Middlebury College - Kaleidoscope Yearbook (Middlebury, VT)

Page 33 text:

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

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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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Dating back to 1 - s 2s when it was first introduced into the College riculum, Spanish was one oi the first modern I il Middle- bury. Despite its early introduction, however, il w as n 1 until 1919 thai it was established as a separate de- partment. During this time it was contained in t he- curriculum inter- mittently, sometimes under the heading ol Spanish, and sometimes it was noted under the department • ' t Romance Langu; Due tu the impi irtance i it Latin- American relations. Spanish is now . popular subject. Professor Juan A. Centeno now heads the department and assisting him i Assistant Professor Rose E. Martin. During the first semester ol the year 1938-1939 Jorge Guillen, the famous Spanish poet, was Pro- oi ol Spanish at Middlebury in the absent e i ' I Pi of or ( !enten . • 1 Martin, Mr. Centeno Mr. Mien, Mr. C a mctican lit tm ctalntc Oni of the few colleges in the coun- ti to segregate an American Litera- ture course from the regulai English course, Middleburj presents an en- tirely separate American Literature department headed by Professor Reginald L. Cook. Chairman since 1929. and assisted by Mr. George W. Mien. Before actual separation two courses, Analysis ol American Orators and Critiques ol British and American Classics, were introduced in 1 ' s 4 Then the Anal) sis i il American and British Orators and Poets supplanted these studies and was ci mtinued until 1 868. Today the course is a popular major at Middlebur) and includes such subjects as American Litera- ture Survey, The American Novel, Contemporarj American Poetry, The American Short Story, and Special Research Courses in Emei ind Tin u eau.