harvard's Romance department

[chickpeas]

does anyone know if it is prestigious? i am surprised! the faculty are well-known, they have an exchange with the ENS, but i have not found it highly ranked on any sites!

[mario]

does anyone know if it is prestigious? i am surprised! the faculty are well-known, they have an exchange with the ENS, but i have not found it highly ranked on any sites!

I know it has some interesting people, but it depends a lot to which subfield you are applying (I'm going for spanish and have heard some not so good things about about them). Can you be more specific?

[jvaknin]

I know it has some interesting people, but it depends a lot to which subfield you are applying (I'm going for spanish and have heard some not so good things about about them). Can you be more specific?

I applied to Harvard's ROML department for a dual-track PhD in French and Spanish. I've really only heard good things about the faculty; people tell me they're great to work with, approachable, (etc.). I guess it depends on who you ask. I was debating between applying to the Comp. Lit. department and the Romance department, and chose the latter because, from what I hear, it's also a lot more liberal in terms of the work it does and the program structure. As far as rankings go, I haven't come across a specific ranking listing Romance Language departments, though I do know that Harvard has some pretty well-known people (Diana Sorensen, Doris Sommer, Brad Epps, Susan Suleiman, etc.)

[mario]

I applied to Harvard's ROML department for a dual-track PhD in French and Spanish. I've really only heard good things about the faculty; people tell me they're great to work with, approachable, (etc.). I guess it depends on who you ask. I was debating between applying to the Comp. Lit. department and the Romance department, and chose the latter because, from what I hear, it's also a lot more liberal in terms of the work it does and the program structure. As far as rankings go, I haven't come across a specific ranking listing Romance Language departments, though I do know that Harvard has some pretty well-known people (Diana Sorensen, Doris Sommer, Brad Epps, Susan Suleiman, etc.)

Well, I guess it depends on who you ask, as you say, but what I've heard, from an inside student is that all the advisors are not as approachable as one might expect. Just my two cents

[amormundi]

I did complit undergrad at Harvard with Spanish/French, so I took classes with a lot of the faculty. It is true that not everybody is necessarily approachable, but I think it's a common trade-off that the most brilliant professors are not necessarily the most friendly. That said, there are exceptions. PM me if you have questions about specific professors.