The Middlebury Language Schools, C.V. Starr-Middlebury Schools Abroad, Bread Loaf School of English, and Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference are all integral components of Middlebury College. They offer special opportunities to Middlebury undergraduates in the study of languages, literature and culture, and international studies. Many Middlebury undergraduates choose to take advantage of these and other programs of summer and off-campus study.
THE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS
Every summer since 1915, Middlebury College has committed its Vermont campus to the study of foreign languages. The renowned Language Schools create a linguistic environment designed to provide students with unlimited opportunities to speak, listen, read, and write in their target languages. In part as a result of our Language Pledge, the summer program is an efficient, productive, and intensive way to gain a strong foundation in any of the 10 languages taught, or to progress rapidly through the upper levels of language learning. Middlebury has long believed that language proficiency is the key to cultural understanding and that effective language teaching provides meaningful insight into other cultures.
The 10 languages taught are: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Summer language courses range from beginning through advanced. Middlebury undergraduates may attend the Language Schools to prepare for study at a C.V. Starr-Middlebury School Abroad (in China, France, Germany, Italy, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia, and Spain) to learn a new language or to enhance existing skills. The Language Schools also offer a Master of Arts program in six of the languages (Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish) and a unique Doctorate in Modern Languages. A Spanish graduate program has been established for summer study in Guadalajara, Mexico and the A French graduate program operates in Poitieres, France.
THE C.V. STARR-MIDDLEBURY SCHOOLS ABROAD
During the academic year, undergraduate students are able to study at one of eight different Schools Abroad:
The School in China (Hangzhou)
The School in France (Boudreaux, Poitiers, and Paris)
The School in Germany (Berlin and Mainz)
The School in Italy (Ferrara and Florence)
The School in Latin America (Argentina: Buenos Aires and Tucumán; Brazil: Belo Horizonte, Florianópolis, and Niterói; Chile: Concepción, La Serena, Santiago, Temuco,Valdivia, and Valparaíso; Mexico: Guadalajara and Xalapa; Uruguay: Montevideo)
The School in the Middle East (Alexandria, Egypt)
The School in Russia (Irkutsk, Moscow, and Yaroslavl)
The School in Spain (Córdoba, Getafe, Logroño, and Madrid)
Graduate degree programs are offered during the academic year at sites in Berlin, Florence, Irkutsk, Madrid, Mainz, Moscow, and Paris.
Most Middlebury students engaged in the study of a modern language, either as part of a language and literature or culture major, or in conjunction with an international studies major, spend part or all of their junior year in one of the Schools Abroad. Study abroad allows students to profit from a rich cultural experience and to achieve a level of academic and personal growth not easily attained in familiar surroundings. The Schools Abroad offer varied intellectual challenges, often in conjunction with foreign university systems, while emphasizing as high a degree of academic and social immersion as is possible and encouraging student independence, all of which, it is hoped, will make possible an experience that will impart special meaning and depth to the understanding of foreign languages and cultures.
OTHER PROGRAMS OF STUDY ABROAD
Almost 65 percent of Middlebury undergraduates study off campus for at least a semester. In addition to the C.V. Starr-Middlebury Schools Abroad, students attend approved academic programs all over the world, with the largest numbers in recent years going to Australia, Chile, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, and a number of countries in Africa and South Asia. In all cases students wishing to participate in programs other than Middlebury Schools Abroad must demonstrate the relevance of their study abroad to their academic program and show the importance of such study for their intellectual growth.
Students planning to study in countries whose languages are taught at Middlebury are expected to have language proficiency sufficient to allow them to do work at an advanced level. A summer of study at the Language Schools may help attain the necessary level of preparation. Students studying in countries whose languages are not taught at Middlebury are expected to begin (or continue) studying that language as part of their academic program abroad.
THE BREAD LOAF SCHOOL OF ENGLISH
The Bread Loaf School of English conducts a six-week graduate session each summer at four sites: the campus near Bread Loaf Mountain in Vermont; Lincoln College, Oxford, in the United Kingdom; St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and the University of North Carolina in Asheville. Courses are offered in literature, literary theory, creative writing, the teaching of writing, and theatre. Exceptionally able Middlebury undergraduates who wish to pursue studies in literature and writing may enroll in Bread Loaf courses in the summer between their junior and senior years. Students may apply a summer's credits to their undergraduate degrees or toward the master's degree in English.
THE BREAD LOAF WRITERS' CONFERENCE
The Bread Loaf Writers' Conference meets for 11 days in August. At the conference, aspiring and experienced writers meet in workshops and in individual conferences with the teaching staff, which consists of some of the most distinguished writers in the country. Students become aware of the professional world of writing and writers, of editors and literary agents, and of the mechanics of publication. Special scholarships, based on literary merit, are available to Middlebury College undergraduates.
OFF-CAMPUS PROGRAMS IN THE UNITED STATES
Middlebury maintains exchange programs with Berea College and St. Mary's College during winter term and with Spelman College and Swarthmore College during fall and spring terms. Selected juniors may spend one term in the nation's capital in the Washington Semester Program administered by American University. This program combines the academic study of politics with an internship in a congressional or executive branch office, an interest group, or a nonprofit organization. Selected Middlebury students may spend a semester at the Williams College-Mystic Seaport Program in American Maritime Studies. This program, offered in conjunction with the nation's leading museum of maritime history, offers an integrated program in marine sciences, maritime history, and the literature of the sea. Middlebury has also developed special relations with Woods Hole Biological Laboratory in biology and environmental studies and a small number of engineering programs.
SUMMER RESEARCH
Many students spend a summer working with faculty members on or off campus on a variety of research projects. Although most of these students are majoring in the natural and the social sciences, students from all parts of the curriculum undertake this research. Summer research may provide a foundation for a senior thesis. Many research students receive stipends and on-campus room and board from faculty grants, institutional grants, or endowed College funds.