Program Structure - St Thomas University

The courses in Romance Languages are designed for those students who come to St. Thomas University and wish to have either a general knowledge of two or more Romance Languages and Literatures (French, Italian, Latin, and Spanish), or to acquire a Major in two Romance Languages and Literatures (French and Spanish).

Please follow the program structure outlined in the Academic Calendar from your FIRST academic year as a student at St. Thomas University. Find the Academic Calendars HERE. If you have any questions, please contact your academic advisor.

Double Major in French and Spanish

Students who plan to pursue a Double Major in French and Spanish must satisfy the requirements for majoring in French (36 credits) and in Spanish (36 credits). These credits can be cross-listed from one language to the other. In addition, students are required to take 3 credit hours at the second or third year level in another language, such as Latin or Italian, or 3 credit hours at the second or third year level in a relevant course in another discipline. Prior to selecting a course to fulfill this requirement, students must seek approval from the Romance Languages Department.

The completion of the following courses is required for the Double Major:

French

Students wishing to complete a Major program in French must complete at least 36 credits hours of courses from either Module 1 Langue française and/or Module 2 Civilisation du monde francophone. Of the 36 credit hours for the Major.

1. At least 12 credit hours must be from Module 2 courses at the 3000 level: FREN 3603, FREN 3613, FREN 3623, FREN 3633 and FREN 3643.

2. At least 3 credit hours must be at the 4000 level.

Spanish
The Major program in Spanish consists of 36 credit hours in Spanish, 12 of which must be at the third-year level and 6 at the fourth-year level. Students entering the Major program in Spanish will structure their chosen program in consultation with a faculty advisor from the Spanish program.

Students must attain at least an overall B average in their 72 credit hours of course work to obtain the Double Major in French and Spanish.

Honours in Spanish

Students wishing to complete an Honours program in Spanish must meet the general norms of the University for an Honours degree, as set forth in St. Thomas University’s Calendar, Section Two: Programs.

Honours students must also meet the requirements set forth by the Romance Languages Department (RLD). The Honours degree in Spanish consists of 48 credit hours in Spanish. Twelve credit hours of Spanish will normally be taken at the third-year level and a minimum of 12 credit hours will come from the fourth-year offerings taken at St. Thomas University. Students wishing to complete the Honours program in Spanish shall make application to the Chair of the Romance Languages Department (RLD).

The application shall include:

1) a letter of intent indicating the name of the student’s program advisor and intended program of study;
2) a copy of the student’s transcript, and
3) a written sample from a second-year Spanish course. Application must be made by the end of the student’s second year of study (April 30).

In order to be eligible for admission to the Spanish Honours Program, the student shall maintain a minimum average of “B” in all Spanish courses take at St. Thomas University.

Honours Thesis

An Honours thesis is recommended for any student planning to attend graduate school in Spanish. This Honours thesis will comprise six credit hours of the mandatory twelve credit hours at the fourth-year level. Therefore, students who choose to write an Honours Thesis will only take 6 more credit hours in the 4th year level in order to complete the 48 credit hours required for Honours in Spanish.

Honours in French

Module 3: French Honours

In order for a student to complete an Honours degree in French, the Honours module must be completed with an overall average of B. The Honours module consists of the compulsory course FREN 3413 Grammaire avancée and an additional 12 ch in French courses at the upper level, of which 6 cr must either be in 4000 level courses or FREN 4996 Thèse de spécialisation.

Honours courses should be chosen with great care and in consultation with the student’s faculty advisor. Note that all Honours Programs must be approved by the Department’s Honours and Majors Committee normally in the year preceding the commencement of the program.

Students wishing to complete the Honours Program in French shall make application to the Chair of the Romance Languages Department. The application shall include: 1) a letter of intent indicating the name of the student’s program advisor and intended program of study; 2) a copy of the student’s transcript; 3) a writing sample from a third or fourth second or third year French course. Ideally, students should consider making an application for acceptance into the French and Spanish Honours Programme at the end of their second year. This would enable the faculty advisor to ensure that students can complete the sufficient number of credits required within their diploma and make allowances if certain courses would not be offered in a given year.

In order to be eligible for admission to the French Honours Program, the student must maintainat least an average of B in all French courses taken at St. Thomas University. The application and program of study must be approved by the Department’s Honours and Majors Committee (HMC). The Chair shall notify the student of the committee’s decision.

Students opting to write a thesis must have their thesis proposal approved by the HMC. The Honours thesis will normally be read by a reading committee of two other faculty members chosen from within the department. Where this is not feasible or where the thesis involves an interdisciplinary component, the reading committee shall be composed of the program advisor, a member of the Romance Languages Department and a faculty member chosen from another appropriate department.

Minor in Italian

Students wishing to complete a Minor Programme in Italian must complete at least 18 credit hours in Italian selected from the first, second or third year offerings and maintain an overall average of B in those 18 credit hours.