Department of Classical and Modern Languages
Policy on alternative coursework for students with disabilities documented to affect learning
May 2007, revised March 22, 2012
This waiver is designed to accommodate students whose disability makes it difficult or impossible for them to complete successfully the B.A. foreign language requirement. For this waiver to be granted, the following conditions must apply.
1] There must an official letter on file with the Coordinator of Academic Support and Advising from an appropriate evaluator specifically stating that the person who conducted the evaluation recommends the student not be required to take foreign languages, and the reasons for that decision. The Coordinator of Academic Support and Advising also needs to recommend the accommodation.
2] The student must request that the Chair of the Department support a petition to the Academic
Standing Committee stating that alternative coursework be used to fulfill the language requirement.
3] The student should request this waiver no later than December of the sophomore year or
December of the student’s first year at Cornell if a transfer student.
Policy
Students with particular disabilities may find it impossible to complete successfully courses conducted in a foreign language. However, the Chair of the Department should determine whether the student may complete a set of language courses when minor accommodations may be made, such as modified testing procedures, recording of class sessions, allotment of extra time, etc. For a more complete list of possible accommodations see the Cornell Faculty Handbook ,
“ACADEMIC REGULATIONS, Students with Disabilities.” In all cases, use of the alternative coursework waiver should be a last resort.
Students using this waiver must take three courses, selected from one of the following geographical groups (numbers 2-5). Up to two of the three courses may be selected from the first group, designated as “Language.” Courses should preferably be selected from only one geographical group, and must not be selected from more than two geographical groups. A student who has already passed language courses need not continue in the area of that language.
If a student has already completed one or more college courses in a foreign languages with a grade of D minus or higher, these may count towards fulfillment of the requirement.
Also, the College often offers topics courses which may be suitable for inclusion. A student wishing to take such a topics course must request that the Chair of the Department notify the
Registrar in writing of the change before the course is offered. All of these courses are conducted in English.
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SELECTION OF COURSES:
The 2011 Catalogue lists the following courses, with a few exceptions
1
. Not all are offered every year.
1] Language
ANT 106 Language, Culture, and Community
ENG 311 Grammar and Politics of English
LAL 352 Linguistics
2]Ancient Greece and Rome
ART 251 Greek and Hellenistic Art
ART 252 Etruscan and Roman Art
ART 375 Rome Reborn**
CLA 2XX Greek History
CLA 2XX Roman History
CLA 2XX Cultural Crossroads in Antiquity
CLA 216 Classical Mythology
CLA 264 Women in Antiquity
CLA 373 Love and Sexuality
CLA 364 Greek and Roman Theatre
CLA 372 Epic Tradition
CLA 381 Greek Archaeology
CLA 382 Roman Archaeology
PHI 302 Ancient Philosophy
REL 252 The Epistles of Paul
REL 353 Christian Foundations
3] Asia
PHI 301 Asian Philosophy
PSY 261/SOC 256 Topic: Culture, Gender, and Public Policy in Japan (in Japan)
REL 324 The Hindu Vision
REL 325 The Buddhist Way
REL 326 The Islamic Path
REL 327 Religions of China and Japan
REL 327 Religions of China and Japan (in Mongolia)*
REL 368 Namaste (in India)**
SOC 256 Topic: Culture, Gender and Public Policy (in Japan)**
4] Middle-East
ARA 200-level courses taught in English
HIS 366-368 Topics in Modern Middle Eastern History
REL 326 The Islamic Path
1 Exceptions include courses which are in the process of being approved by Academic Programs: CLA 2XX Greek
History, CLA 2XX Roman History, CLA 2XX Cultural Crossroads in Antiquity.
2

REL 366 Islam and Post-Coloniality in Contemporary Morocco**
5] France and Francophone World
ART 263 African Art
ART 265 Ritual Arts of the African Diaspora
FRE 200/300 level courses in translation, excluding first-year-writing courses and FYS courses
HIS 101 Europe: 800-1300
HIS 102 Europe: 1300-1700
HIS 104 Modern Europe and its Critics
HIS 304 Europe: the 16 th and 17 th Centuries
HIS 315 Diplomacy of War and Revolution
HIS 316 Enlightenment and the French Revolution
HIS 318 Growth of Industrial Society
PHI 305 Modern Philosophy (18 th
Century)
PHI 309 Existentialism
6] Germany
GER 100/200/300 level courses in translation, excluding first-year writing courses and FYS courses (Ger 115 FairyTales, Ger 386 Germany Divided,etc.)
HIS 101 Europe: 800-1300
HIS 102 Europe: 1300-1700
HIS 104 Modern Europe and its Critics
HIS 304 Europe: the 16 th
and 17 th
Centuries
HIS 315 Diplomacy of War and Revolution
HIS 318 Growth of Industrial Society
HIS 324 Modern Germany
MUS 323 History of Western Music III: Romantic and 20 th Century
MUS 352 The Ring Cycle of Wagner
MUS 353 Wagner and Wagnerism (at Newberry Library)
PHI 306 Modern Philosophy(19th Century)
PHI 307 Marx and Marxism
REL 362 (Holocaust and Response)
7] Russia
HIS 321 Muscovite and Imperial Russia
HIS 322 Revolutionary and Soviet Russia
HIS 323 Russia from 1941
RUS 100/200/300 level courses in translation, excluding first-year writing courses and FYS courses
RUS 341 Classics of Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature (in English)
RUS 351 Change and Revolution in Russan Literature (in English)
RUS 355 Soviet and Post-Soviet Literature and Film (in English)
8] Spain and Latin America
ANT 205 The Maya
ANT courses with Hispanic topics
ANT 257 Cultural Change in Southern Chile**
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ART 276: Topic: PreColumbianMexico
ECB seminars offered in Uruguay**
HIS 102 Europe: 1300-1700
HIS141/LAS 141 Latin American History
HIS 258 Spain from 700 to 1600
LAS 236 The Spanish Conquest, Revisited**
LAS/HIS 349 Topics in Latin American History
POL 341 Latin American Politics
PSY 255 Environmental Psychology: The Costa Rican Prototype**
**Off-Campus Courses:
All off-campus courses offered by the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and
Literature may count. Some off-campus courses offered by other departments may also be counted. Courses which are offered in a location where English is not the dominant language spoken and which focus on culture may count, subject to the approval of the Department of
Classical and Modern Languages and Literature. Past off-campus courses which would meet these criteria include the following: (Not all of these courses will be offered in the future, and this list is not intended to be comprehensive. Rather, it is intended to provide examples for clarification.
Faculty who feel that their courses should qualify for inclusion on this list should submit a course description and brief explanation of how the course meets the criteria to the Chair of the
Department of Classical and Modern Languages.)
ANT 257 Cultural Change in Southern Chile
ART 375 Rome Reborn
ECB seminars offered in Uruguay**
LAS 236 The Spanish Conquest, Revisited
PSY 255 Environmental Psychology: The Costa Rican Prototype
REL 366 Islam and Post-Coloniality in Contemporary Morocco
REL 327 Religions of China and Japan (in Mongolia)
REL 368 Namaste (in India)
SOC 256 Topic: Culture, Gender and Public Policy in Japan
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