About the Program

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

The Dutch Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley is of unique national and international importance. It offers a comprehensive education in Dutch language, literature, cultural history, and linguistics. The Berkeley Main Library and Bancroft Library possess one of the richest Dutch book collections in the United States. Intensive collaboration with Dutch and Flemish universities and cultural organizations has made Berkeley a leading Dutch intellectual center in the US.

Learn about the language, literature, culture, and history of the Netherlands. Dutch Studies offers English-taught courses on Dutch cultural history, literature and linguistics, as well as Dutch language courses. Through a broad curriculum, students study important cultural developments from the medieval towns in Flanders over the Dutch “Golden Age” and the Netherlands’ colonial expansion up to the contemporary multicultural, liberal, and European identity of the Low Countries.

Declaring the Major

For further information regarding declaring the major, please contact the undergraduate adviser Nadia Samadi at germanic@berkeley.edu

Honors Program

A grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 in the major and an overall GPA of 3.3 are required for participation in the program during the senior year.

Course requirement: writing an honors thesis (30-40 pages) is a commitment over two semesters. In the first semester, the student must enroll in a 2-unit independent study (199; P/NP). In the second semester, the student must enroll in H196 (4 units). Students are urged to meet with professors who might serve as thesis advisers prior to enrolling in GERMAN 199. The honors committee, consists of the major advisor and the thesis director, approves the topic and evaluates the thesis.

Minor Program

The Dutch Studies Program offers a minor in Dutch Studies. For information regarding declaring the minor, please contact the undergraduate adviser Nadia Samadi at germanic@berkeley.edu

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Major Requirements

In addition to the University, campus, and college requirements, listed on the College Requirements tab, students must fulfill the below requirements specific to their major program.

General Guidelines

1. All courses taken to fulfill the major requirements below must be taken for graded credit, other than courses listed which are offered on a Pass/No Pass basis only. Other exceptions to this requirement are noted as applicable.
2. No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs, with the exception of minors offered outside of the College of Letters & Science.
3. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 must be maintained in both upper and lower division courses used to fulfill the major requirements.

For information regarding residence requirements and unit requirements, please see the College Requirements tab.

As flexibility and interdepartmental cooperation are of essential importance to the Dutch Studies Program, there are no requirement courses for the Dutch major besides the Dutch language courses. This enables students to compose the Dutch major according to their personal interests. It also makes it easier to add Dutch Studies as a double major. Due to the fact that the number of upper division courses offered in the Dutch Studies program is limited, we strongly encourage students considering a a major in Dutch Studies to apply to the UC Berkeley Study Abroad Program.  Furthermore, students who study abroad at a Dutch or Belgian university can apply for equivalents to be counted to the Dutch Studies Major, depending on approval by the Program Director."

Lower Division Prerequisites

Upper Division

Minimum 30 units.

Minor Requirements

Students who have a strong interest in an area of study outside their major often decide to complete a minor program. These programs have set requirements and are noted officially on the transcript in the memoranda section, but are not noted on diplomas.

General Guidelines

1. Prerequisites: Elementary Dutch 1 and Intermediate Dutch 2 or equivalent
   5 upper-division courses, including:
2. Advanced Dutch: Dutch 110
3. Conversation and Composition: Dutch 125
4. Dutch for Reading and Translation Knowledge: Dutch 100
5. the Structure of Modern: Dutch 107
6. Topics in Dutch Literature: Dutch 140
7. Travel/Study Course: Dutch 177
8. Capstone course: Dutch 195
9. One course in the Dutch 160-series (may be repeated as topics change)
10. One course in the Dutch 170-series (may be repeated as topics change)
11. one related upper-division course outside of the Department (with approval by the Program Director).

Requirements

As flexibility and interdepartmental cooperation are of essential importance to the Dutch Studies Program, there are no requirement courses to the Dutch minor besides the Dutch language courses. This enables students to compose the Dutch minor according to their personal interests. It also makes it easier to add Dutch Studies as a minor. Due to the fact that the number of upper division courses offered in the Dutch Studies Program is limited, we strongly encourage students considering a minor in Dutch Studies to apply to the UC Berkeley Study Abroad Program.   Furthermore, students who study abroad at a Dutch or Belgian university can apply for equivalents to be counted to the Dutch Studies Minor, depending on approval by the Program Director."

College Requirements

Undergraduate students must fulfill the following requirements in addition to those required by their major program.

For detailed lists of courses that fulfill college requirements, please review the College of Letters & Sciences page in this Guide. For College advising appointments, please visit the L&S Advising Pages. 

University of California Requirements

Entry Level Writing

All students who will enter the University of California as freshmen must demonstrate their command of the English language by fulfilling the Entry Level Writing requirement. Fulfillment of this requirement is also a prerequisite to enrollment in all reading and composition courses at UC Berkeley. 

American History and American Institutions

The American History and Institutions requirements are based on the principle that a US resident graduated from an American university, should have an understanding of the history and governmental institutions of the United States.

Berkeley Campus Requirement

American Cultures

All undergraduate students at Cal need to take and pass this course in order to graduate. The requirement offers an exciting intellectual environment centered on the study of race, ethnicity and culture of the United States. AC courses offer students opportunities to be part of research-led, highly accomplished teaching environments, grappling with the complexity of American Culture.

College of Letters & Science Essential Skills Requirements

Quantitative Reasoning

The Quantitative Reasoning requirement is designed to ensure that students graduate with basic understanding and competency in math, statistics, or computer science. The requirement may be satisfied by exam or by taking an approved course.

Foreign Language

The Foreign Language requirement may be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency in reading comprehension, writing, and conversation in a foreign language equivalent to the second semester college level, either by passing an exam or by completing approved course work.

Reading and Composition

In order to provide a solid foundation in reading, writing, and critical thinking the College requires two semesters of lower division work in composition in sequence. Students must complete parts A & B reading and composition courses in sequential order by the end of their fourth semester.

College of Letters & Science 7 Course Breadth Requirements

Breadth Requirements

The undergraduate breadth requirements provide Berkeley students with a rich and varied educational experience outside of their major program. As the foundation of a liberal arts education, breadth courses give students a view into the intellectual life of the University while introducing them to a multitude of perspectives and approaches to research and scholarship. Engaging students in new disciplines and with peers from other majors, the breadth experience strengthens interdisciplinary connections and context that prepares Berkeley graduates to understand and solve the complex issues of their day.

Unit Requirements

• 120 total units

• Of the 120 units, 36 must be upper division units

• Of the 36 upper division units, 6 must be taken in courses offered outside your major department

Residence Requirements

For units to be considered in "residence," you must be registered in courses on the Berkeley campus as a student in the College of Letters & Science. Most students automatically fulfill the residence requirement by attending classes here for four years. In general, there is no need to be concerned about this requirement, unless you go abroad for a semester or year or want to take courses at another institution or through UC Extension during your senior year. In these cases, you should make an appointment to meet an adviser to determine how you can meet the Senior Residence Requirement.

Note: Courses taken through UC Extension do not count toward residence.

Senior Residence Requirement

After you become a senior (with 90 semester units earned toward your BA degree), you must complete at least 24 of the remaining 30 units in residence in at least two semesters. To count as residence, a semester must consist of at least 6 passed units. Intercampus Visitor, EAP, and UC Berkeley-Washington Program (UCDC) units are excluded.

You may use a Berkeley Summer Session to satisfy one semester of the Senior Residence requirement, provided that you successfully complete 6 units of course work in the Summer Session and that you have been enrolled previously in the college.

Modified Senior Residence Requirement

Participants in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP), Berkeley Summer Abroad, or the UC Berkeley Washington Program (UCDC) may meet a Modified Senior Residence requirement by completing 24 (excluding EAP) of their final 60 semester units in residence. At least 12 of these 24 units must be completed after you have completed 90 units.

Upper Division Residence Requirement

You must complete in residence a minimum of 18 units of upper division courses (excluding UCEAP units), 12 of which must satisfy the requirements for your major.

Student Learning Goals

Mission

The structural idea of Berkeley’s Dutch Studies Program is that Dutch Studies are also world studies. Each course in the program allows students to learn about the Low Countries (the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) and to sharpen their view of world history, global problems and transnational cultural connections. The program offers four levels of Dutch language acquisition in combination with a rich variety of English-taught courses dedicated to the culture, language, politics and history of the Low Countries. In cooperation with Summer Sessions, Dutch Studies also organizes an annual travel study course: The Amsterdam-Brussels Connection.

Learning Goals for the Major

1. Dutch History is World History
   • Through a broad curriculum, Dutch studies offers a critical reflection on the multicultural past and present of the Netherlands. Few European countries have as profound a legacy as the Netherlands in both colonial and post-colonial studies. Some of the best world literature has been written in the former Dutch East Indies and in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean. Traces of Dutch influence can be found all over the world, from Japan and Indonesia to South Africa to the United States, where present-day New York City goes back to the former Dutch colony of New Amsterdam.
2. Dutch Politics are World Politics
   • Dutch studies offers a critical reflection on the political past and present of the Low Countries. Few European countries have as profound a legacy in freedom, liberty, and tolerance as the Netherlands. Historically, it was not the aristocracy, as in most European nations, but the citizenry that shaped Dutch culture and identity. Its strong attachment to freedom is what makes the Netherlands unique in the world as a model for progressiveness. The Dutch Act of Abjuration of 1581 served as a model of inspiration for the American Declaration of Independence.
3. Dutch Economy is a World Economy
   • Dutch studies pays attention to the importance of the economy in the Low Countries. Located at the estuary of some of Europe’s most important rivers, the Low Countries represent a vital economic artery of the European continent. According to some of the world’s leading historians, the Netherlands became the first modern economy in the world in the 17th century. Today, the Netherlands is the third biggest foreign investor in the United States. The present-day Low Countries (the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) represent the fourth biggest export economy in the world. Europe’s two biggest seaports are located in the Low Countries (Rotterdam and Antwerp), as is the EU capital in the Dutch and French-speaking city of Brussels.
4. Dutch Culture is a World Culture
   • Dutch studies offers a profound study of the cultural importance of the Low Countries. The singular development of the Netherlands has been accompanied by splendid cultural achievements in painting, book printing, architecture, and literature right through contemporary dance and design. Dutch culture is represented by several of the world’s most famous painters, from van Eyck to Rembrandt and from Vermeer to Van Gogh.
5. Dutch Language is a World Language
   • Dutch studies offers four levels of Dutch language acquisition from introductory to advanced Dutch as well as a linguistic course on the structure of modern Dutch. While Dutch is the mother tongue of approximately 23 million people in Europe (some 17 million in the Netherlands and 6 million in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium), it is also spoken by half a million people in the Caribbean and, although in a creolized form, by some 6 million people in South Africa. Due to its colonial legacy, knowledge of Dutch language proves to be of essential importance for scholars interested in the history of Japan, South East Asia, South Africa, the Caribbean and the early European colonization of the United States.

Major Map

Major Maps help undergraduate students discover academic, co-curricular, and discovery opportunities at UC Berkeley based on intended major or field of interest. Developed by the Division of Undergraduate Education in collaboration with academic departments, these experience maps will help you:

• Explore your major and gain a better understanding of your field of study

• Connect with people and programs that inspire and sustain your creativity, drive, curiosity and success

• Discover opportunities for independent inquiry, enterprise, and creative expression

• Engage locally and globally to broaden your perspectives and change the world

• Reflect on your academic career and prepare for life after Berkeley

Use the major map below as a guide to planning your undergraduate journey and designing your own unique Berkeley experience.

View the Dutch Studies Major Map PDF.

Advising

The Dutch Studies Office of Undergraduate Advising with the assistance of the professional advising team helps students with a range of issues including course selection, academic decision-making, achieving and academic goals, and maximizing the Berkeley experience.  Undergraduate Adviser contact: Nadia Samadi; email:  germanic@berkeley.edu 

Academic Opportunities

Academic Opportunities

Summer Abroad Program in the Netherlands and Belgium (studyabroad.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/programs/SummerAbroad/2019%20Posters/SA-2020-NetherlandsBelgium-flier.pdf)

Study Abroad in the Netherlands

UC Education Abroad Program in the Netherlands. Semester and year options with course work in English are offered in two Dutch cities: Maastricht and Utrecht.

Grants and Scholarships for Research in Dutch Studies

Courses

Dutch Studies

Faculty and Instructors

Faculty

Jeroen Dewulf, Professor. Dutch studies, transatlantic slavery, German literature, European Studies, post-colonial studies, hybridity.
Research Profile

Thomas F. Shannon, Professor. Linguistics, control, German, Dutch, syntax, phonology, naturalness, syllable structure, complementation, ergative phenomena, passivization, perfect auxiliary selection, word order, processing factors syntactic phenomena, cognitive, functional grammar, corpus.
Research Profile

Lecturers

Esmee van der Hoeven, Lecturer.
Research Profile

Emeritus Faculty

Johan P. Snapper, Professor Emeritus. Dutch studies.