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The Department of German and Russian views the learning
of a foreign language as an integrated four-year process. In addition,
to the more traditional language and literature instruction, the German
Section offers a unique opportunity for students to maintain and develop
their language skills in its majors and its innovative German Across
the Curriculum (GAC) program. Both provide the advantages of maintaining
and strengthening German language skills for majors, and also for
students taking courses or majoring in other disciplines. The GAC
program integrates a German language component into specially designed
courses taught in English in the humanities and social sciences, such
as in history, international relations, politics, economics, music
and philosophy. Both German
Studies and GAC offer additional credit toward graduation, but
neither forces the student to choose either a German course or a course
in their major: the two can be combined.
Students with the appropriate proficiency in Russian can also
combine research in Russian language readings with courses in other
disciplines focused on Russian area studies, of which a wide variety
is offered at The
Claremont Colleges. Russian thus offers a flexible program of
study that allows students to pursue a major tailored to a cultural
or a traditional literature studies model. Russian also features
an internship program with Radio Maximum, a leading Moscow Rock
and Pop station, that can be completed during the summer of the
junior year in Moscow.
Students of either language, whether majors or not, have the opportunity
to study in Germany or Russia and/or to reside in the Oldenborg
Center for Foreign Languages and International Relations. In
addition, both programs are enhanced by Pomona's state-of-the-art
Foreign Language Resource Center with integrated computer, audio,
and visual components, including interactive video disks, computer-assisted
language programs, and access to the Internet. The Oldenborg Center
for Modern Languages and International Relations has a satellite
feed for foreign language television and radio programs and offers
nightly international films. All of these elements form the strong
support system for foreign language study that is offered by Pomona
College. Students who wish to study abroad are urged to contact
a department member and start planning in their freshman year.
All faculty members of Russian and German teach both lower-division language courses and upper-level courses in literature and cultural studies, most of them in the foreign language but some in English as well. Recently, the two sections of the department have started working on joint courses. Berlin-Moscow/Moscow-Berlin, a team-taught German and Russian studies course is the first product of the intra-departmental cooperation.
Among the Russian faculty, Kevin Platt's teaching and research energies are directed toward the mythology of Russian history in Russian literature. Jerome Rinkus teaches Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, Alienation in Russian Literature, and Saints and Revolutionaries in Russia. Larissa Rudova, a native of Russia, has published extensively on Boris Pasternak, Russian literary theory, and contemporary Russian literature and culture.
Jurgen Froehlich, born in Germany's Rhineland, teaches contemporary aspects of German studies and film; his publications focus on pedagogical issues and German expressionism. He is also the director of Pomona College's Foreign Language Resource Center.
Eric Miller specializes in philosophy of literature and aesthetics, and offers courses on genre studies in German literature; he is a winner of the Wig Award for Excellence in Teaching and is renowned for his English language course on Faust.
For at least another year he will be replaced by Yvonne Houy, who specializes in literature, film, and media issues.
Hans Jürg Rindisbacher, a native of Switzerland, specializes in cultural, interdisciplinary, and comparative approaches to German studies.
The German program coordinates all its offerings with the Scripps College German Department and Claremont McKenna’s German program. This cooperation adds, in effect, two faculty members to the Claremont German Program: Roswitha Burwick, the Distinguished Professor of Modern Languages at Scripps College; and Marc Katz, a specialist in cultural studies, at CMC.
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