Academic Program

Spanish Novels on shelf.

Built on a solid competence in Spanish language, the major and minor develop students’ skills in critical analysis and provide an understanding of the literatures and cultures of Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Latinos in the United States.

The Department of Spanish's curriculum is organized in three tiers:

  • Language courses: Our language courses give students ample opportunity for practice, encouraging the development of of communicative proficiency and cultural competency. 
  • Introductory courses: Our writing courses enable students to move toward writing proficiency in Spanish and provide a panoramic view of the literary and cultural histories of the Hispanic world. 
  • Advanced courses and seminars explore specific trends and topics pertaining to the literatures and cultures of Spain, Mexico and Central America, South America, and the Hispanic Caribbean as well as those of Latino/a communities in the United States.  Additionally, courses taught in English allow a wide range of students to explore this rich literary and cultural heritage.

With the goal of enabling students to communicate fluently in Spanish, we base our curriculum upon a linguistic and pedagogical continuum beginning at the elementary language level and culminating in the most advanced courses and Honors seminars.

One of the strengths of the Department of Spanish lies in its scope, which is both geographical and chronological, offering courses on literatures of the 19th-, 20th- and 21st-centuries as well as that of Early Modern Spain and Colonial Latin America.

Given their interdisciplinary nature, our introductory and upper level courses are compatible with course studies in black studies, comparative literature, interpretation theory, gender and sexuality studies, and Latin American and Latino studies, among others. 

The Department of Spanish offers a course major and minor, honors major and minor, and a special major in Spanish and educational studies. Special majors of the student’s own design will also be considered; for instance, Spanish and sociology/anthropology; Spanish within comparative literature; Spanish and linguistics, and more.