Requirements for Majors & Minors

Undergraduate Majors
Students may major in French, in Spanish, or in Italian Studies. Our students often complete a second major in a discipline such as International Relations, Economics, Biology, History, Psychology, Fine Arts, I.L.V.S., or another branch of the Humanities or social sciences. Plan of Study Majors in Latin American Studies or other combinations are possible. (Check the current Tufts Bulletin for more detail.) The Department also collaborates with the School of Engineering in its Combined Five-Year Liberal Arts Engineering Program.

• Major in French
• Major in Spanish
• Major in Latin American Studies
• Major in Italian Studies

Undergraduate Minors
The Department offers a minor in Italian for students in the College of Liberal Arts. Four courses in the language, literature, and/or culture above the intermediate level, and one course in a related field, are required. The structure of the minor is described elsewhere in this website. For further information, see the designated adviser for the minor.

Please note: Liberal Arts students may not minor and major in the same discipline; they may not be certified in more than one minor (except when one of the minors is disciplinary and the other is interdisciplinary); they may not be certified in a minor if they have more than one major (unless one of the majors is Environmental Studies).

• Minor in Italian
• Interdisciplinary Minor in Latin American Studies
• Special Minors in French, Spanish, or Italian for Engineering Students

Department Honors
The departmental honors program provides the opportunity for especially qualified students in French, in Spanish, or in Italian Studies to write a senior honors thesis (of roughly 50 to 75 pages) in close cooperation with a faculty adviser. The project usually bears two course credits, each of which may count toward the major as a 100-level literature course.

Please note: No more than two credits combining an Independent Study and an honors thesis may be counted toward the major. Near the end of the Spring term the thesis is defended before a committee of two readers, who determine whether the degree With Highest Thesis Honors, With High Thesis Honors, or With Thesis Honors is to be awarded at Commencement. This distinction is noted on the student's diploma and transcript.

The applicant's name must have appeared on the Dean's List at least for two semesters prior to the first term of the senior year. Interested students should consult the potential adviser (usually chosen for expertise in the general subject matter of the thesis) and the Chair of the Department toward the end of the junior year. Sophomores planning to spend the junior year abroad should consider enrolling in the departmental honors program upon their return. Since final arrangements must be made in September of the senior year, those studying overseas are advised to correspond with the Chair and with a potential adviser in the Spring semester of their junior year.

Honors Thesis Assistance
Tisch Library offers Research for Success: Using the Library for Thesis and Capstone Projects (EXP 19), an 8-week mini-course to assist senior thesis writers with the research process. You will learn the major research tools and techniques specific to your subject area, develop a working bibliography of resources and a plan for continuing your research.

The class begins Tuesday, February 1, 6-8:30pm. It is pass/fail, 1/2 credit. For more information, click here.