Spanish

Spanish--the second most spoken language in the United States today and one of the three most spoken languages in the world--has become an integral part of civic engagement and global citizenship.  Facility with the language has been an important component of career success for many Mount Holyoke graduates in fields including government, law, business, international affairs, education, journalism, medicine, and the performing arts.

We offer a course of study intended both to facilitate language proficiency and to contextualize and analyze issues relevant to Spanish speakers abroad and in the U.S.--such as terrorism, migration, and imperialism.

Intermediate and advanced-level courses adopt a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, including literary studies, film and media studies, social history, and political analysis. We also collaborate closely with a number of other departments and programs on campus, from Latin American studies and film studies to gender studies and Romance languages and literatures.

Engagement of the larger college community in the interests of our students and faculty through lectures, a film series, the mesa de español, and other extracurricular activities is also central to our program. In addition to providing opportunities for learning on campus, we strongly recommend that students study off campus in a Spanish-speaking context in order to enhance their language skills and to forge their own connections to place through language.