About Our Department
Romance Languages and Literatures 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 PhD programs in French and Spanish are comprehensive and designed to prepare careers in academia, with a focus on research and teaching.
Our Alumni
Our alumni go on to do amazing things. Our undergraduate programs prepare students to follow their dreams in careers around the globe, in diverse industries from finance to consulting, government to academia. Graduate students from our department go on to great careers as well, with successful placements in academia, or careers tied to cultures around the world.
Alumni ProfilesDuring my time at WashU, the guidance of the professors in Romance Languages and Literatures was invaluable. The core seminars on literary and cultural theory and those on how to write proficiently and navigate the nuances of academia set the groundwork for me to develop myself as a productive and engaged academic.
―Iván Aguirre Darancou Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies, University of California, Riverside
Two RLL Alumni Win LASA Awards
