Middlebury College - Kaleidoscope Yearbook (Middlebury, VT)

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cr rcuJt i r -» £ ii • v s 1 h T| lis f mi yi i ■•■■ 9 rm I V 1 .1 . Ranty, 1 . Easier, Madame Bruno, Mils Huunui, M . Freeman, M. Bourcier The first reference to French in the Col- curriculum was in 1n2n when a statement was published in the catalogue offering private instruction to all who wish in obtain a knowledge of the He- brew. French. German, Spanish, and Italian languages. An offering like this was rare in an) college at this time. The above arrangemeni continued until 1832 when all languages other than French and Hebrew were dropped from the list oi extra studies. French remained during the next decade as a regular study. But even before this time I 1828) study in French had been available to Middle- bury College students, for there was started in the town in 1n22. a French il, independent ol the College but open to College students. This school was probably the result ol the proximity ol Middleburj to Canada and a French iple. From 1828 through the rest of the century French was taught intermittently under various titles and with varying de grees of responsiveness. The department was not officially established until 1909 when Duane L. Robinson was chairman. With the exception ol several periods when it was included in Other depart- ments instruction has been carried on continuously in this department. At the present time the course is headed 1 Professor Stephen A. Freeman; assist- ants are Associate Professor Albeit Ranty. Associate Professor Claude I.. Bourcier, Assistant Professoi Lea Binand, and Madame Bruno. La Maison Francais, first college house in America where the speaking ol French onl) was permitted, opened in P ' 20. I.e Chateau, a large, French-architectured building was opened by the College in 1925.

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LE CHATEAU uiiiliuiud I -seven

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C null, ilt Mr. Perkins, Mr. Owen, Mr. Emerson, Mr. Brown, Mr. Cady, Dr. Beers In the early and middle I800 ' s English as literature was subordinated to English as rhetoric. For a short time after 1838 English was combined with education under Professor John Hough and during the decade of the ' SO ' s An Analysis ol Paradise Lost, a required freshman course, and the Analysis of American and British Orators and Poets were offered on the curriculum. However, during these early years. Rhetoric was chiefly stressed. Juniors and seniors delivered orations in chapel m Saturday mornings, while freshmen and sophomores were required to do work in declamation. Composition work alter- nated with this oral work, and English literature was also studied. The department was listed under the heading of Modern Languages from 1887- I89S and Language and Literature from 1895-1908. After 1908 the term depart- ment was used in a stricter sense and since that time the department has grown rapidly, increasing the number of courses offered as the number of students major- ing in English increased. At present the department contains seven men. Professor Beers has the Anglo-Saxon period and the nineteenth century for his field, while Professor Cady teaches course s of the Renaissance. Eliza- bethan, and Puritan periods. Associate Professor Harry G. Owen teaches courses in Literary Criticism and Browning. Assistant Professor Perle) C. Perkins spe- cializes in the novel, while Assistant Pro- fessor Richard L. Brown has the neo- classic period and composition work for his field. Assistant Professor Robert Davis has given courses in Bible this year, and Mr. Justin V. Emerson gives courses in compositon and the History ol English Literature. Twenty-nine