Major and Minor

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The Celtic Studies Program is an undergraduate degree program housed by the Department of Scandinavian at the University of California, Berkeley. Its purpose is to bring together faculty and students with interests in the cultures, languages, literature, and history of the Celtic regions.

Faculty from the departments of English, Rhetoric, Linguistics, and History participate in teaching regular courses in Irish and Welsh language and literature (in all their historical phases), and in the history, mythology, and cultures of the Celtic world. Breton is also offered regularly, and Gaulish, Cornish, Manx, and Scots Gaelic are foreseen as occasional offerings, as are courses in the history and structure of the older Celtic languages. Students may complete an undergraduate major or minor in Celtic studies by fulfilling the requirements described below. The program has an innovative linkage of language and literature-in-translation courses intended to allow students maximum flexibility in pursuing their studies.

The Celtic Studies Program accepts entrants to its major from both freshmen and transfer students. Our major is not impacted and welcomes application from Celtic Studies enthusiasts.

The Major:

The major in Celtic Studies is designed to give students both a broad understanding of the place of Celtic languages and cultures in the world and a firm grounding in one or more of the Celtic languages. In addition to at least 4 semesters of language study and the other major requirements, students will be required to organize their studies with reference to one other methodological or disciplinary area chosen from: Anthropology, Art History, Comparative Literature, Linguistics, History, Rhetoric, Scandinavian, or another language and literature. Some students may find it advantageous to declare a minor in one of the language departments that offers it.

View the Celtic Studies Major Map here.

Major Requirements:

Celtic Studies will allow a Pass grade for major/minor requirements for Fall 2022 only, per L&S’s Fall ’22 P/NP late grade option modification due to the strike.

Lower Division. Celtic Studies 70 plus two semester courses from the following course sequences: 15 and 85 or 16 and 86, or the equivalent. Students with prior knowledge of a Celtic language may apply for Credit by Examination.

Upper Division. Upper division courses totaling at least 32 units including either 128 or 129, 138 or 139, and 168 or 169. One class from the following list must be taken: 102A, 102B, 105A, 105B, 144A, 145A, 146A. Also, 8 units must be included from among the following: 118, 119, 125 or 126. Scandinavian 123, 160, and 165 may also count toward the major. Courses from among the following may be taken with the approval of the major advisor: Anthropology 180; Art History 160; Comparative Literature 152 and 165; History 150A, 151A, 185A; Linguistics 130 or 131.

Minor in Celtic Studies:

Celtic Studies will allow a Pass grade for major/minor requirements for Fall 2022 only, per L&S’s Fall ’22 P/NP late grade option modification due to the strike.

Students in the College of Letters and Science may complete one or more minors of their choice, normally in a field both academically and administratively distinct from their major. The minor in Celtic Studies requires:

Lower Division. Celtic Studies 70.

Upper Division. Five upper division courses chosen from the major list and approved by the major adviser. All upper division courses applied to the minor must be completed on a letter-graded basis; at least three of the five courses must be completed at Berkeley, and a minimum overall grade-point average of 2.0 is required in the upper division courses.

Effective for students graduating in Summer 2023 and forward: You must declare your minor prior to the first day of classes of your Expected Graduation Term (EGT). If your EGT is a Summer term, the deadline to declare a minor is anytime prior to the first day of classes for Summer Session A. Contact undergraduate advisor, Amanda Minafo, at issaug@berkeley.edu to declare the minor. 

In your final semester, complete the College of Letters & Science Minor Completion form and return it to issaug@berkeley.edu.

This policy has been updated as of December 2022.

Honors Program:

In order for students to graduate with honors in Celtic Studies, they must have achieved an overall grade-point average of 3.3 or higher in all work completed in the University and a minimum 3.5 grade-point average in all courses required for the major, and they must have taken both Celtic Studies 128 and 129. A thesis is also required, which should normally emanate from H195, the Honors Seminar.

Study Abroad: studyabroad.berkeley.edu

Majors: up to three courses (12 units) abroad may be counted towards the major, pending review by the major advisor.
Minors: up to two courses (8 units) abroad may be counted towards the minor, pending review by the major advisor.

UCEAP and Berkeley Study Abroad programs are available in Ireland,  Scotland, and England.

Summer study-abroad programs at other UCs are also open to UC Berkeley students. Course credit transfers between UCs, but additional program fees may apply.

Students can also participate in study-abroad programs or study at universities that are not affiliated with UC Berkeley or UCEAP. All courses to be used toward major/minor requirements should first be reviewed by the major advisor. In order for credit to transfer to your UC Berkeley transcript, the sponsoring institution must be a 4-year, degree-granting institution or assign credit through another university (see the program’s Academics pages for details). Please review the Berkeley Study Abroad guidelines for independent study abroad programs here.

Examples include:

The Berkeley Study Abroad advisor for Ireland, Scotland, and England is Ted Sengpaseuth, tsengpaseuth@berkeley.edu.