Courses - Liberal Arts & Sciences program
For the first two weeks after arrival, students will take a non-credit, intensive Portuguese language course. For those students participating in the ACM spring semester, a structured "Portuguese for Foreigners" course will be offered at the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF). For those students participating in the ACM fall semester, alternate language options will be arranged, which may involve a structured course or tutoring.
Once the university semester begins, students then enroll in three or four classes. One course is a required Portuguese language course, while the remaining courses may be electives in any area of study. Students are typically advised to take at least two courses in a single department, to foster the relationships with faculty and students that contribute to success by adapting to the university’s organizational culture. For planning purposes, UFJF has posted an online listing of courses offerings for recent and upcoming semesters. Note: Courses offered during the Brazilian "first" semester (designated by a "1" on the UFJF pages) correspond with the U.S. spring semester. Courses offered during the Brazilian "second" semester (designated by a "3" on the UFJF pages) correspond with the U.S. fall semester.
UFJF has also posted the curricular structure for each undergraduate program, including links to detailed course descriptions. Note: From this main page, it takes several clicks to browse through the tables and eventually get to the course descriptions.
All classes are taught in Portuguese, so strong background in a Romance language (Spanish, French, or Italian), along with the intensive Portuguese course at the beginning of the semester, is essential (unless a student already has a background in Portuguese).
The International Relations Office at UFJF (known by its acronym in Portuguese as the CRI) is a key resource for exchange students, as it is the gateway for foreign students’ academic experience at the university. Not only does the office provide general guidance, advice and access for a wide range of activities at the university, in town, and even in other cities and regions to which students may travel, but perhaps most importantly it also oversees and facilitates foreign students’ enrollment in courses.
Required course
LEC 085 - Portugues para Estrangeiros (Portuguese for Foreigners)
Elective courses at UFJF taken by previous exchange participants
ART 047 - Plastic Art
ART 050 - Ceramica II
CRE 030 - Antropologia da Religiao
CS0 053 - Politics VII
CSO 045 - Brazilian Folklore
EST 001 - Elementos de Estatistica
GS 128 - Studies in Portuguese
HIS 063 - Brazilian Historiography
HIS 081 - Historia do Brasil Republica I
HIS 115 - Socio-Historical Development of Contemporary Brazil
HIS 124 - Historia do Brasil Colonial
LEM 049 - English Literature
MAT 016 - Complementos de Matematica e Estatistica
QUI 055 - Thermodynamic Chemistry I
List of courses offered at UFJF in recent and upcoming semesters
Curricular structure for each undergraduate program (with links to course descriptions)