Romance Languages (2022 - 2024)

Overview of the Major

The Romance languages major requires a total of 36 points distributed between two languages, with 20 points taken in the primary language and 16 points taken in the secondary language. Students typically meet the requirements with nine 4-point courses (five in the primary language and four in the secondary), but with permission of the appropriate language department(s), combinations of 2- and 4-point courses may be approved to satisfy advanced language requirements.

The combinations of primary-secondary languages are:

• French-Italian
• French-Spanish
• French-Portuguese
• Italian-French
• Italian-Spanish
• Italian-Portuguese
• Spanish-French
• Spanish-Italian
• Spanish-Portuguese
• Portuguese-French
• Portuguese-Italian
• Portuguese-Spanish 

For declaration of and advisement in the major, students must visit the departments of both languages they intend to study. They must indicate to both departments which language is primary and which is secondary. Advisement for course sequencing takes place in the relevant departments.

Students must earn a C or better in all courses for the major. Courses graded Pass/Fail cannot be counted toward the major. Below are listed the requirements for each of the four languages available in this major.

French as Primary Language

This requires 20 points:

• Written Contemporary French (FREN-UA 105)
• One of the following:
  • Spoken Contemporary French (FREN-UA 101)
  • Advanced French Conversation (FREN-UA 102)
  • French Phonetics (FREN-UA 103)
  • French Translation (FREN-UA 107)
  • French: Advanced Techniques of Translation (FREN-UA 108)
  • Acting French (FREN-UA 109)
  • Business French (FREN-UA 110)
  • Creative Writing in French (FREN-UA 111)
  • French for International Relations (FREN-UA 113; formerly FREN-UA 112)
• One of the following:
  • Approaches to French Language (FREN-UA 115)
  • Approaches to French Literature (FREN-UA 140)
  • Approaches to French and Francophone Performing Arts (FREN-UA 143)
  • Approaches to Francophone Literature (FREN-UA 145)
  • Approaches to French History (FREN-UA 163)
  • Contemporary France (FREN-UA 164)
• Eight advanced points in FREN-UA, in any approved combination of 2- and 4-point courses, to be determined in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies in the Department of French.

For French as the secondary language, subtract four of the eight advanced points.

Italian as Primary Language

This requires 20 points:

• Advanced Review of Modern Italian (ITAL-UA 30)
• One of the following:
  • Conversations in Italian (ITAL-UA 101)
  • Italian through Cinema (ITAL-UA 107)
  • Italian through Opera (ITAL-UA 108)
• One of the following:
  • Creative Writing in Italian (ITAL-UA 103)
  • Translingual Writing in Italian (ITAL-UA 104)
  • Advanced Composition (ITAL-UA 105)
  • Translation (ITAL-UA 110)
• One of the following:
  • Readings in Medieval and Renaissance Literature (ITAL-UA 115)
  • Readings in Modern Italian Literature (ITAL-UA 116)
• Four points (or a combination of two approved 2-point courses) in advanced Italian literature and/or Italian culture and society, to be determined in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Italian.

For Italian as the secondary language, subtract the four advanced points.

Portuguese as Primary Language

Requires five courses (20 points) beyond the level of Intermediate Portuguese II (PORT-UA 4), including courses taken in English with writing assignments completed in Portuguese, approved by the director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.

For Portuguese as the secondary language, students take a total of four upper-level electives.

Spanish as Primary Language

This requires 20 points:

• The prerequisite for entering the major is either Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51, formerly 111). Note that neither course counts toward the major.
• Students must take at least one SPAN-UA 3## course conducted in Spanish (this replaces the discontinued requirement of Critical Approaches to Textual and Cultural Analysis, SPAN-UA 200). This SPAN-UA 3## course cannot double-count toward the next requirement.
• Students must take four additional advanced Spanish courses, chosen in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. These are often at the SPAN-UA 3## level. With departmental permission, students may meet this 16-point requirement with a combination of 2- and 4-point courses.
• One and only one of these additional four courses/16 points may be an advanced language elective (creative writing, conversation, or translation), chosen from the following: Advanced Spanish Conversation (SPAN-UA 60), Advanced Spanish Conversation for the Medical Professions (SPAN-UA 61), Techniques of Translation (SPAN-UA 110), Literary Translation (SPAN-UA 111), Introduction to Creative Writing in Spanish (SPAN-UA 120), Advanced Fiction and Nonfiction Workshop in Spanish (SPAN-UA 122), or Advanced Poetry Workshop in Spanish (SPAN-UA 124). 

For Spanish as the secondary language, students must still take at least one SPAN-UA 3## course conducted in Spanish, but will subtract four of the additional advanced Spanish points.

Honors in Romance Languages

To be eligible, a student must spend a minimum of three full semesters in residence at the College of Arts and Science (attendance at NYU Buenos Aires, Florence, Madrid, or Paris counts toward this residence). The student must maintain a cumulative and major GPA of at least 3.65. A Romance languages major who meets these requirements and wishes to pursue a senior honors project should apply to the director of undergraduate studies in the language department of the intended faculty adviser.

COURSES

For course descriptions and prerequisites, please see under French, Italian, and Spanish and Portuguese in this Bulletin.