Spanish and Portuguese

Academic Department Introduction

Spanish and Portuguese are two of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Spanish-speaking cultures extend from Spain’s Judeo-Christian and Islamic heritage to Latin America’s roots to the United States today. Portuguese is spoken in countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America, and the U.S. has significant Portuguese, Brazilian, and Cabo Verdean communities, particularly in New England, California, Florida, and New Jersey.

Students in our language classes work in small groups to build oral proficiency and encourage individual expression. Literature classes include analyses and discussions of writing from different periods. We examine past and present civilizations through courses on history, film, music, and culture. Frequent activities include tertulias (gatherings), lectures, symposia, films, and performances by writers and artists.

Learning goals

  • Understand and effectively interact with people across cultures.
  • Identify key topics in film, music, and literature within the social, political, and historical contexts of the modern Hispanic or Lusophone world.
  • Recognize pivotal events and representative figures in Hispanic or Lusophone history.
  • Develop the ability to participate in a multilingual and multicultural community.

Programs of Study

Spanish major

Students will develop an advanced level of linguistic fluency in Spanish.

Global Portuguese studies minor

Students will learn to communicate effectively in written and spoken Portuguese.

Course highlights

  • Using a gender-aware perspective and a wide variety of literary texts,, documents, films, and architectural and artistic examples, this course will explore various forms of Modernity and Modernization in Spain. The analysis will go beyond aesthetic modernity to consider social change and cultural transformation. Main figures will include Federico GarcĂ­a Lorca, Maruja Mallo, Vicente Huidobro, Antonio GaudĂ­, Luis Buñuel, Concha MĂ©ndez and “las sinsombrero”, JosĂ© Ortega y Gasset, Clara Campoamor, Victoria Kent, Salvador DalĂ­, and Pablo Picasso. The connections between modernity and postmodernity will also be explored, as well as a comparison of the attitudes towards change and innovation at the turn of the 21th and 21st centuries.
  • Topic: The Marvelous in Latin American Literature and CultureThis course explores the intersections between fantasy and reality in literary texts, art, film, cultural events, and digital content from various Spanish-speaking countries (Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay, Colombia, Argentina, and Spain). Texts and materials to be studied range from pre-Hispanic indigenous myth and art, to works from colonial and contemporary periods. We will study how societies and individual authors have explored fantasy and imagination in their various forms including myth, fable, magic, superstition, miracle, hallucination, magic realism, and the fantastic. Course materials will include readings, works of art, film, and music. Focus on class discussions, public speaking, and student writing, both critical and creative.

Places and spaces

Casa Cervantes

Eight students per year live in La Casa Cervantes, where they commit to speaking Spanish in all public areas of the house. Activities include visits from the Spanish faculty, game nights, and holiday celebrations.

Research highlights

Opportunities

  • Study abroad

    Qualified juniors are encouraged to spend a semester or a year in a Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking country with our study abroad partners (Study in Portuguese Network, Middlebury Study Abroad), or other approved programs. During Wintersession, our faculty run short-term study abroad programs. These have included trips to Barcelona and Cuba for students with proficient Spanish.

  • Internships

    The Spanish and Portuguese Department offers several funded internship opportunities in Cabo Verde, Portugal, Puerto Rico, and Spain, and at El Observatorio Instituto Cervantes at Harvard University. Other geographies are possible. Students are also encouraged to apply for the Gilman-FLAD Portugal Scholarship.

  • Spanish Table and Portuguese Table

    Open to all members of the Wellesley community, the tables offer an opportunity to share a meal with others who speak or are learning to speak Spanish or Portuguese.

Beyond Wellesley

Beyond Wellesley

Many Spanish majors and global Portuguese studies minors pursue careers in the health care, education, or legal professions. Employers include Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Ministerio de Educación in Chile, Immigrant Justice Corps, and the National Parks Service.

For more

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We would love to hear from you. Please contact Jael (jmatos@wellesley.edu) with items for the next edition of the newsletter.

Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Address
Green Hall
106 Central Street
Wellesley, MA 02481
Contact
Koichi Hagimoto
Department Chair
Jael Matos-Sims
Academic Administrator