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About the Department

The Department of Romance Studies is a diverse, plurilingual academic unit that engages in research and instruction in French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, and in the historically minoritized languages of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Americas. The principal aims of the Department are to preserve, increase, and transmit knowledge and understanding of the Romance languages, literatures and cultures within the transnational and regional contexts in which they have developed.

In our undergraduate programs, students gain competence in Romance languages together with a critical understanding of the written, oral, and visual traditions of the communities who speak these languages throughout the world.

Our faculty promotes interdisciplinary connections, incorporating literature, culture, theory and history across the curriculum. Through coursework that emphasizes rhetoric, composition, and written and oral expression, our majors receive sustained personalized training in critical thinking and close reading.

At the graduate level, a vibrant community of scholars prepares new generations of researchers and teachers, to contribute to the study of the humanities in academia and beyond.

The Department of Romance Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences support the University’s core values encouraging diversity and equal educational and employment opportunities throughout the University community. These values are articulated in the department’s statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, as well as the University’s non-discrimination policy and by the office of The University Office for Diversity and Inclusion.

The Department of Romance Studies welcomes all students, regardless of immigration status.