Department of Romance Languages and Literatures

The Department of Romance Languages and Literatures embraces multiple disciplinary and linguistic traditions reflecting the geographical range and theoretical diversity of our fields. We teach seven languages: Basque, Catalan, French, Haitian Kreyol, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. Our configurations for undergraduate study include majors and minors in the languages, literatures, and cultures of Italy, France and the Francophone world, and Iberia and Latin America. We offer graduate programs in French and Francophone Studies, Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Studies, and Italian. Find out more about our Faculty Areas of Excellence!

2024-2025 Annual RLL Newsletter

Events

Recent News

  • El Cafecito, led by Associate Instructional Professor Verónica Moraga, has been recognized with a Diversity Leadership Award! These awards aim at giving visibility to collaborative efforts that advance “the university’s commitment to diversity.” April 2, 2026, at a lively ceremony, Verónica was handed the award by the university president, Paul Alivisatos.

  • The RLL department is proud to celebrate two finalists for the 2026 UChicago Literary Translation Prize: graduate student Cole Botta (Italian), for a translation from the Italian of Federigo Tozzi and undergraduate student Ernest Leong (French, senior), for a translation from the French of Swiss writer Alexandre Voisard. Congratulations to these two students on their work!