BA in Liberal Arts and Sciences - Portuguese in Urbana United States | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The Portuguese studies program at both undergraduate and graduate levels centers on comprehending Brazil as a vibrant intersection of diverse cultures, languages, and global influences. Our curriculum highlights Brazil's role as a bridge connecting Spanish-speaking nations in the Americas, transatlantic regions, and the Global South, while also serving as a nexus for relationships among Portuguese-speaking countries across Africa, Asia, and Europe. The language component emphasizes Brazil's national development and the transnational interactions between African, Asian, European, Indigenous, and Middle Eastern communities whose histories have shaped not just Brazil but also Angola, Mozambique, Portugal, and other Lusophone regions.Through the Portuguese studies major, students achieve language proficiency while developing interdisciplinary skills drawn from diaspora studies, transnational perspectives, and intersectional analyses of class, gender, race, and sexuality within cultural and historical contexts. A distinctive feature of our program allows students to incorporate relevant courses from anthropology, comparative literature, ethnomusicology, global studies, history, and Latin American/Caribbean studies into their majors or minors. We actively welcome students from various colleges including ACES, Business, and Engineering. Our graduates pursue diverse career paths locally and internationally, bringing fresh perspectives rooted in Brazilian and Portuguese worldviews.Students master both formal and informal aspects of Portuguese language across written and spoken forms.Students develop specialized cultural and linguistic competence in Portuguese while applying interdisciplinary concepts and methodologies.Students cultivate critical insights into the challenges and possibilities presented by global and universal perspectives.