Archives:1, 2, 3, 4, 5Auto-archiving period: 30 days
This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to this noticeboard.If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see this help page.
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Women, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of women on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.WomenWikipedia:WikiProject WomenTemplate:WikiProject WomenWikiProject Women articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Women artists, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of women artists on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Women artistsWikipedia:WikiProject Women artistsTemplate:WikiProject Women artistsWomen artists articles
This article is of interest to WikiProject LGBTQ+ studies, which tries to ensure comprehensive and factual coverage of all LGBTQ-related issues on Wikipedia. For more information, or to get involved, please visit the project page or contribute to the discussion.LGBTQ+ studiesWikipedia:WikiProject LGBTQ+ studiesTemplate:WikiProject LGBTQ+ studiesLGBTQ+ studies articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject California, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the U.S. state of California on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CaliforniaWikipedia:WikiProject CaliforniaTemplate:WikiProject CaliforniaCalifornia articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions.
[1]Jodie Foster graduated Calhoun College (now Hopper College) at Yale College with a B.A. in Comparative Literature. Note, undergraduates from Yale graduate from both their residential college and Yale college. There are 2 separate ceremonies, and one receives a diploma at each. The Master of each residential college speaks at the ceremony at the residential college. In Foster's case, this person would have been the Reverend David Napier, who was the well-liked Master of Calhoun College(now Hopper College.) I do not have a referenCe for that, but I'm sure Yale, Hopper College, and/or Yale Alumni OrganiZation has those, if anyone cares. What is more important is that I very rarely see Foster's degree correctly described. It's described as English quite often, and here it is described as Literature. The Literature Major (which no longer exists at Yale College,) was a separate major, with separate, different requirements, and many more courses in continental philosophy. While there is some literary criticism in Comparative Literature, there is not much. There was much in The Literature Major. There were few required courses in The Literature Major, and it was truly interdisciplinary. As long as your "focus" was approved, late in your sophomore or early in your junior year, you could take many courses from various departments, as long as you were able to relate them to your focus. So you could take courses in Art History, Archeology, Anthropology, History, English, written texts in various languages or translated from various languages (and if they weren't offered, you could often finagle a tutorial,) etc. Then your senior essay encompasses 1-2 semesters (likely depending on length) and related to your focus. Comparative Literature, on the other hand, required more courses of texts written in the foreign language of the student's choice, in various other disciplines, as well as courses in various disciplines translated from that language. (This was usually only one language, and since Foster was only fluent in French, I assume this is what she used. Although I knew her, we shared no classes, and she was actually at Yale very little, but off acting in films and television after finishing the semester's work early.)
So, I have seen Foster's major listed as Literature (there wasn't even a major called "Literature" then, and there is not one now; it was named "The Literature Major," and I happen to know as it was my major, as well as the major of several other people more well-known and more intelligent than I.) Nor did Foster major in African-American Studies, as is stated in the Wikipedia article about Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Yes, he was her advisor, and he taught a course in the Women's Studies Department (which has since been renamed twice since it was founded in 1979,) called "African American Women and Their Fictions." So that article merits correction as well.