unless a third language has been presented at admission makes the courses of the German department, as at Vassar, practically all elective. Three elementary courses are offered, one for beginners, one for the students who have fulfilled the 2-point admission requirement, and one covering the 3-point admission requirement. Following these three Grade I courses of language are two Grade II courses, one in grammar and composition, the other in German idiom; one Grade III course on the history of the German language, and one Grade III course of grammar and phonetics. The literature courses may be grouped as follows: A Grade I introductory course, called Outline history of German literature; a 2-hour year course. Two Grade II courses, called history of German ilterature; each 2-hour semester courses. A Grade II course, Goethe's life and works; 3-hour semester course. A Grade II course and a Grade III course on Schiller, each a 3-hour semester course. A Grade II course on German lyrics and ballads; 1-hour year course. Grade III courses on: Nineteenth century drama; 3-hour semester course. The German novel; 2-hour year course. The German romantic school; 3-hour semester course. Aside from the one year and two semester courses in the history of German literature, the stress at Wellesley is upon the romantic period, upon Goethe, and slightly upon the nineteenth century. RADCLIFFE. At Radcliffe College unless both German and French are presented for admission, either German or French must be taken in the freshman year. As at Vassar and at Wellesley, the introductory courses are designed to fit the needs of beginners and of students who passed in elementary German for admission. Four courses, one counting as two courses, are offered to meet the varied preparations or the students. Beyond these language courses, a half course in speaking and writing German is offered especially for those who wish to become teachers of German. Four advanced language courses are offered, a half course in German grammar and in writing German, a half course in Old High German, a half course in the history of the German language, and a half course in Gothic, an introduction to the study of German philology. The literature courses cover the following periods: German literature in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries; 3-hour year course. German religious sculpture in the Middle Ages; 2-hour semester course. The German religious drama of the fifteenth century; 2-hour semester course. German literature in the sixteenth century and its relation to English literature; 2-hour semester course. Introduction to German literature of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; 3-hour year course. German literature of the classic period, of the eighteenth century; 3-hour year course. German literature in the first half of the nineteenth century; 3-hour semester course. German literature in the second half of the nineteenth century; 3-hour semester course. Courses devoted to special writers are: Schiller; 3-hour year course. Goethe's Faust with a study of kindred dramas in European literature; 3-hour semester course. Heine's life and works, including his relations to the romantic school and young Germany; 3-hour semester course. Modern German lyrics-Heine's poems; and selections from German folksongs; 3-hour semester course. The dramatic works of Grillparzer, considered in their relation to European literature; 2-hour semester course. In addition, a seminary course is devoted to studies in the development of German poetic style. BARNARD. Under the new requirements in modern languages at Barnard, no German courses are now prescribed. Before the senior year all, except students of Greek, must, however, satisfy the departments of Romance languages and Germanic language that they have a working knowledge of French and German. Certain courses are recommended to give the proficiency required. As at the other colleges, the introductory courses are planned to meet the needs of the students offering different degrees of preparation. The first three courses consist of grammar, composition, and reading; the fourth of selected dramas of Lessing, Goethe, and Schiller. Beyond these courses, the electives in language are as follows: Intermediate practice course, a conversation and theme course entirely in German; 4 or 6 point course. Colloquial practice, an advanced discussion course; 2-point year course. History of the German language; 2-point semester course. The German of to-day; 2-point semester course. The last two courses are given at Columbia and are open to properly qualified seniors. |