About the Portuguese Minor
- The Minor focuses on Brazilian Portuguese, but provides the students with knowledge of the Portuguese-speaking world and the relations between the different national contexts where the language is spoken.
- The courses were designed to cover a variety of topics that are relevant to Brazil and other Portuguese-speaking countries. Students acquire a wider comprehension of Portuguese in a multi-cultural context.
- The topics of the courses range from language to literature, from academic writing to performing arts; from sixteenth century letters on colonial issues to contemporary issues of biodiversity; from documentary films to soap operas; from nineteenth century Brazilian opera to twenty-first century funk ostentação.
- The professors in the Portuguese program incorporate their international research into their teaching.
- The innovative pedagogical approaches aim at students’ cultural intelligence, more than just language fluency.
10 Facts about Portuguese
- More than 230 million people around the globe speak Portuguese. It is the 6th most spoken language in the world, and the official language of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and Saint Tomé and Príncipe.
- The economy of Brazil is the world’s 7th largest by nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) expects Brazil to be the 4th largest economy by 2030.
- EIU forecasts that Angola will grow on average by 5.8% annually over 2014-2018.
- Mozambique has become one of the most promising countries in Africa in terms of natural gas and coal resources.
- Brazil is a global leader in bio-fuels.
- Cape Verde is one of the world’s top countries for renewable energy.
- Angola is the 2nd largest oil producer in Sub-Sahara Africa. Its national oil company (Sonangol) is expanding operations to Brazil, Cuba, Iraq, Saint Tomé and Príncipe, Venezuela, and the Gulf of Mexico.
- The New York Times describes Portugal as one of the hippest places in Europe. The country is known for good food, good wine, stunning nature, historic sites, and world-reckoned architects and designers. Besides, the best waves to surf in Europe are in Nazaré, a fishing village 75 miles from Lisbon.
- Cape Verde is one of the fastest growing tourism industries in the world because of its blissful way-of-life, and paradisiacal islands. The country is also an example among African nations for its stability and economic growth despite its lack of natural resources.
- With a Minor in Portuguese you can go to the most exciting corners of the world. Fact. Period.