New Literature Concentration Creates Freshman Interest

The new literature concentration, approved by the Faculty Council last December, is arousing "a great deal of curiosity," Claudio Guillen, chairman of the Committee on Degrees in Literature said yesterday.

"We have been getting quite a few calls. I suppose we'll get a more definite idea when we have our information meetings in April," he added.

The new major will not compete with existing majors such as History and Literature or English Literature. Guillen said. "There are enough students in English Lit, maybe even too many. History and Lit is also busy. Some students are obviously interested in concentrating in just literature," he added.

The concentration outline states that the major is designed "to meet the needs of students interested in the study of literature as a discipline transcending the boundaries of a single culture or language."

Proficiency

Requirements for the concentration include proficiency in a foreign language. "Knowledge of another language is essential to the concept of the program. We don't want this to be a 'gut' English major," Jurij Striedter, professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures and a member of the organizing committee, said yesterday.

Richard R. Sieburth, assistant professor of French and Comparative Literature, will be the department head tutor, Guillen said.

Students will also have to take two of four introductory courses on literature (specially created for the program) during their junior and senior years. "The new courses--on the history of poetics, modern approaches to literature, literary genres and literary history--are the aspect of the program that was best received. We hope to add to them in the future," Guillen said.

Because the literature concentration is new and currently has a small faculty, enrollment will be limited to 20 students for next year. However, the department plans to expand gradually and hopes to accomodate 60 concentrators by 1983.