Francophone, Italian and Germanic Studies: Dual Language, BA

The Dual Language concentration of the Francophone, Italian, and Germanic Studies major allows students to focus on any two of the major's three languages: French, Italian, and German. In addition to mastering multiple languages and the cultural competencies that go along with them, Dual Language concentrators arrive at a profound understanding of these interconnected linguistic and cultural spheres.

The minimum total course units for graduation in the FIGS major with a Dual Language concentration is 37. Double majors may entail more course units.

Curriculum

Concentration Requirements

College General Education Requirements and Free Electives
Foundational Approaches + Sectors 1+ Free Electives20
Required Courses
FIGS 1000Seeing Differently: Transcultural Approaches to Francophone, Italian, and Germanic Studies1
Choose 2 of the Following Language Groups:
Students must choose 2 of the 3 languages to fulfill the major requirements16
French Language Group
Required Courses
Intermediate French II
Advanced French
Electives
At least 1 c.u. in Advanced Language, French and Francophone history and culture survey courses, or French and Francophone literature and film survey courses.
Advanced Language
Advanced French Grammar and Composition
Advanced French Conversation and Composition
French Phonetics
Advanced Intensive French Composition and Conversation
Advanced French: Translation
History and Culture Surveys
French History and Culture to 1774
French History and Culture 1789-1945
Contemporary France
Le français dans le monde/French in the World
Literature and Film Surveys
Masterpieces of French Cinema
Perspectives in French Literature: Love and Passion
Perspectives in French Literature: The Individual and Society
Francophone Literature and Film
FREN 1234-1239
French Seminars 3000 Level or Higher
Topics in French Culture
French Literature of the 19th Century
Crime and Punishment: Hugo’s Les Misérables in Context
Literature of the Twentieth Century
Animal Words, Animal Worlds: Introduction to Zoopoetics
French & Italian Modern Horror
The French Novel of the Twentieth Century
Modern French Theater
Paris in Film
French Caribbean Thought & Literature
Life, Death, and Revolution in Haiti
Additional Electives 2
Masterpieces of French Cinema
French & Italian Modern Horror
Paris in Film
French & Italian Modern Horror
Laughter and Tricky Topics
Decolonizing French Food
The Fantastic Voyage from Homer to Science Fiction
Fashion and Modernity
Paris during the German Occupation and its Places of [Non-]Memory
Film Noir
Transalpine Tensions: Franco-Italian Rivalries in the Renaissance
Women's Writing in French, 1160–1823
Literature and Multilingualism
Fantastic Literature 19th/20th Centuries
Teaching and Learning
Language Acquisition
Italian Language Group
Required Courses
Intermediate Italian II
Advanced Italian I
Electives
Advanced Language
Advanced Italian II
Business Italian
Business Italian: Italian for Special Purposes
Business Italian: Italian for Professions
Business Italian: Translation and Interpreting
Intensive Italian, Culture, and Conversation - Penn in Florence
Masterpieces-Italian Literature/Seminars
Dante's Divine Comedy
Italian American Studies
Contemporary Italy
Italian Film and Media Studies
Race and Ethnicity in Italy
Italian Gender Studies
Italian Fashion
Italian Visual Studies
Italian Foods and Cultures
Italian Literature
Italian Innovations
Italian Renaissance Studies
Mediterranean Studies
Italian Performance Studies
Italian Science and Philosophy
Italian Material Studies
Italian Digital Humanities
Boccaccio
Machiavelli
Petrarch
Italian Music
ITALIAN HISTORIES
Italian Diaspora Studies
Additional Electives 3
Hellenistic and Roman Art and Artifact
Roman Architecture and Urbanism
Classical Mythology in the Western Tradition
Roman Sculpture
Hellenistic Art and Spectacle
Ancient Rome
Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece and Rome
Citizenship, Belonging and Exclusion in the Roman World
Introduction to Mediterranean Archaeology
Greek & Roman Mythology
Dangerous Books of Antiquity
Foreigners in Rome
Medieval Literature and Culture
German Language Group
Required Courses
Intermediate German II
Texts and Contexts
Electives
At least 2 c.u. of electives must be courses taught in German in the department at the 2000-level or higher 4
Taught in German
Business German: A Macro Perspective
Business German: A Micro Perspective
Topics in Dutch Studies
Seeing Green: Environmentalism in Germany and Austria
German Youth Cultures
Writing in Dark Times: German Literature
Crime and Detection
Kafka's Creatures
German Literature after 1945
Decadence
Reading the Twentieth Century
The Long Nineteenth Century: Literature, Philosophy, Culture
The Long Eighteenth Century
Early Modernism
Taught in English or other Language
Jews and China: Views from Two Perspectives
Babylon Berlin: German Crime Books
Climate Change and Community in Indonesia
Freud: The Invention of Psychoanalysis
Freud's Objects
Marx, Marxism, and the Culture of Revolution
Nietzsche's Modernity and the Death of God
Berlin: History, Politics, Culture
Metropolis: Culture of the City
The Fantastic and Uncanny in Literature: Ghosts, Spirits & Machines
Fashion and Modernity
Fascist Cinemas
German Cinema
Jewish Films and Literature
Women in Jewish Literature
Jewish American Literature
Translating Cultures: Literature on and in Translation
Water Worlds: Cultural Responses to Sea Level Rise & Catastrophic Flooding
Forest Worlds: Mapping the Arboreal Imaginary in Literature and Film
Liquid Histories and Floating Archives
Queer German Cinema
Comparative Cultures of Sustainability
Comparative Cultures of Resilience and Sustainability in the Netherlands and the United States
Sustainability & Utopianism
Global Sustainabilities
Autobiographical Writing
Environmental Humanities: Theory, Method, Practice
Public Environmental Humanities
Literature and Multilingualism
The Panorama Experience
Inside the Archive
Topics In Aesthetics
Total Course Units37
1

You may count no more than one course toward both a Major and a Sector requirement. For Exceptions, check the Policy Statement.

2

French & Francophone

The remaining 3 c.u. of electives can be any combination of:

  • Additional courses taught in French at the 1000-level or higher.
  • Courses taught in French at approved study abroad programs.
  • FREN 3999: Independent Study.
  • FIGS 4000 Honor's Thesis
  • Major-related courses taught in English, either in FIGS or in other departments.
  • Coursework in another foreign language relevant to the student’s interests.
  • First-Year Seminars counted retroactively.
3

Italian

The remaining 3 c.u. of electives can be any combination of:

  • Additional courses taught in Italian at the 1000-level or higher.
  • Courses taught in Italian at approved study abroad programs.
  • ITAL 3999/4999: Independent Study.
  • FIGS 4000 Honor's Thesis
  • Major-related courses taught in English, either in FIGS or in other departments.
  • Coursework in another foreign language relevant to the student’s interests.
  • First-Year Seminars counted retroactively.

In order to count additional courses taught in English or other languages toward the concentration, students must arrange an Italian component with the professor (e.g., extra class sessions, research, written assignments, or a term paper in Italian).

4

German

At least 2 c.u. of electives must be courses taught in German in the department at the 2000-level or higher.

The remaining 4 c.u. of electives can be any combination of: 

  • Additional courses taught in German at the 2000-level or higher.
  • Courses taught in German at approved study abroad programs.
  • GRMN 4999: Independent Study.
  • FIGS 4000 Honor's Thesis
  • Major-related courses taught in English, either in FIGS or in other departments.
  • Coursework in another foreign language relevant to the student’s interests.
  • First-Year Seminars counted retroactively.

Honors

FIGS 4000
FIGS Majors with a dual concentration may elect to complete an honors research project in either of their two languages. On an exceptional basis, a FIGS Major with a dual concentration may complete an honors research project in multiple languages.
To be granted honors, students must receive a grade of A- or higher in FIGS 4000. Students who receive a grade lower than A- will receive credit for the course, but will not be granted honors.

The degree and major requirements displayed are intended as a guide for students entering in the Fall of 2024 and later. Students should consult with their academic program regarding final certifications and requirements for graduation.