Department Website
Program Description
With over 250 million speakers, Portuguese is a global language spoken in Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, East Timor, Macau, and São Tomé and Príncipe, and the language is tied to centuries of transoceanic cultural development and exchange. Brazil alone accounts for 220 million speakers, who constitute a rich, culturally diverse community, with hemispheric and global impact in the fields of culture, economics, and politics. This five-course (20-credit) minor allows students to advance and demonstrate their fluency in the Portuguese language and introduces them to key aspects of the Luso-Afro-Brazilian world. With a minimum requirement of one advanced Portuguese course in the study of culture (a “300-level” course), students are free to choose their other four electives according to their interests, drawing on courses in our department or around the university that engage the Portuguese-speaking world. Students are encouraged to study away with our summer program in Recife, Brazil, as part of the minor.
The Department of Spanish and Portuguese is an interdisciplinary department focused on the languages, cultural formations, and critical thought emerging from Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking worlds. Students interested in the major track in Portuguese should consult the Spanish and Portuguese (BA) page in this Bulletin.
Minor Declaration
To request declaration of a minor, CAS students should visit the host department. To request declaration of a cross-school minor, CAS students should complete the online Minor Application available in their Albert Student Center. Students may also use the Minor Application in Albert to request cancellation of a CAS or cross-school minor.
Program Requirements
Please note: Students who have completed (or are completing) the requirements for the previous minor in Luso-Brazilian Literature and Culture must contact the department for advising.
The minor requires the completion of five 4-credit courses (20 credits) at or above the intermediate level, comprised of the following:
Course List
| Course |
Title |
Credits |
| 4 |
| 2 | |
| 4 |
| 4 |
| 4 |
| 4 |
| Total Credits | 20 |
Policies
Program Policies
Department of Spanish and Portuguese: Policies Applying to All Departmental Minors
Students who wish to minor must declare with the department and select courses in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies. All minor courses must be completed with a grade of C or better (Pass/Fail grades do not count). Transfer students must complete at least half the courses for their minor (three courses for a five-course minor) in residence at NYU.
Double-Counting Policy
Minors may share (double count) one course with a major or a second minor, with permission from the other department/program.
Placement in Portuguese Language Courses
- Spanish speakers with no formal training in Portuguese may register directly for PORT-UA 11 Elementary Portuguese for Spanish Speakers.
- Other students with no training in Portuguese may register for PORT-UA 1 Portuguese for Beginners I .
- Students with any previous formal training in and/or familiarity with Portuguese must take the CAS online placement exam in Portuguese. Students will receive a score placing them in a certain level of the language and must register for that level.
- Students with a placement score of 69 or higher wishing to continue their study of Portuguese at NYU should contact the directors of the language program at spanish.dlp@nyu.edu for further guidance.
For further information please consult the department's language placement information. To contact the director of the language program (DLP), write to spanish.dlp@nyu.edu.
NYU Policies
University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages.
College of Arts and Science Policies
A full list of relevant academic policies can be found on the CAS Academic Policies page.