Minors
Welcome to a minor in Chinese, French, German, Italian Studies, Japanese, or Spanish!
Important Notice About Declaring a Language Minor Under the Semester Catalog
If you are an incoming student (first-year or transfer) or have changed your catalog to AY 2026–2028—the new semester catalog—we will be using new forms for all language minors. The new forms will be available on our website shortly.
That means that if you are an incoming student for Fall 2026 or have switched to the semester catalog (AY 2026–2028) and would like to declare a language minor (for example, Spanish) or request a course substitution, please email us to let us know of your intention, so we can keep communicating with you. We will notify you as soon as the new forms are available.
We look forward to hearing from you! The list of language advisors appears below. If you have general questions about the transition to semesters, please do not hesitate to contact the department chair, Dr. Silvia Marijuan, at smarijua@calpoly.edu.
Language minor requirements under semesters (in alphabetical order)
Coursework taken at another school/study abroad
Ask your advisor questions about minor credit for coursework taken at another school. For Study Abroad, consult the minor advisor before your trip to ensure transferability of courses.
You are responsible for monitoring progress towards your minor and having course substitutions approved by your minor advisor.
Contact your advisor in your major department to plan the best way to integrate your language minor into your major program. For additional information, consult the College of Liberal Arts Advising Center, 47-22B or call 756-6200.
For general university requirements, please see "Minors" in the Cal Poly Catalog.
To declare a minor, please complete click the minor form link for the language of interest and fill in your information. That will initiate the minor form which will be sent to your advisor then onward for processing.
Chinese
Visit the Chinese minor page for a description of the minor and course schedule.
- Advisor: Dr. Sophia Chen
Office: Bldg. 47, Rm 26
Phone: 756-2865
Email: hchen07@calpoly.edu
Semesters: New Chinese Minor Form for Incoming Students (Fall 2026) and Students Who Have Switched to the New Catalog (AY 2026–2028) — Link Forthcoming (See Notice Above)
Previous catalog:
Chinese Minor Form (catalog years 19-26)
French
Semesters: New French Minor Form for Incoming Students (Fall 2026) and Students Who Have Switched to the New Catalog (AY 2026–2028) — Link Forthcoming (See Notice Above)
French Advisor for Fall 2026
Dr. John Thompson
Office: Bldg. 47, Rm. 26A
Phone: 805-756-2094
Email: jjthomps@calpoly.edu
French Advisor for Spring 2027
Dr. Brian Kennelly
Office: Bldg. 47, Rm. 26C
Phone: 805-756-2889
Email: bkennell@calpoly.edu
Previous catalog:
- Advisor A-M: Dr. Brian Kennelly
Office: Bldg. 47, Rm. 26C
Phone: 805-756-2889
Email: bkennell@calpoly.edu
French Minor Form (catalog years 17-26) [Last Name A-M]
French Minor Form (catalog years 17-26) [Last Name N-Z]
- Advisor N-Z: Dr. John Thompson
Office: Bldg. 47, Rm. 26A
Phone: 805-756-2094
Email: jjthomps@calpoly.edu
German
Visit the German minor page for a description of the minor and course schedule.
- Advisor: Dr. Christian Anderson
Office: Bldg. 47, Rm. 26Q
Phone: 805-756-1620
Email: cander55@calpoly.edu
Semesters: New German Minor Form for Incoming Students (Fall 2026) and Students Who Have Switched to the New Catalog (AY 2026–2028) — Link Forthcoming (See Notice Above)
Previous catalog:
German Minor Form (catalog years 22-26)
Italian
Please contact the department chair, Dr. Silvia Marijuan, at smarijua@calpoly.edu for any inquiries related to the Italian minor under semesters.
Semesters: New Italian Studies Minor Form for Incoming Students (Fall 2026) and Students Who Have Switched to the New Catalog (AY 2026–2028) — Link Forthcoming (See Notice Above)
Previous catalog:
Italian Studies Minor Form (catalog years 19-26)
Japanese
For more information, please contact both Junko Cleave (jcleave@calpoly.edu) and Dr. John Thompson (jjthomps@calpoly.edu), copied on the same email.
Semesters: New Japanese Minor Form for Incoming Students (Fall 2026) and Students Who Have Switched to the New Catalog (AY 2026–2028) — Link Forthcoming (See Notice Above)
Previous catalog:
Japanese Minor Form (catalog years 22-26)
Spanish
The list of Spanish minor advisors, organized by students’ last names, appears below.
Semesters: New Spanish Minor Form for Incoming Students (Fall 2026) and Students Who Have Switched to the New Catalog (AY 2026–2028) — Link Forthcoming (See Notice Above)
- Advisor — Last name A-C: Dr. Fernando Sanchez
Office: Bldg 47, Rm. 26M
Phone: 805-756-2035
Email: ffsanche@calpoly.edu - Advisor - Last name D-H: Dr. Karen Muñoz-Christian
Office: Bldg. 47, Rm. 26P
Phone: 805-756-2273
Email: kschrist@calpoly.edu - Advisor — Last name I-N: Dr. René Carrasco
Office: Bldg. 47, Rm. 26B
Phone: 805-756-2865
Email: recarras@calpoly.edu - Advisor — Last name O-S: Dr. Silvia Marijuan
- Office: Bldg. 47, Rm. 28C
Phone: 805-756-1212
Email: smarijua@calpoly.edu - Advisor — Last name T-Z: Dr. Martha C. Galván-Mandujano
Office: Bldg. 47, Rm. 26D
Phone: 805-756-2992
Email: mgalvanm@calpoly.edu
Previous catalog (please, don't use these forms if you are an incoming student in Fall 2026 or if you switched to the semester catalog
Dr. Sánchez (ffsanche@calpoly.edu): Spanish Minor Form (catalog years 17-26) [Last Name A-C]
Dr. Muñoz-Christian (kschrist@calpoly.edu): Spanish Minor Form (catalog years 17-26) [Last Name D-H]
Dr. Carrasco: Spanish Minor Form (catalog 17-26) [Last Name I-N]
Dr. Marijuan: Spanish Minor Form (catalog years 17-26) [Last name O-S]
Dr. Galván-Mandujano: Spanish Minor Form (catalog 17-26) [Last Name T-Z]