Become fluent in both French and Spanish—including the languages, literatures, cultures and Francophone and Hispanic countries’ histories.
As a Romance Languages and Literatures student, you will become a skilled communicator in both French and Spanish, equipped by advanced study of the languages, literary texts, respective countries and multifaceted cultures.
Classes are rigorous explorations and critical analyses of the finest French and Spanish literatures, as well as their cinema, theater, politics, histories and philosophies.
As a major, you will study abroad, choosing from programs in France, Cameroon, Senegal, Spain and Latin America, and reside in Oldenborg Center for one year to develop your fluency.
What You’ll Study
- Advanced French and Spanish language courses
- Courses on the literary and cultural traditions
- French and Spanish philosophies and histories
- How to articulate effective formal oral arguments
- Senior thesis or senior paper
Learning at Pomona
"L’Objectif et le miroir: Alejo Carpentier, Frida Kahlo, et le Surréalisme en Amérique latine" Haley Clifton Ferguson '18
She examined two different interactions between Latin American intellectuals and French Surrealism, focusing on the examples of Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier and Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, vocal critics of Surrealism, arguing that their works reveal appropriation rather than rejection.
“Childhood Amidst the Ravages of War”: Angela Pico ’16
Angela wrote a book in Spanish about a woman she interviewed who lived during the La Violencia Colombian civil war in the 1940s.
As a native English speaker, the major allowed me to broaden my horizons past anglophone literature and the American and Western cultural canons. By choosing the RLL major, I was able to expand my knowledge in both French- and Spanish-speaking contexts.