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Department of Romance Studies

Programs of Study

History

The Department of  Romance Studies is not only the oldest Department of Romance Studies in Serbia, but also in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. It was founded as a French Language Seminary within the General Literature Seminary in 1896 at the Great School, the predecessor of the University of Belgrade. When the University was officially established in 1905, the grouping together of branches of related sciences gave rise to Romance Philology at the Faculty of Philosophy. At first, it included the French Language Seminary, within which other Romance languages – Italian and Romanian – could be studied as optional or elective courses. After the reorganization of the Faculty of Philosophy in 1948, Romance Philology became the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. After the Second World War, the Seminary for Italian and the Seminary for Romanian were established, with the Spanish Language Lectorate founded in 1951. After the separation of the Faculty of Philology from the Faculty of Philosophy in 1960, the Department was renamed the Department of Romance Studies. It included the Sub-Department of French Language and Literature, the Sub-Department of Italian Language and Literature, the Spanish Language Lectorate, and, as of 1963, the Sub-Department of Romanian Language and Literature. The Sub-Department of Italian Language and Literature became an independent department in 1966 – the Department of Italian Studies. In 1971, the Spanish Language Lectorate became the Sub-Department of Spanish Language and Literature. When Hispanic American literature was introduced into the study program, it changed its name to the Sub-Department of Spanish Language and Hispanic Literature, and in 2000 it became an independent department – the Department of Iberian Studies. From 1997 to 1999, the Portuguese Language Lectorate was part of the Department of Romance Studies, but it was then transferred to the Department of Iberian Studies. Since 2000, the Department of Romance Studies has consisted of two sub-departments – French Language, Literature and Culture and Romanian Language, Literature and Culture.

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