Romance Studies
The Romance Studies study programme is a new philologically-oriented programme that aims to prepare graduates – specialists (Romanists) – oriented in one of Europe's historically oldest geopolitical and cultural complexes, which is made up of a group of five major living Romance languages: French, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish and Italian.
The Romance Studies study programme reflects the current need for a broader and more extensive knowledge of the cultural and geopolitical areas of Europe and the world, the necessity to open up the education of humanities subjects in a broader perspective and to form professionals, i.e. Romanists, capable of working in the field thus presented. It is based on the nature and character of the foundations of European civilisation, where the ancient heritage and its continuation in late antiquity and early Christianity in the territory of the future Romance countries is inherent; from a geopolitical point of view, it is the fundamental influence of the modern civilising factor of the Romance cultures and the attempt to enforce it in the colonial period; the evaluation of this cultural element in the post-colonial era brings a new perspective to the area in question. Examining the impact of the Romance area on the world geopolitical situation and assessing its cultural heritage in a multicultural and multilingual European Union is of the utmost relevance.
Profile of Graduates of the Study Programme in Romance Studies: Graduates will acquire comprehensive knowledge of the Romance social, political, cultural and literary area in its historical, geopolitical and cultural contexts from a diachronic and synchronic perspective. They will have an active and full command of two Romance languages, which they will choose from combinations of 5 languages offered in the next academic year; they will acquire a basic knowledge of Latin, which will enable them to deepen their linguistic and cultural knowledge and will help them to acquire other Romance languages more easily in the future, which they can choose from the courses on offer. At the Master’s degree level, a third Romance language is a compulsory elective.
Graduates who acquire knowledge of the selected Romance languages and disciplines belonging to the relevant linguistic area will have access to authentic knowledge of seven European and more than two dozen overseas Francophone, Hispanophone and Lusophone countries, and will acquire an orientation in the Italian and Romanian cultural space. This will enable them to have access to the cultural and literary heritage of all Romance regions, to master cultural and professional communication, to exchange in the wider international area and to have access to literature and the results of scientific research in many fields.
Privileged areas of employment for graduates of the Romance Studies study programme are: work in publishing houses, in the media, in the corporate, industrial and commercial spheres, in tourism, in the civil service, in lower diplomacy, in European institutions. Graduates can also find employment as cultural mediators, and in the indicated professions, as an editor, proofreader, language editor, cultural officer, lecturer, language coordinator. In terms of the occupational structure and occupational fields, these are occupations such as proofreader, editor, publishing editor, translation manager, cultural agent, cultural manager, cultural advisor, further education lecturer, etc. From the point of view of the administrative bodies of the European Union, there are professions such as administrator (coordination of projects, communication with third countries), proofreader (proofreading of administrative texts before publication in the EU Publications Office; excellent knowledge of the mother tongue and a very good knowledge of another official EU language are required), translator – (translation of various types of texts for the European Council, the European Parliament, the Court of Justice in Luxembourg and other European institutions), excellent knowledge of the mother tongue and at least two other official EU languages is required.
Organisation of Study
The Romance Studies study programme is studied in a combination of two Romance languages. The study includes a compulsory block of core courses, which includes subjects that provide an introduction to the study of languages, literature and literary theory, to the history, civilisation, culture and present of the Romance countries; students familiarise themselves with the content of terms such as Francophone, Lusophone, Hispanophone, etc. At the Bachelor’s degree level, this block also includes a course devoted to the basics of Latin philology and Latin for beginners (these two disciplines form the historical and linguistic basis of European culture, from which the modern Romance languages and literatures have emerged). The language of instruction of the core courses is Slovak.
The two Romance languages, which students choose according to the offer of language combinations announced in the relevant academic year, will be their linguistic specialisation and have their own separate blocks made up of subjects whose content is the linguistics, literature and civilisation of the respective language. The subjects are taught in the chosen languages and in Slovak. The Master’s degree offers a choice of compulsory electives which prepare students for the teaching profession (subject to completion of the Supplementary Pedagogical study), for a career in publishing, whereby students can also learn the basics of translation, and for continuing their study at the doctoral degree level, with a focus on scientific work.
The study programme is structured in such a way that the individual degrees build on each other in terms of content and there is a gradual deepening of the knowledge acquired in the field of language, literature and culture, linguistic competences, skills and techniques in the chosen combination.
Successful completion of the Bachelor’s degree is a prerequisite for enrolment in the Master’s degree study. Students have the opportunity to spend 2 semesters throughout their study as part of Erasmus+ student mobility at one of our 20 partner universities in France, Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Italy, and can also take advantage of the offer of internships and student placements in Romania, organised through bilateral agreements.
Basic Study Prerequisites and Requirements
We expect applicants to the Romance Studies study programme to have an active interest and passion for the study of foreign languages, a relationship to the languages and cultures of the Romance area, communicative skills, but above all the will to work systematically on their education.
The study programme in Romance Studies is provided by internal lecturers from the Department of Romance Studies of the Faculty of Arts in Comenius University Bratislava (professors, associate professors, assistant professors and foreign lecturers), who are specialists in all the Romance languages offered, who are also active researchers and translators (of artistic and professional literature), who have worked and are working in the framework of teaching mobilities at foreign universities, and who also arrange the performance of foreign university lecturers at the Department of Romance Studies of the Faculty of Arts at Comenius University Bratislava.
Entrance Examination Requirements
Applicants for all language specialisations will be admitted on the basis of a general aptitude test conducted by www.scio.cz., s. r. o. Applicants applying for a language specialisation that includes Spanish must, in addition to the general aptitude test, also take a Spanish language test at www.scio.cz., s. r. o. For the study of Portuguese, Romanian and Italian, language proficiency is not required. Applicants for the Romance Studies programme majoring in Spanish language who have taken part in the national round of the Spanish Language Olympiad, Level C, and came 1st, 2nd or 3rd, do not have to take the Spanish language test of the National Comparative Exam.