Languages
at Harvard
(excerpted from the Languages at Harvard
brochure)
Romance Languages
At Harvard, you can study Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish, as a total beginner or at whatever level you reached in high school. Through our many courses in language, literature, and culture, you can study the Romance world of the past or look into what is going on today in France, Spain, Latin America, Italy, Portugal and Brazil, as well as in other countries and regions where Romance languages are spoken. You will learn about these places and peoples by reading their literature, reading the press, or watching television news programs transmitted by satellite or via the web. Many of our courses use feature films, and a number include computer-based materials.
As you can see from the variety of offerings listed in the Courses of Instruction, we recognize that Harvard students are a diverse group who have many different reasons for studying the language or literature of a given culture. In our department, whose languages are spoken on five continents, as well as in the South Pacific, you can read many of the classic authors who have defined Western thought and civilization as we know it, as well as those who are voicing the ideas and experience of emerging nations. While united by the common language group to which they all belong, each of the sections of our department, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, has something special that can enrich your Harvard experience.
Catalan
Joan Miró’s whimsical scupltures and paintings, Antoni Gaudí's supple buildings, Salvador Dalí's irreverent creations, Pau Casal´s lilting music, Mercè Rodoreda´s subtle and sensitive prose: these are only some of the modern manifestations of Catalan culture, whose rich and vibrant history includes some of the world´s most famous epic and lyric poetry and some of its most sophisticated and ancient political formations. A language of approximately nine million people in parts of Spain, France, and Italy, as well as Andorra, Catalan is an important European language that does not, however, enjoy the support and visibility of a sovereign nation-state apparatus. Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is one of the world´s most visited cities, with extraordinary cultural and natural offerings. Valencia and the Balearic Islands (most notably, Mallorca), each with its own particular forms and traditions, attest to the diversity of the language. At present, the department offers beginning courses in Catalan, with the possibility of independent study and directed reading and research at the intermediate and advanced levels.
French
Sooner or later, regardless of your special interests or the concentration you choose, during your years at Harvard you will feel the influence of France. Historically, France and its culture have played a major role in areas as diverse as philosophy, sociology, political science, cuisine, dance, art and cinema, as well as literature and literary theory. Today, French studies encompass the literature and culture of the entire French-speaking world both inside and outside of France, including many countries in Africa and the Caribbean, Belgium and Switzerland in Europe, and our northern neighbor, the Canadian province of Quebec. Some students are attracted to French by the beauty of the language; others are fascinated by the desire to study or live in France or in a francophone country and realize that to do so, they need to know the language. Along with language, courses in French in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures allow students to study intellectual currents or literature, including the canon (the classics of French literature), contemporary philosophy and criticism, feminist writings, contemporary civilization, and francophone novels, poetry and cinema.
Italian
Although you may not know it, you already speak Italian. Opera, piano, tempo, pasta, pizza, maestro and soprano are just a few examples of words that you use without realizing their Italian connection. But Italian is more than food and music. For you at Harvard, studying Italian will be like going beyond a few coastal resorts that you may know to explore a new and rich continent. There you will find that Italian is indeed the language of good things in life, but also the vehicle of a glorious tradition of masterpieces and landmarks of our civilization from Dante and Machiavelli to Pirandello and Fellini.
Portuguese
Have you ever heard of Fernando Pessoa, the poet who sang with three voices? Have you ever seen images of Rio's colorful Carnaval? Heard the sultry cadences of that most famous of bossa novas, "The Girl from Ipanema?" Moved to the rhythm of a samba? Do you remember the voyages of Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan? How about Brazil's thrilling World Cup victory? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are already familiar with Luso-Brazilian culture.
But there is so much more. By studying Portuguese at Harvard, you will learn all about a culture known worldwide for its warmth, music, and poetry. You will find that Portuguese, spoken by almost 200 million people, is a language of both great lyricism and great humor. And you may just learn how to dance and write poems yourself!
Spanish
Spoken by more than 300 million people in the Iberian Peninsula, the Americas, North Africa and the Philippines, the Spanish language can claim a present and future as significant as its past. With Spanish now in wide use in the U.S., many people study Hispanic language, literatures and cultures for practical and professional reasons. But they find much more than nuts and bolts in the extraordinary language which has given world literature great geniuses like Cervantes, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, García Lorca, Borges, García Márquez, several Nobel laureates, and a stellar cast of enduring fictional archetypes (Celestina, the pícaro, Don Juan, Don Quixote and Sancho). Spanish courses at Harvard draw on a history rich in adventures and encounters: from the time of Spain's multicultural past, through the Christian Reconquest and global expansion, struggles for independence and democracy in Spain and in the Americas, to the growth of vibrant Spanish-speaking communities in North America. Courses in both Spanish and Latin American literature explore such areas as the relation between history and fiction, popular culture and film, poetic and narrative traditions and experimentation, the construction of national and social identities through literature, and women's writing.
For further information
For information about the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and about language study, literature courses, or concentration in French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, go to Language Programs or call (617) 495-2524. Undergraduates are also welcome to visit us and to speak with our Undergraduate Advisers on the fourth floor of Boylston Hall.
Last updated on September 18, 2007