New world lit department considered

By Brooke Bullock     10/28/10 7:00pm

After 15 years of fluctuating discussion, the French, Hispanic, German, and Classical Studies departments are considering a merger to form one World Literatures department. The merger would not result in any changes to staff or curriculum but would restructure the four departments into one overarching department making cross-listed courses and expansion easier to organize. Dean of Humanities Nicolas Shumway has set up a task force that is looking into a possible graduate program for the departments as well as what advantages there would be for combining the departments into one.

Beginning a graduate program in World Literature and Culture departments would open up opportunities for students and professors. One problem facing a graduate program is how to staff it, a certain number of professors have to be available to teach courses, French Studies and Hispanic Studies Department Chair Jose Aranda said. However, Aranda said professors are open to the idea of a graduate program.

The more controversial issue surrounding the merger is the idea of combining French, Hispanic, German, and Classical studies into one department.

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One fear professors have of combining departments is that the four programs could risk losing their autonomy. Aranda said some professors worry that their department's needs would be overlooked by a combined head of all four departments.

"There is a sensitivity to retaining the identity of each department," Aranda said.

Duncan College senior Helen Li said she worries that the merger would take away from the uniqueness of being a German Studies major.

"Combining the departments could take away from the identity of the department," Li said. "Having my major come from the German Studies department makes it stand out more than a world literature major would."

However, merging would not significantly alter the individual departments, as each would remain a mostly autonomous division within the overarching world literature department. Majors would not be altered either; students could still obtain degrees in Hispanic Studies, French Studies, German Studies or Classical Studies, which Li said was preferable to creating one overarching major.

Shumway and Aranda said they believe that combining the departments would open up new possibilities to both students and professors, such as broadening the range of courses in the literature departments.

Interdisciplinary courses would be easier to create within an overarching World Literature department, Aranda said. Foreign language seminars and cross-listed courses could be facilitated between the world literature programs with greater ease. This is an advantage for the four world literature departments, as professors like Associate Professor of German Studies Christian Emden said they see their department as already reaching into other disciplines.

Students also think that greater interdisciplinary interaction would help their studies. Jones College sophomore and Classical Studies major Colin MacCormack feels that his Classical Studies major extends beyond the traditional definition of a Classical Studies degree. Greater collaboration between departments would be beneficial, MacCormack said.

"As a classics major focusing on the languages and literature of antiquity, and having taken classes in Portuguese, linguistics and anthropology, I have realized that nothing in this world is insular, least of all language and literary tradition," MacCormack said. "The closer interaction between departments could allow professors to explore this aspect in more detail."

Some professors disagree with the point that cross-listed courses would be easier to facilitate in a larger department than the one they have currently.

"Some think it will ease organizational problems but we've already done that outside of the departments," Professor of French Studies Deborah Nelson-Campbell said, although she also said she has no strong opinion for or against combining the departments.

Shumway said that a World Literature department would open Rice up to many different world literature courses.

"It is one of Rice's goals to expand the presence of Latin American literature," Shumway said.

With the creation of a World Literature, the problem of trying to teach Brazilian and Portuguese literature without a Portuguese Studies department would be solved Shumway said. Classes in Portuguese literature, or literature in other languages that do not have their own department at Rice, could be housed in the World Literature department without having to set up an entirely new department and major.

Combining the four departments is not a new idea.

"The most recent attempt was three or four years ago and resulted in an external review of the departments," Aranda said.

The review determined the departments should not combine at that time, but the idea has now come up again. Shumway stressed that the idea of merging is only a discussion at this point.

"I am not going to dictate to [the departments] that they have to do this," Shumway said.

While no decisions have been made at this point in time, the task force will continue looking into a combination of the departments.

"I want to stress that it is a lively debate. Some professors want to stay autonomous, some are willing to merge with some restrictions," Aranda said.

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