All Courses in Portuguese

PORT I-II A 1-credit course that combines Portuguese 1 and Portuguese 2 in one term. Portuguese 11 is a fast-paced course that introduces students to the Portuguese language and the cultural and social aspects of Brazil and other Portuguese-speaking countries. Students will develop basic communicative skills through engaging activities that cover oral, listening, written, and reading practice. Standard grammar structures will be taught in tandem with idiomatic usage so that students will be ready to use the language in formal and informal situations. Intensive use of films, documentaries, popular music, online news media, and social media will accelerate the learning of the language and provide a fruitful avenue for understanding cultural issues and current events in Portuguese-speaking countries. By the end of this course, students will be able to communicate facts, ideas, habits, and feelings, using present, past, and future tenses. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to take Portuguese 3. PORT 11 is offered in Spring and Summer. 

PORT III The course provides additional, intensive study of grammar and vocabulary with a focus on literature and culture. Oral class activities, readings and compositions and continued use of films, music and other media. Weekly drill sessions. Completion of this course constitutes fulfillment of the language requirement. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements. Open to first-year students by qualifying test and to others who have passed PORT 11. This course is offered in Fall. 

Sample Syllabus

The First-year Seminar Program serves four purposes. First, by means of a uniform writing requirement, the seminar stresses the importance of written expression in all disciplines. Second, it provides an attractive and exciting supplement to the usual introductory survey. Third, it guarantees each first-year student at least one small course. Fourth, the program engages each first-year student in the research process, offering an early experience of the scholarship that fuels Dartmouth's upper-level courses.

Students in this course will practice the Portuguese language by researching, analyzing, and discussing the portraits of well-known and ordinary Brazilians. Through the study of a broad range of written, visual, and audio/oral texts in Portuguese, students will examine the portrait as genre in literature, journalism, popular music, film, photography and the fine arts. Fictional and non-fictional life stories of Brazilians will serve as a window on the cultural, geographic and socioeconomic diversity within Brazil’s society. Throughout the term, students will produce written and oral portraits in Portuguese that will eventually be bound together in hand-made books. This course will also review important points of grammar and expand considerably students’ vocabulary in Portuguese. Reading, listening, speaking and writing assignments will develop their ability to communicate in clear, correct and idiomatic Portuguese.

Through a selective review of grammar, vocabulary-building exercises, and readings and discussion of contemporary topics affecting the Portuguese-speaking world, students will develop their ability to write and speak clear, correct and idiomatic Portuguese in order to achieve competence in the language. Dist: LIT; WCult: NW.

A course in Brazilian culture and civilization taught in the context of the Language Study Abroad PLus  program.  Lectures by local personnel concentrate on contemporary political, social, economic, and religious institutions of the country, with attention paid to their historical background.  Visits to sites supplement these lectures when appropriate.  Assigned work includes preparation of papers and oral presentations, and a final examination. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Language Study Abroad Program. Dist: WCult: NW.

An introductory course, offered in the context of the Language Study Abroad Plus program, dealing with major figures, themes, or genres of Brazilian/Portuguese literature.  Areas of concern include critical reading and analysis, style, historical and social perspective. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Language Study Abroad Program. Dist: LIT; WCult: NW.

This course deals with colonial and modern Portuguese-speaking world, including continental and insular Portugal, Brazil, Lusophone Africa and Asia. Readings (both theoretical and fictional), film, music, and materials from the mass media that deal with the cultural identities and social roles of colonial and modern subjects are approached under different techniques of critical reading and interpretation. The second part of the course, with the disputed “definitions” of Brazilian identity, revises some “theories” or “myths” likes that of "racial democracy". The basic reading in this part is O Que Faz o brasil, Brasil? (What Does Make brazil Brazil?), by Roberto DaMatta, which focus on the core aspects of the Brazilian identity (or Brazilian stereotyped identity). Considerable emphasis will be placed on speaking and writing skills. Open to first-year students by qualifying test and to others who have passed PORT 9 (LSA+) or have equivalent preparation. PORT 20 is a prerequisite for the Portuguese Foreign Study Program, and also counts towards the minor in Portuguese or the major in Romance Languages and modified majors. Dist: LIT; WCult: CI.

D.F.S.P. Intensive essay writing workshop with discussion focusing on Brazilian culture. Advanced grammar, sentence structure and word usage provide a framework for excellence in writing. Exercises are based on readings of materials from diverse sources in contemporary Brazilian culture, history, politics and current events. Credit for this course is awarded to students who have successfully completed the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program in São Paolo, Brazil. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program. Dist: WCult: NW.

D.F.S.P. A course in Brazilian culture and society taught in the context of the Foreign Studies Program. Lectures by local personnel concentrate on contemporary political, social, economic and religious institutions and issues and their historical background. Visits to sites supplement lectures when appropriate. Assigned work includes preparation of short papers, oral presentations and exams, assessed at the advanced level. Students will also write a research paper based on group visits requiring sessions additional to regular classes. Prerequisites: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program. Dist: SOC; WCult: NW.

D.F.S.P. This course explores trends in Brazilian literature from the 1960s to the present. Genres include novels, plays, short stories and poetry, as well as song lyrics of literary quality from various musical genres. Prominent themes include, but are not limited to, the socio-political experience of the dictatorship, urban and suburban life, and literature by women. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program. Dist: LIT; WCult: NW.

This course focuses on the study of the most important historical periods and cultural movements affecting the Portuguese-speaking world. It is organized according to chronological eras that are marked by distinct cultural and literary movements. Areas covered are the Middle Ages, the culture of the Renaissance and the Baroque, the period of Explorations, Colonial period, Enlightenment and Modernity, Nineteenth-Century, Romanticism and Realism, the Avant-Gardes, Postmodernism, and new developments in the contemporary period. One or more periods may be selected for study. Prerequisite: PORT 9 or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.

This course will focus on the study of various genres present in the literatures and cultures of the Portuguese-speaking world: Portugal, Brazil, Lusophone Africa and Asia. Each offering will be organized around one genre or more basic genres like poetry, narrative, drama, and essay. The course will provide students with the appropriate critical and theoretical vocabulary to address the specificity of the genre or sub-genre being studied, through the works of representative Portuguese-language authors in their historical, social and cultural context. Prerequisite: PORT 9 or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: NW.

Film, television, the visual and graphic arts, and music have redefined national space and identity in the Portuguese-speaking world. Individual offerings of this course may focus on one or more of the following: film, television and the politics of mass media; theater, performance and performativity; festivals, popular and folk songs, comics and the graphics arts; sports and national identity. Students will become familiar with relevant concepts in analysis, theory, and cultural studies and learn how issues of representation in those cultural productions are linked to their literary counterparts. Prerequisite: PORT 9 or permission of the instructor. Dist: ART; WCult: varies.

This course is offered periodically with varying content so that writers, genres, historical contexts, or theoretical approaches not otherwise provided in the curriculum may be studied. The course can be offered any term and its distinct content, theoretical or methodological approach will depend on the interests of the instructor. Prerequisite: PORT 9 or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: NW.

Fall 2024: Portuguese 63.08: The Many Faces of Brazilian Cinema.

For Portuguese language students with an intermediate-high level in Spanish, this course, taught in Spanish, aims to give a comprehensive vision of the richness and diversity of Brazil by introducing its culture and society through the study of Brazilian contemporary cinematic productions. Topics include The Other's gaze in Brazil, redefinition of national identity and history, reassessment of African and indigenous roots, concepts of good and evil, rural and urban violence, popular culture, and representations of race and gender. Class discussion also focuses on documentaries, reviews, and critical articles. All movies are shown in Portuguese with Spanish or English subtitles. This is the only Spanish/Portuguese cross-language course offered within the Department. Dist: ART; WCult: NW. Professor: Rodolfo Franconi.

This seminar is designed to provide students specializing in Portuguese studies with a small group setting that facilitates in-depth exploration of key aspects of the discipline. The seminar will encourage students to research and explore relevant topics related to the literature and arts of the Portuguese-speaking world and experiment with the application of the different concepts under discussion in new and creative ways (essay writing, short story writing, visual arts projects, performance pieces, etc.). This course may serve in satisfaction of the culminating experience requirement for Romance Language and modified majors with a concentration in Portuguese. Prerequisite: PORT 9 or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT.

A program of individual study directed by a member of the Spanish and Portuguese faculty. PORT 83 will normally consist of a program of reading and research that is not covered in regularly scheduled course offerings. After consultation with the faculty advisor of the project, all Independent Study proposals must be submitted for approval to the Department. Under normal circumstances, no student may receive credit for this course more than once. Students interested in pursuing an Independent Study proposal must identify their topic and faculty advisor, and present a proposal to their faculty advisor and to the Department for approval by the last week of the term prior to registering for PORT 83.

Supervised independent research under the direction of a designated advisor. Honors students will normally elect this course as the first in the required sequence (90 and 91) for completion of the Honors Program. PORT 90 is intended to prepare the student for writing the Honors thesis, through readings in primary and secondary texts, theory and methodology. The course will include periodic written assignments and culminate in a final paper. Prerequisite: Admission to the Honors Program.

A prearranged program of study and research during any term of the senior year, on a tutorial basis, with individual faculty members (normally the thesis advisor). A thesis and public presentation are the expected culmination of the course. Prerequisite: Prior admission to the Department’s Honors Program; clear evidence of capability to perform honors level work, normally indicated by completion of PORT 90 with a grade of B+ or higher.