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Graduate Department of Religion
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  3. Language

Language

The Graduate Department of Religion requires reading knowledge of one foreign language for M.A. students. PhD students must demonstrate reading  knowledge of one modern language, a second language as designated and approved by the Area and the GDR, and additional languages as specified by the Area (see Area requirements).  Reading competency in languages may be demonstrated in one of the following ways.

  • Students may pass, with the grade of B+ or higher, a Vanderbilt University course designed specifically to teach graduate students to use the language in research. The course must include a final exam. Currently such courses are offered in French, German, and Spanish.
  • Students may pass a GDR departmental examination in French, German, Spanish or Modern Hebrew. These exams enable students to work on documents in their special field of interest.  These tests are administered twice a year, just prior to the beginning of the fall and spring semesters.  Students should register through the GDR office prior to a date announced each semester.  Examiners will normally be members of the Department faculty. The test will be graded on a pass/fail basis, and the decision of the examiner will be final.

  • English as a Second Language: If a student has an existing second-language ability not developed through coursework (for example, a student whose native language is not English, bilingual students, or heritage speakers) s/he may, with the approval from their advisor, petition the department to accept their native language as satisfying one modern language requirement.  Final approval from the DGS is required.

The format for the GDR departmental examinations will be identical for all languages.  Each test will last for three hours and will have two components:


a) Translation of a short passage or paragraph (approximately one page in length), chosen at random from one issue of an approved journal (at least 100 pages in the language to be examined), or from a previously selected and approved book in French, German, or Spanish (untranslated either as a whole or in part), which the student has studied in preparation for the test.  If you select a book, it must be approved by the examiner before the registration deadline.  If you select a journal issue, you will be responsible for all the articles in that issue.

b) Précis of the content and argument of a longer passage (approximately 3-5 pages) from the same book or journal.

For the translation component, accuracy and felicity of translation and the amount completed in an hour and a half will be the criteria; for the synopsis component, clarity and thoroughness of comprehension will be the criteria. Preparation should include a thorough review of grammar and a careful study of the book or journal issue selected for the first part of the test.

Both the translation and the précis should be double-spaced or written on every other line, to provide sufficient space for the examiner to make corrections.

Use of dictionaries and grammars is permitted for both components. Recommended dictionaries include The New Cassell’s French and English Dictionary; American Heritage Larousse Spanish Dictionary; Mansion’s Shorter French Dictionary; The New Cassell’s German Dictionary; and Langenscheidt’s New College German Dictionary.

For preparation in Spanish, Farrell and Farrell, Side by Side:  Spanish and English Grammar (Passport Books); for preparation in German, Hubert Jannach, German for Reading Knowledge (Van Norstrand), and Karl A. Schmidt, Easy Ways to Enlarge Your German Vocabulary (Dorr Publications); for preparation in French, Edward Stack, Reading French in the Arts and Sciences (Houghton-Mifflin); and Karl Sandberg and Eddison Tatham, French for Reading (Prentice-Hall).  The College Outline Series publishes French Grammar, German Grammar, and Spanish Grammar, which take a “programmed” approach to learning and recognizing grammatical forms. Flash cards can also be helpful.  Most of these resources are available in the Vanderbilt University bookstore.

APPROVED JOURNALS FOR GDR LANGUAGE READING TESTS

FRENCH JOURNALS
Études Théologiques et Religieuses
Foi et Vie
Nouvelle Revue Théologique
Revue Bénédictine
Revue d’Histoire et de Philosophie Religieuses
Revue d’Histoire des Religions
Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale
Revue des etudes augustiennes
Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Théologiques
Revue des Sciences Religieuses
Revue Thomiste
Revue Théologique de Louvain
Esprit

GERMAN JOURNALS
Biblische Zeitschrift
Evangelische Kommentare (2 issues, articles only)
Evangelische Theologie
Geist und Leben
Internationale katholische Zeitschrift
Kairos:  Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft und Theologie
Kerygma und Dogma
Bulletin des Leo Baeck Instituts
Neue Zeitschrift für systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie
Ökumenische Rundschau
Römische Quartalschrift
Stimmen der Zeit
Theologie und Philosophie
Theologische Quartalschrift
Theologische Rundschau
Verkündigung und Forschung
Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
Zeitschrift für evangelische Ethik
Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie
Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte
Zeitschrift für die Theologie und Kirche

SPANISH JOURNALS
Actualidad Bibliografica de Filosofia y Teologia
Biblia y Fe
Christus
Communio; commentarii internationales de ecclesia et theologia
Cristianismo y sociedad
Cuadernos teologicos
Estudios
Estudios biblicos
Estudios eclesiasticos
Filologia neotestamentaria
Pastoralia:  revista semestral de Centro Evangelico Latinoamericano de Estudios Pastorales
Revista de interpretacion biblica latinoamericana
Revista de interpretacion biblica latinoamerica
Sefarad
Teologia y vida