The program develops analytical skills and methodologies needed to explore Hispanic, Hispanic-American, and Luso-Brazilian languages and cultures. The department offers two majors (Spanish studies and combined Spanish-Portuguese studies) and two minors (Spanish studies and Portuguese studies).
It is important to note that department majors and minors are not simply Spanish and Portuguese language programs; rather, they are liberal arts programs concentrating on Spanish, Latin American, and/or Luso-Brazilian literary, cultural, and linguistics studies with language skills as the foundation. All major and minor options in this department begin with prerequisite language courses, followed by advanced language skills courses (special arrangements may be made for native speakers of Spanish or Portuguese). These are followed by critical analysis skills courses in Hispanic literature, culture, and linguistics that prepare students to take advanced coursework in specific areas. The major options culminate in the completion of a senior project through a SPAN 5xxx course, or SPAN 3972W.
The department strongly encourages majors and minors to study abroad in a Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking area. Students who wish to complete department program requirements through study abroad must meet with the department advisor prior to departure. Detailed information regarding undergraduate Spanish and Portuguese studies academic issues is printed in the Undergraduate Advising Handbook.
The College of Liberal Arts Advantage: More Than a Major
When you study Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Minnesota, you gain the added advantage of a College of Liberal Arts education. At CLA, the liberal arts mean you get more than just a degree in one major or another; it means you will be exposed to different areas of study, to different ways of thinking and learning. In fact, the liberal arts teach you how to learn—how to ask the right questions, how to problem solve, and how to innovate. The liberal arts prepare students for the complexities of our world, because here at CLA you will study not just, say, politics or art but also where politics and art intersect, where science and ethics intersect, where economics and the environment intersect.
