Major in Romance Studies
In an increasingly global world, many students arrive at Ohio State with a desire to learn languages, and many already have background in one or more Romance languages (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian) or Latin. This major is designed for students who are interested developing skills in three languages, Romance languages or Latin, and want to interact with ease in multiple cultures. In addition, Romance Studies majors have time in their schedule to complete a second major or one or two minors. Students are not required to have a background in a foreign language before starting this degree, but it is recommended. In order to be successful in this major and finish the degree in four years, students need to commit early and organize their course work carefully.
Beyond the 1100-level Elementary Language Sequence
The Romance Studies major begins with the elementary language sequence: 1101, 1102, 1103. In most cases, students will be able to finish the language sequence in less than three semesters due to previous experience in the language and through additional courses and placement options at the 1100-level:
- French: Individualized Instruction, Placement Exam for students with previous experience in another Romance Language, Combined Courses, Departmental placement testing (EM). ONLINE format available, College Credit Plus (CCP).
- Spanish: Placement Exam for students with previous experience in another Romance Language, Combined Courses, Departmental placement testing (EM), ONLINE format available, College Credit Plus (CCP).
- Latin: Intensive Language course that allows students to complete 1101-1102-1103 in one semester, Summer workshop for completion of sequence and additional credits.
- Italian: Placement Exam for students with previous experience in another Romance Language, Intensive Language course that allows students to complete 1101-1102-1103 in one semester, ONLINE format available, College Credit Plus (CCP).
- Portuguese: Departmental placement testing (EM), College Credit Plus (CCP), ONLINE format available, two semester intensive elementary language sequence for students with a background in Spanish or another Romance language.
- Romanian: Departmental placement testing (EM).
French, Spanish and Italian: Students complete a 2000-level “bridge” reading skills course as prerequisite to the intermediate and advanced levels. The 2000-level in these languages does not count toward the primary or secondary field. As with the Spanish major, students who select Spanish as their primary language must take a senior seminar (see 'Tracks available and requirements’ below).
Pursuing the Romance Studies Major
Upon admission to the University, students can declare a major in Romance Studies within the College of Arts and Sciences. If you have taken a Romance Language in high school or have language skills because you have lived in a country in which a Romance Language is spoken, you should take a placement test in that language (or those languages) in order to test out of courses and accelerate your time to degree.
Romance Studies Major Requirements
Overview of Requirements
A brief summary of the requirements for the Romance Studies major:
- Total 41-48 hours. This does not count the prerequisites for the primary and secondary language. However, note that the 1000-level language course prerequisite hours for the primary or secondary language count for the GE language requirement. In addition, many students test out of any number of elementary-level language courses.
- Choose one primary field, one secondary field, one tertiary field. (Romanian can only count as a tertiary field.)
- One required course taught in English taken in the Junior or senior year: Classics/Italian/Romance Linguistics 5051. This course is offered every two years.
- Nine credits of study abroad are required for all primary fields except Latin. Students who select Latin as their primary language are required to study abroad to satisfy their secondary language. If a language program only has six-credit SA options, students may take the remaining three credits on the OSU campus.
- Students who take service learning credits in one of their languages for the GE may also count these credits in the major.
- Participate in the World Language Skills and Competencies Workshop (offered once every semester). Information about the time and place of the workshop each semester will be circulated in advance.
All students are required to take Italian/Classics/Romance Linguistics 5501: Latin and the Romance Languages. The goal of this course is to give students the opportunity to bring the work that they are doing in the courses taught in the target language together and examine how the Romance languages are related and how they differ. Note that this course does not require background knowledge in linguistics.
NOTE: Although this is not likely to occur frequently, students may also opt to do a second study abroad experience in their secondary or tertiary field. It is recommended that students who study abroad for credit for their secondary (or tertiary) field do so at the 1000-level.
Primary Field
Requirements for the Primary Field (8 courses, 24 credits: 15 credits at OSU, 9 credits abroad):
- Five courses (15 credits) beyond the 2000-level. (Latin: 7 courses at or beyond the 2000-level). For a detailed description of the course requirements for each language, see below.
- Three courses (9 credits) of study abroad in the primary field to be taken after the 2000-level has been completed at Ohio State. With this type of language preparation before departure it is expected that students will take content courses in the foreign country. (Student who select Latin as their primary language do not study abroad in the primary field but rather in the secondary field. See below.)
Secondary Field
Requirements for the Secondary Field (9 credits)
3 courses beyond the 2000-level (Latin: Students study abroad to satisfy their secondary field requirement. As indicated above for the primary language, these are content courses, not language courses.)
Tertiary Field
Requirements for the Tertiary Field
Basic language proficiency (depends on the options offered and the level into which a student tests: maximum number of credits: 12; minimum number of credits: 5)
Academic Advising
Advising
Upon enrolling in the Romance Studies major, students will be assigned an ASC advisor as well as an advisor in the department of their primary language. This advisor will be responsible for answering curricular questions and approving course changes.
The ASC advisor for the Romance Studies major:
Andy Spencer – French, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
The faculty advisors for each primary language are:
Italian – Janice M. Aski
French – Jennifer Willging
Latin – Richard Fletcher
Spanish and Portuguese– Eugenia Romero
If you are interested in a degree in Romance Studies, contact the undergraduate advisor in the department of your primary language as soon as possible in order to organize your course work.
Specific Requirements for the Primary Language
Literature/Culture Courses: All courses at the 2000- and 5000-level
7 courses at or beyond the 2000-level.
Choose one of 3401, 3402, 3403. Required: 3450. Choose 6 additional courses from: 3401, 3402, 3403, 4510, 4550, 4560, 4561, 4595, 4597.01 (Taught in English), 4597.02 (Taught in English), 5510, 5520, 5530, 5611, 5650.
Not more than one course taught in English may count. (The equivalents of three of these courses are taken abroad.)
Take 3 Orientation courses: 3401, 3403(H) and 3450(H). Choose 4 additional courses at the 4000- or 5000-level from the Iberian, LatinX, or Latin American Languages, Literatures and Cultures Concentrations or Hispanic Linguistics Concentration. Then choose 1 Seminar course from 5630 (Hispanic Linguistics, SP semester), 5650 (Iberian, AU semester) or 5660 (Latin American, AU or SP semester) or 5670 (LatinX; offering cycle pending).
All pre-requisites must be met. Not more than one course taught in English may count. (The equivalents of three of these courses are taken abroad.)
Select from: 3101, 3102, 3103, 3201, 3202, 3401, 3403, 4100, 4401, 5201, 5202, 5203, 5204, 5205, 5206, 5207, 5401, 5403, and 5701.
Students must take two courses at or above the 3000-level and three courses at or above the 4000-level taught in French (students may always opt to take courses at a higher level to satisfy these requirements. For example, if instead of two 3000-level courses a student who selects French as their primary language may opt to take one 3000-level course and four courses at a higher level). Additionally, a total of 9 credit hours beyond the 2000-level are taken abroad and selected in consultation with the advisor. If a student selects a program that only offers 6 hours, the remaining three credits may be taken on campus. In total, students need 8 3-credit hours courses (24 credit hours) in French at the 3000-level and above.
All Italian courses taught in Italian at the 3000-, 4000-, and 5000-level and graduate literature and culture courses above the 5000-level taught in Italian with permission of the instructor and the graduate school count toward the major.
Students must take two courses at or above the 3000-level, three courses at or above the 4000-level taught in Italian. (Students may alway opt to take courses at a higher level to satisfy a particular requirement. For example, if instead of two 3000-level courses a student who selects Italian as their primary language may opt to take one 3000-level course and three 4000-level courses.) The remaining three courses (9 credits) are taken abroad and selected in consultation with the advisor.
Note: courses beyond the 5000-level are included here because once students study abroad their language skills are such that they are able to take these courses.
A full list of courses in the Italian Program is available at Major in Italian.