With their rich literary and cultural heritage and their global reach, Romance languages play a key role in the world’s multicultural societies. That’s why the department offers its concentrators the choice of five Special Fields – French and Francophone Studies; Italian Studies; Portuguese and Brazilian Studies; Spanish, Latin American and Latino Studies; and Romance Studies. Students are encouraged to enrich their programs by engaging in study abroad, during either the summer or the academic year. RLL advisors work closely with the Office of International Education to help students meet specific needs and further their academic and cultural interests. 

A set of Common Requirements for the Concentration, featuring specific courses recommended or required for each Special Field and ample room for exploration of individual interests, ensures that concentrators acquire advanced oral and written proficiency in the target language, familiarity with major periods of the Romance literatures, critical reading skills, specialized knowledge of literary and cultural figures and movements, and acquaintance with the importance of Romance cultures in related disciplines such as Anthropology, History, History of Art and Architecture, Linguistics, Music, Visual Environmental Studies, Studies in Women, Gender and Sexuality, and more. Small classes and one-on-one instruction (including faculty-taught tutorials and faculty-advised honors theses) make a space for critical thinking, individual research agendas and creativity. The department’s wide spectrum of courses is designed for students who intend to pursue careers in medicine, law, business, social work, as well as graduate study in the humanities and social sciences. RLL stands for Real Life Learning: hands-on learning in translation, creative writing, dramatic performance, even the kitchen, promote interaction with Romance speaking communities, in the U.S. and abroad.

Romance Languages and Literatures is offered as both a concentration and a secondary field.