Skip Navigation

Romance Languages and Literatures

Italian Club
The student-run Italian Club is organizes events that involving Italian culture, language, and life.  READ MORE
Romance Languages Faculty
Compelling instruction and field-leading research. Meet our Romance languages and literatures faculty.
Academics in Romance Languages
Our course offerings will challenge your knowledge and assumptions and engage your desire to learn.  READ MORE
Join us to take your interest in language to the next level by studying not only the languages, but also the literatures and cultures of France, Spain, Latin America, and Italy. 

About Romance Languages and Literatures

We offer both majors and minors in French and Spanish. We also offer a variety of Italian language courses, but it is not offered as a major or minor.

We welcome students who have a range of different goals. Many students wish to enroll as majors or minors, while others simply want to maintain or develop their knowledge of French, Italian, or Spanish languages and cultures. We welcome you at whatever level of involvement you're looking for.

Given the multicultural nature of the United States today, developing a familiarity with a second language and culture can put you a step ahead in almost any conceivable professional field.

We strongly encourage students enrolled in our advanced French, Italian, and Spanish courses to take advantage of the opportunity for immersion by participating in Colgate's rich off-campus study opportunities.

Department Contacts

Chair: Patrick Riley
Administrative Assistant: Elvia Bona
Office: Lawrence Hall
Phone: 315-228-7289
Dept. Fax: 315-228-7176

Success after Colgate

Colgate alumni who majored in the department are pursuing careers in a variety of fields. Check out just a few of the possibilities out there for our majors:

Department News

Spring break trip highlights interdisciplinary education
Students to explore the history, language, culture, and environment of Martinique

Table of Babel helps students learn languages at lunch
Student blogger reflects on lunchtime language immersion program

Students studying French visit island of Martinique
Spring break trip focuses on historic, cultural, and linguistic characteristics of island

Program provides immersion in language, culture
Two groups of students studying foreign languages spent a day near Montreal, Quebec, led by French professor Mahadevi Ramakrishnan

Research sheds light on foreign-language learning
Colgate research highlights the importance of motion in language learning