Requirements for the Minor in Portuguese

Four courses in Portuguese language, typically:
PORTUGUESE 101/102
PORTUGUESE 201/202
Four courses in Brazilian and/or Lusophone Culture

A minor in Portuguese Language & Brazilian and Lusophone Studies will now require that students take sixteen credit hours after successfully completing Portuguese 101 through 202. Any substitutions must be discussed with the program director.

In addition to the required language courses, students must complete 4 elective courses (16 hours) in Luso-Brazilian literature, cultural studies, language, or history. To be determined in consultation with the program director, appropriate courses from various majors outside the Department of Spanish and Portuguese may count towards this requirement.

Additional stipulations for the minor in Portuguese:
• You must consult with the director of the Portuguese Program before declaring a minor.
• Portuguese 300, 301 and 302 may be used to fulfill the area V.B. (Historical Perspectives on Western Cultures) General Education requirement.
• Students in the minor may receive credit for courses taken in study abroad programs, pending approval by CIPA and the Program Director. Upon returning to Emory, students must bring all written papers and syllabi back for final approval.
• Advanced students in Portuguese are encouraged to write an honors thesis in their senior year. Honors students register for Portuguese 495A in the fall semester and Portuguese 495B in the spring semester.

Course Descriptions

PORTUGUESE 101: Elementary Portuguese I

CONTENT: Portuguese 101 is a beginning-level integrated skills language course. This courses helps students develop a basic ability to communicate in Portuguese. Class time is dedicated to interactive activities that allow students to acquire skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing. Through music, videos, and readings of authentic materials, students are also introduced to many aspects of Brazilian culture as well as of other countries where Portuguese is spoken. Class meets four times per week and is conducted in Portuguese in order to maximize exposure to the language. Lab activities are also incorporated in order to develop students' listening skills and pronunciation.

TEXTS: Brasil! Língua e Cultura! (Textbook and Writing and Language Laboratory Manual). Tom Lathrop & Eduardo M. Dias. LinguaText, Ltd. 3rd ed.

PARTICULARS: Evaluations are based on participation, homework and Language Laboratory work, quizzes, exams, formal compositions, informal writings, brief oral presentations.

PORTUGUESE 102: Elementary Portuguese II

CONTENT: Portuguese 102 is the second semester of a beginning-level integrated skills language course. This course helps students to continue developing a basic ability to communicate in Portuguese. Class time is dedicated to interactive activities that allow students to acquire skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing. Through activities and readings, students are also introduced to many aspects of everyday Brazilian culture. Aspects of the culture of other Portuguese speaking countries are also incorporated in the course. Class meets four times per week and is conducted in Portuguese in order to maximize exposure to the language. Language lab activities are also incorporated in order to develop students' listening skills and pronunciation.

TEXT: Brasil! Língua e Cultura! (Textbook & Writing and Language Laboratory Manual)

PARTICULARS: Evaluation will be based on participation, homework, language laboratory work, quizzes, exams, and compositions.

PORTUGUESE 110: Beginning Portuguese for Spanish Speakers

CONTENT: Portuguese 110 is a beginning-level integrated skills language course designed for native speakers of Spanish or English speakers with fluency in Spanish. The course concentrates primarily on aspects of the Portuguese language that are most difficult for Spanish speakers, such as pronunciation, vocabulary, idioms and grammatical structures particular to Portuguese. Class time is dedicated to interactive activities that allow students to acquire skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing. Through music, films, and readings, students are also introduced to many aspects of Brazilian culture as well as of other countries where Portuguese is spoken.

TEXT: Brasil! Língua e Cultura (Textbook & Writing and Language Laboratory Manual)

PARTICULARS: Evaluation will be based on participation, homework, language laboratory work, quizzes, exams, and brief compositions and oral presentations.

PREREQUISITES: Prior knowledge of Spanish.

PORTUGUESE 201: Intermediate Portuguese I

CONTENT: This course develops students' communicative abilities in Portuguese as well as their understanding of the cultural context in which the language is used. Students learn to communicate through activities in speaking, listening, reading and writing. In addition to reviewing some important topics they have learned previously, students also learn new vocabulary and grammar points at the same time that they study the cultures and societies of Portuguese-speaking countries in more depth. Classroom activities are highly interactive and focus on speaking and listening. Reading about Lusophone cultures is emphasized, as are informal writing (to develop fluency) and brief compositions (to develop accuracy). Language Lab activities are also used to improve listening skills and pronunciation.

TEXTS: TBA

PARTICULARS: Evaluations are based on participation, homework and Language Laboratory work, quizzes, exams, formal compositions, informal writing assignments, and oral presentations.

PREREQUISITES: Portuguese 102, 110, or equivalent (including courses taken in study abroad programs).

PORTUGUESE 202: Intermediate Portuguese II

CONTENT: This course develops students' communicative abilities in Portuguese as well as understanding of the cultural context in which the language is used. Students learn to communicate through activities in speaking, listening, reading and writing; review and learning of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation; and study of Lusophone cultures and societies. Classroom activities are highly interactive and focus on speaking and listening. Reading about Lusophone cultures is emphasized, as are informal writing (to develop fluency) and brief compositions (to develop accuracy).

TEXTS: TBA

PARTICULARS: Evaluations are based on participation, homework and Language Laboratory work, exams, formal compositions, informal writing assignments, and oral presentations.

PREREQUISITES: Portuguese 201, 110, or equivalent (including courses taken in study abroad programs).

PORTUGUESE 210: Portuguese for Reading Comprehension

CONTENT: This course is designed primarily for, but not exclusively to, graduate students who wish to improve or acquire reading skills in Portuguese. Some departments accept this course to satisfy the reading requirement in a Foreign Language while others expect students to take a separate reading exam.  Throughout the course, fundamental vocabulary, basic grammar structures, and reading strategies are introduced and reviewed. Focusing on the major differences between English and Portuguese, students read and translate texts of diverse levels of difficulty.  The initial texts are supplied by the professor, and consist of a wide variety of genres – from newspaper articles to literary texts to sociological commentary to scientific essays. Later in the course students are responsible for bringing texts related to their own field of expertise and personal interests. The exercise of searching for these materials is meant to introduce students to the possibilities of using Portuguese in their particular fields. Students are also responsible for helping the class to create glossaries for particularly difficult texts.

PORTUGUESE 212: Advanced Practice in Portuguese

CONTENT: This course aims at developing reading and writing skills in Portuguese while at the same time examining important elements of Brazilian and Portuguese cultures. It will consist of a detailed analysis of rhetorical strategies, and Portuguese grammar and vocabulary, through the discussion of texts on society, race, gender, the economy, traditions, and other current issues, as well as some literary texts (short stories). Brazilian movies are also an important part of the material to be explored. Finally, students are also introduced to the use of translation as a tool for understanding differences between Portuguese, English, and Spanish, and for developing a greater accuracy in Portuguese.

TEXTS: Using Portuguese. A Guide to Contemporary Usage, Cambridge University Press; Portuguese Concise Dictionary, Harper Collins. Materials from newspapers, the Internet, songs and literary short pieces will be available as a course packet on Blackboard and/or Reserves Direct.

PARTICULARS: Evaluation will be based on preparation and participation, compositions and homework, 3 tests and a final exam.

PORTUGUESE 300: Brazilian, Portuguese & Lusophone-African Worlds: Texts and Contexts

CONTENT: The primary objective of this course is to provide students with the historical, geographic and aesthetic background relevant to the study of Lusophone culture. This will be done mostly through film but not exclusively.  This course also stresses techniques of textual criticism and knowledge of available research materials on Lusophone topics.  Throughout the semester we will examine films and texts with a focus on the topics of identity formation, imported ideas, and authenticity in Brazilian culture as they have been perceived from both abroad and within Brazil. We will also discuss how some of these issues also present themselves in Portugal and in African countries and will address questions such as:  How the issues of identity come about and how differently they manifest themselves in the various countries where Portuguese is spoken?  In each case, what are the social and political implications?  Thus, issues of identity, historical representation and nation building will be at the forefront of the analysis of films and texts to be discussed.

PORT 412S: Topics in Lusophone Culture
Upper-level seminar class. Topics may vary from semester to semester. Taught either in Portuguese or English.

PORT 495B: Honors Thesis Program