Celtic Studies

The Celtic Studies Program is a degree program in 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.

The major in Celtic Studies is designed to give students both a broad understanding of the place of Celtic languages and cultures and a firm grounding in one or more of the Celtic languages (modern Irish or Welsh, and study in Old and Middle Irish, Breton, and Medieval Welsh). In addition to at least three semesters of language study and the other major requirements, students will be required to organize their studies with reference to one methodological or disciplinary area chosen from anthropology, art history, comparative literature, linguistics, history, Scandinavian, or a related language and literature.

The Celtic Studies Program accepts entrants to the major from both freshmen and transfer students. The major is not impacted, and the program welcomes all Celtic Studies enthusiasts.

Declaring the Major

Students interested in the major should make an appointment early in their academic career via email with the undergraduate student services adviser. At the time of consultation, the adviser will review the student's transcript and will work with them to incorporate interests, plan for studying abroad, and create a double major plan if they are interested in combining two disciplines while at UC Berkeley.

Honors Program

In order for students to graduate with honors in Celtic Studies, they must have achieved an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.3 or higher in all work completed at the University and a minimum 3.5 GPA in all courses required for the major, as well as the honors seminar.