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Graduate faculty and areas of research
The varied background of the foreign languages and literatures faculty members reveals extensive travel and study in the Americas and in Europe. Active in research and professional organizations, faculty members are prepared to give you training according to the latest teaching methods and concepts.
Mark Anderson, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., California-Riverside, 2004. Contemporary Latin American and Mexican literatures and cultures; ecocriticism; subaltern studies.
Pierina Beckman, Associate Professor, Associate Chair and Graduate Adviser in Spanish; Ph.D., Iowa, 1988. Medieval and Golden Age Spanish literature; fantastic literature; feminist writers.
Marijn Kaplan, Assistant Professor and Director of the French Co-op Program; Ph.D., New Mexico, 2002. 17th- and 18th-century French literature.
Marie-Christine Koop, Professor, Chair and Director of the French Summer Institute; Ph.D., Michigan State, 1987. French civilization and culture; women in France; Quebec society and culture; the teaching of culture.
Jongsoo Lee, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Indiana, 2000. Indigenous codices in Mexico; Náhuatl language and literature; Spanish-American colonial literature.
Ignacio López-Calvo, Associate Professor, Director of the Spanish Summer Institute and the Toluca program in Mexico; Ph.D. Georgia, 1997. Southern Cone; Caribbean literature; literary theory.
Teresa Marrero, Associate Professor; Ph.D., California-Irvine, 1992. Latin American theater; Chicano and U.S. Latino theater; theories of the theater; poststructuralism; women's studies; post-colonial studies; creative writing; cultural theory.
Jerry Nash, Regents Professor; Ph.D., Kansas, 1972. French Medieval and Renaissance literature; early modern feminism; François Rabelais; Maurice Scève; Hélisenne de Crenne.
Cristina Sánchez-Conejero, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., California-Santa Barbara, 2003. 20th- and 21st-century Peninsular literature, cinema and culture.
Michel Sirvent, Associate Professor and Graduate Adviser in French; Ph.D., University of Provence, France, 1988. Nouveau Roman; contemporary fiction; narratology; semiotics; textual analysis; literary theory.
Lawrence Williams, Assistant Professor and Director of Language Programs; Ph.D. Pennsylvania State, 2003. Applied linguistics; second-language acquisition; technology-enhanced language learning; French phonetics.
Jiyoung Yoon, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Indiana, 2002. Spanish syntax and semantics; second language acquisition; applied linguistics.
For More Information
University of North Texas Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
P.O. Box 311127
Denton, Texas 76203-1127
Phone: 940-565-2404
Fax: 940-565-2581
TTY callers: 940-369-8652
Language Building, Room 101
E-mail: lwheeler@unt.edu
www.unt.edu
www.forl.unt.edu
Toulouse School of Graduate Studies
940-565-2383 or
toll free (888) UNT-GRAD
Foreign Languages and Literatures
Master’s Program
Opportunities for graduate studies
Faculty members in the University of North Texas' foreign languages and literatures graduate program offer high-quality instruction that enables you to succeed in your chosen area. The department offers programs leading to a master of arts degree with a major in French or Spanish.
Admission requirements
You must meet the admission requirements of the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies, in addition to the following program requirements. Call 940-565-2383 or toll free (888) UNT-GRAD for more information.
You must complete 12 semester hours of advanced undergraduate work in a chosen language field to enroll in courses numbered 5000 or above. You must also submit your GRE scores in the quantitative, verbal and analytical sections, although there is no minimal score. Undergraduate students anticipating entrance into graduate work in French or Spanish should take the GRE in the final semester of their senior year. Students who do not take the GRE before applying to the university should take it as soon as possible. Your admission is based on a holistic review of your 12 hours of advanced undergraduate course work in the target language, undergraduate GPA, GRE test scores, a 250-word statement in the target language and a one-page curriculum vitae. All factors are weighed equally.
The statement and vitae must be sent directly to the graduate adviser in French or Spanish. Official college transcripts and GRE scores must be sent to the graduate school's admissions office.
Degree requirements
The department offers two degree options:
- 36 semester hours, including 6 hours of thesis, with 24 hours completed in the major; a minor of 6 hours is permitted
- 36 semester hours of course work, without a thesis, with 30 hours completed in the major; a minor of 6 hours is permitted
You must demonstrate, by examination or course work, a reading knowledge of a second foreign language during graduate study if you are not following the summer institute track. Completion of a course in the second language at the 2050 level or higher with a B is regarded as proof of adequate reading ability. A written comprehensive and oral examination in your major field is also required.
Financial assistance
Graduate fellowships and assistantships are available if you are pursuing a graduate degree in French or Spanish. Language students may also find part-time employment in the UNT Foreign Language Learning Center. Additional part-time employment, requiring secretarial skills, is available in the department office.
Career opportunities
The increasing globalization of trade and culture demands a work force that can communicate in languages other than English. Foreign language expertise provides an advantage in the workplace, in addition to the possibility of working overseas. Alumni have worked for Euro Disney, Johnson & Johnson and other international companies.
An M.A. degree enables you to teach language courses at the junior college and university levels. Teaching language in public and private schools as well as intensive language programs for business professionals are also viable options.
Foreign language expertise offers the potential of working as a translator or interpreter for the local or state courts, at clinics and hospitals, or, on a global level, for the United Nations or other international agencies. Government agencies such as embassies, the CIA, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Peace Corps and the State Department are also possible career options.
The department recommends that you register with UNT's Career Center in your last year of schooling to receive employment information from a variety of companies.
Facilities
Language courses are taught in the Language Building, where pedagogical equipment is housed in the multimedia Foreign Language Learning Center. Educational software packages, computer workstations, oral/aural practice facilities and satellite reception of international foreign language programs are also available there.
Foreign study programs
Graduate students with one year of teaching experience as a teaching fellow or at a high school may spend one year in France teaching English at a high school or university as a lecturer or a teaching assistant.
French and Spanish summer institutes (summer M.A. programs)
Following the principle of language immersion, the French and Spanish summer institutes offer two graduate courses during a four-week period each June. This program enables you to earn an M.A. degree in French or Spanish during four summers of course work supplemented by additional courses taken during the fall or spring semester at UNT, special problems courses, transfer credit and/or additional summer study in France or Spain. Students enrolled in the M.A. program may combine courses taken during the fall and spring with courses taken during the summer institutes.
Strasbourg and Valencia study abroad programs
You may earn 6 graduate credits in French or Spanish while studying at the University of Strasbourg or AIP Language Institute in Valencia for five weeks in the summer.