In this section

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

  • Self-expression and critical thinking in Spanish
  • Cross-cultural literacy
  • A familiarity with the artistic, cultural, economic, and political processes that have shaped U.S. Latina/o, Latin American, and Iberian cultures
  • How to appreciate, understand, and analyze diverse forms of cultural expression, including literature, film, art, and food
  • How to situate this cultural production in broader regional and global contexts.

WHO YOU COULD BE

  • Founder and CEO of a non-profit
  • Translator
  • Bilingual educator
  • Program leader, outdoor education
  • Graphic designer
  • Small-business owner
  • Risk management analyst at a major philanthropic foundation
  • Marketing and communications director, higher education
  • Accredited representative, immigrant advocacy group
  • Attorney
  • Doctor and professor of medicine
  • A Fulbright or Watson fellow
  • Professor of latin/x theater and performance
  • Program coordinator for an Argentina-based educational program provider
  • Customer success leader, multinational digital communications technology firm

OVERVIEW

The Department of Hispanic Studies offers a sound educational experience centered on the study of the language as well as the literary and cultural production of Iberian, Latin American, and U.S. Latinx cultures. In upper-division courses, students hone their research, writing, and public speaking skills, and explore key questions posed by literary and cultural studies about the Spanish-speaking world: the United States, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Spain.

Puget Sound addresses the needs of traditional students of Spanish as a foreign language, of heritage speakers for whom Spanish is a part of their family history, and of bilingual and bicultural students whose first language is English but who enter the university as near-native speakers of Spanish. Our curriculum embraces the rich variety of Spanish in the U.S., the centuries-old histories of Latinx communities all over the nation, and their current demographic, cultural, and political relevance.

 

SAMPLE COURSES

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

Students gain experience in a variety of ways:

  • Mercer Stauch '26 spent several months studying in Oaxaca, Mexico, writing about the protest culture there in the student newspaper
  • Angela Ronces-Cortez '24 was awarded a summer research grant to study the 1968 student protests in Mexico City.
  • Juliano Estrada Donatelli '21 won a summer research award to examine Latin American writers branching out
  • Cheyenne Dewey '16 completed an internship in the Complutense University of Madrid's Department of Microbiology
  • Leslie Machabee '20 was a summer program assistant for Madrid Summers, an immersive internship program
  • Aliah McCord '20 received a grant to spend a month in Oaxaca, Mexico conducting research on the impact of migration to the U.S. on the communities left behind

JOBS

Our alumni work at:

  • IMAGURU Startup Hub
  • Multnomah Education Service District
  • Avvo (HR administrator)
  • Cisco (customer success manager)
  • Mary Bridge Children's Hospital (genetic counselor)

CONTINUE STUDYING

Our alumni continue their studies at:

  • University of Washington
  • University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D., Hispanic literature)

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

Students in Oaxaca, Mexico
OAXACA, MEXICO

Students participating in the Oaxaca Study Away Program (Development, Culture, and Social Change in Mexico) may apply separately for a supervised educational internship in Oaxaca. 

Madrid, Spain
MADRID, SPAIN

Students participating in the two internship tracks on Madrid Summers complete a 120-hour internship in business, the humanities, or the sciences. An internship seminar is taught by a Puget Sound faculty member.

Granada, Spain
GRANADA, SPAIN

Students participating in the ILACA Granada Study Abroad Program may choose to complete a 48-hour practical experience in a professional internship, service learning, or volunteer experience.