Spanish for the Professions Major

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Give yourself a competitive edge in your career.

The demand in the global marketplace for individuals who can demonstrate cultural awareness and communicate in more than one language increases daily. The Spanish for the Professions Major will help you master your language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), develop your cultural and linguistic awareness, and acquire discipline-specific terminology in order for you to become a bilingual professional.

As part of the major you will engage in professional exercises, such as crafting your résumé in Spanish, writing cover letters and memos, creating field-specific informational pamphlets, or delivering presentations in Spanish on banking, vaccines, social services, unemployment benefits, pregnancy and delivery, or immigration services, among many other possible topics.

As a culminating, hands-on experience, you will complete an internship in a professional firm or institution, where you will apply your knowledge and language skills while networking and learning the job.

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Explore sample courses in this program.

SP-210 Intermediate Spanish I

Review of language constructions and everyday vocabulary at a slighter faster pace than an elementary course. Grammar review starts with the most basic structures, such as present, preterite, and imperfect tenses; ser/estar; por/para; command forms; and pronouns and ends with present subjunctive. Vocabulary fields include feelings and emotions, urban living, family relationships, the media, and the environment. Readings, videos, and short films related to different Spanish-speaking countries add a cultural component to the course.
3 credits

SP-321 Advanced Spanish Composition I

Facility in prose writing, study of style of selected authors, variety of expression through word discrimination, and advanced grammatical structures.
3 credits

SP-323 Advanced Spanish Conversation through Film

The main objective of this course is to develop the student’s oral proficiency and communication skills while building on vocabulary and learning about different aspects of the Hispanic cultural world with a special emphasis on immigration issues. The class format is mainly based on group/pair discussions and debates in which students ask questions, express their views, elaborate on their ideas, and defend them by providing supporting examples drawn from their own experiences, analysis, or comparisons.
3 credits

SP-326 Spanish for the Professions

Intensive practice with language and documents used in private and public sectors including business, medicine, communication, education, and social services.
3 credits

SP-327 Introduction to Translation

The course prepares students for careers in translation and satisfies professional and academic requirements. It introduces students to the techniques required for translation in a competitive environment. Within the context of the development of greater cross-cultural awareness, it develops the following language skills for business purposes: speaking, listening comprehension, reading, writing, and translation.
3 credits

SP-331 Spanish Civilization

An historical survey of Spanish social, cultural, and political life. Conducted in Spanish.
3 credits

SP-332 Cultures of Latin America

Introduction to the cultures and history of Latin America from pre-Columbian times to the present day. This course introduces students to colonial, modern, and contemporary cultural, historical, and political issues that influenced the development of Latin American identities. The course is taught in Spanish.
3 credits

SP-333 Hispanic Presence in US

Socio-cultural study of Hispanics in the United States, with a focus on major contemporary issues. Conducted in Spanish.
3 credits

SP-341 Readings in Spanish Literature

Selected masterpieces from Middle Ages to present; social, cultural, and stylistic features of different periods. Recommended as a first course in Spanish literature.
3 credits

SP-343 Poetry and Theatre of Spain's Golden Age

Study of the poetry and drama created during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, known as the Golden Age of Spanish letters.
3 credits

SP-346 Latin American Theater

Exploration of the historical and aesthetic development of Latin American theater, focusing upon the particular factors that distinguish this theater from the Western European tradition. Students analyze dramatic texts (from Argentina, Uruguay, Perú, México, Puerto Rico, Chile, Cuba, and Colombia), performances, and critical and theoretical perspectives to engage in the following questions: How does theater create and represent social and political transformation? How might we reevaluate civic responsibility and accountability through the study of audience? What are the major innovations in Latin American theater and performance in the 20th and 21st centuries?
3 credits

SP-347 Latin American Colonial Literature

This course examines the colonial history of the American continent as interpreted through the various historical accounts written by eyewitnesses of the conquest. The course covers 2 centuries of writings from the late 15th to the 17th century and examines many historical accounts of the conquest, letters, documents, poetry, and other historical artifacts to learn of the social, political, religious, and economic significance of the colonial era. It combines an overview of the political economy of the region over 3 centuries with a study of how social groups interacted among themselves and with imperial rule over time.
3 credits

SP-349 Spanish-American Literature

Representative works from South and Central American authors from the colonial period to the present.
3 credits

SP-350 Advanced Spanish Grammar

This applied linguistics advanced class provides a background of Spanish grammar and delves into topics of the Spanish language that are usually challenging for English-speaking learners of Spanish. The goals are to clarify important aspects of the Spanish language and related cultural features, including uses of technology and assessment.
3 credits

SP-390 Spanish for Native Speakers

This course is designed for native or heritage speakers of Spanish who have oral proficiency but may not have received formal training in the language. These students were raised speaking Spanish at home. Therefore, this course is designed to work with the language base students already possess. All of 4 language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) are emphasized; however, the purpose of the course is to develop reading and writing skills through culture-related activities.
3 credits

Meet the World Languages Faculty

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Antonio Guijarro-Donadiós

Professor / Department Chair

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Elizabeth Osborne

Associate Professor, Director of Spanish Clinic and Placement

My primary research looks at memory in post-dictatorial Southern Cone film and literature, with an emphasis on Chile. Currently I am pursuing a second line of research on the representation of domestic labor in Latin American film from the 21st [...]

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Ana Pérez-Manrique

Professor of Spanish / Director of the Translation Center
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Naida Saavedra

Associate Professor of Spanish

Naida Saavedra is a writer of fiction interested in telling stories about people and their relationship with chaotic cities. As a scholar, her research focuses on issues of identity and migration in contemporary Latinx Literature. Currently, Saavedra [...]

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