Undergraduate Programs
In the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures (RLL), undergraduates discover the literatures, cultures, and critical approaches of societies worldwide whose approximately 920 million people speak French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Catalan. The heart of the concentration consists of courses about literature and society taught in French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Advanced courses in English on special topics that involve more than one language tradition are listed as Romance Studies and count toward the concentration. RLL also offers language courses at all levels for students who wish to begin or build on their previous study of a Romance language. RLL encourages and facilitates opportunities for study abroad and research to deepen students’ experiences with Romance languages and cultures.
Courses in RLL invite undergraduates to engage deeply and critically with all kinds of texts and questions—from Don Quixote to the legacies of colonialism and the politics of postwar Europe—in a language other than English. Students develop an understanding of the ways in which rhetorical devices like metaphor and hyperbole make cultural artifacts—from everyday materials to works of art—richer, more complex, and more demanding of in-depth analysis. RLL offers a challenging and supportive environment in which students can strengthen their capacity to interact in meaningful ways with people in dozens of countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Students in RLL develop skills in analysis, critical thinking, and communication that prepare them to act as informed and sophisticated global citizens.
An undergraduate degree in RLL prepares students for work in the following areas, among others:
- Medicine: internships and residencies abroad; international medical humanitarian organizations; public health in the U.S. and overseas.
- Arts: museum curation; filmmaking; publishing; journalism; and creative writing.
- Law: foreign service and diplomacy; human rights organizations; U.S. firms based abroad; international firms in the U.S.
- Teaching and scholarship: one-year assistantships in France, Spain, and Italy; Harvard fellowships in France and the United Kingdom; teaching in bilingual and secondary schools; doctoral programs leading to careers in teaching and research at colleges and universities.
- Business and public administration: consulting; international banking and investment firms; non-governmental organizations; foundations; advertising; import/export of specialty foods and wine