The infamous French mission civilisatrice did not end with the colonial empire. In St. Paul, Minnesota where I grew up, the Alliance Française civilized us with Saturday morning language classes for children, to which grateful parents sent my sister and me for several years. These classes failed remarkably well in teaching me to speak French. The grammar exercises in the very limited homework stumped me entirely, despite my mother’s efforts to show me how to imitate the sample conjugations. But then there were crêpes, and since it was the late seventies, at least one quiche lorraine...
Overview of Programs
RLL offers vibrant programs in French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Our language classes have long been popular with undergraduates, including those interested in international travel and those who anticipate a global dimension to their future careers. All of our classes focus on culture writ large: we study great texts, and we do so with an eye to gender roles, traditions, communities, individual freedom, social obligations, and many other topics of critical importance today. We offer concentrations in French, Italian, and Spanish, as well as a composite major in Romance Languages, and courses in introductory Portuguese. Our Ph.D. programs in French and Spanish are comprehensive and designed to prepare careers in academia, with a focus on research and teaching. ...read more