Senior Seminar

Writing is nothing more than a guided dream.  Jorge Luís Borges

Course Description:

Senior Seminar (LG 480) is designed to broaden and enhance the study-abroad experience through the discussion of such topics as comparative cross-cultural behaviors and mind-sets, culture shock, cultural stereotypes, and cultural metaphors. Along with short lectures and discussion periods, classes will consist of student presentations and continued contact with the target culture through conversation sections with native speakers. The course serves as the capstone to the major, covering approaches to the study of culture and research skills. Another aspect of LG 480 Senior Seminar is as an assessment of the students' degree of success during their tenure at USA. A comprehensive senior assessment exam will be administered as part of the course for the purpose of evaluating the major's achievements and gauge the success level therein. Finally, the course considers career opportunities for foreign language majors and prepares them for research in the humanities through a broad introduction to the topic.

Course Objectives:

Upon completing the course, students will have a good working knowledge of foreign-language print and internet sources and library research techniques. They will be better prepared to interact more effectively with members of other cultures on both professional and personal levels, and will have practical knowledge of how to put their language skills and study-abroad experience to best use in the global marketplace.

Course Prerequisites:

Completion of the departmental study abroad requirement; EH102.

 

Oustanding Senior Seminar Presentations Over the Years

 

Year	Student/Title
2020	Lindsay Hodge From Risk Societies to Global Communiites: The Unexpected Creations of Nuclear Disaster
2019	Marilena Caviness Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Invisibility of the Worker in Alex Rivera's Sleep Dealer
	Marylyn Gafford Beyond Memory: World Ecology and Political Imaginary in Patricio Guzman's Films
2017	Katherine Strasser Maternal Politics and Jouissance in Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate
2014	Trinh, Khanh Time, Space and Fantasy in Haruki Murakami and Carlos Fuentes
	Yunker, Daniela Patriotism in Germany
2013	Mitchell, Logan Green" in Germany without Going "Red"
	Colbourne, George Le Tourd'argent
	Williams, Kristi The Evolution of Café Culture in France to Include the Mysterious Success of Starbucks and McDonald's
	Calhoun, Nancy Present Day Mexican Education Reform
2012	Buck, Ryane. Perpetuating the Soviet Myth in Children's Television, 1960-1990
	Blosser, Kristen. Indigenismo in Arguedas' Todas las sangres
	Almeida, Will. From Ascetic to Aesthetic: The Catharsis of Ernesto "Che" Guevara
	Graves, Dorothy. Sin Nosotoras: Latin American Women's Immigrants' in Spain
	Katherine Brown