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Faithful readers of this space will know this, but one of the requirements for my Ph.D. program in Creative Writing is proficiency in one foreign language (the Ph.D. in most Literary Studies programs requires two foreign languages) and for the last eight months or so I have been taken, and wildly enjoying, an intensive Spanish course through Bilingual America. I’ve been digging Spanish so much that I’ve been looking into ways into incorporating it into my graduate program.

As it turns out, the academy’s professed desire for their doctoral students’ proficiency in a foreign language isn’t so great that they actually allow you to do anything with this knowledge. As an undergrad, I had both a Ph.D. student and a professor tell me that the foreign language requirement is basically a bullshit hoop that must be jumped. The idea is that you could read literary criticism in German or French, the kind of stuff nobody translates. The reality is that students do the bare minimum to pass the requirement and never use it again. My school actually offers single-semester online classes like “French for reading comprehension” so students can get this requirement out of the way with as little fuss as possible.

I have no problem with this. But after asking a couple professors in my program, I’ve found out that there is virtually no encouragement to exceed this minimum requirement. In fact, it’s quite the contrary; I’ve been told that pursuing an MA in Foreign Language and Literature or the certificate in translation wouldn’t be worth the extra work and time. I was hoping that it may make me more valuable in the competitive job market (which is a full-time nagging concern of mine) but I’ve been told point-blank this isn’t the case, and could actually make some potential employers think I wasn’t taking my studies of English literature seriously enough. Sheesh.

I’m still trying to see if I can burn a couple electives by taking upper-level literature courses in the Spanish department, enough to quality Spanish/Latino/Hispanic literature as one of my minors. I just think it’s weird that Borges translated into English counts as English literature, while Borges in his native Spanish is considered something else. Add to this fact that you can’t seem to escape discussing Derrida (who wrote in French) and the deconstruction of literature, and suddenly the rationale for studying only works in English seems very strange.

The likelihood is that I will continue to work on my Spanish regardless mostly because I enjoy it, but with the workload during school it’s questionable how much extra time I’ll have to dedicate to it. Which annoys me.

Current Mood: Annoyed |