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No restrictions. Open for research.

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Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Department of Romance Languages of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records #40087, University Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Periodic transfer from the offices that create these records.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

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These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

• Education, Higher--North Carolina--History.
• General education--North Carolina--History.
• Languages, Modern--Study and teaching--North Carolina.
• United States. National Defense Education Act of 1958.
• Universities and colleges--North Carolina--Accounting.
• Universities and colleges--North Carolina--Departments.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Accounting.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Curricula.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--History.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962). Department of Romance Languages.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Accounting.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Curricula.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--History.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Department of Romance Languages.

Instruction in romance languages at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill dates from the opening of the university in 1795. However, through the nineteenth century, this instruction, which emphasized the reading and translation of French literature, was combined with the study of "modern languages." A professorship of modern languages was created by the Board of Trustees on 15 December 1825. The responsibilities of the position included instruction in German as well as French. Throughout the century, the focus of language courses remained on reading and translation and only during the twentieth century did the courses broaden to include training in conversation. On 26 January 1886, the Department of Modern Languages was established by the Board of Trustees. In 1901, under President Venable, romance language (French and Spanish) courses were segregated from Germanic language instruction into a Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. Four years later, courses in Italian were added to the department's curriculum, and in 1905 the department's name was revised to Department of Romance Languages. Instruction in Portuguese became the third major component of the curriculum in the 1941-1942 academic year.

The graduate program in romance languages originated in "advanced" French courses developed during the 1894-1895 school year. The first departmental master's degree was awarded in 1908. The first doctoral degree was earned by J. C. Lyons in 1927.

Records of the Department of Romance Languages consist mainly of budget and financial records, including a number of files on departmental trust funds. There are also a few files pertaining to foreign language institutes for elementary and secondary school teachers held in the 1960s and supported by the United States National Defense Education Act of 1958.

• Audiotape (T-40087/1)