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The Spanish major is designed to enable students to acquire competence in the Spanish language and attain the linguistic, cultural, and literary knowledge necessary to understand the Spanish-speaking world. Acquaintance with the language and many forms of culture of the Spanish-speaking world has become essential in the age of global communications and the internationalization of economic, political, cultural, and social life. Moreover, the study and appreciation of the diverse and dynamic cultural heritage of almost 400 million Spanish speakers in Europe and Central, South, and North America, including various Latino communities in the United States, have intrinsic value and are central to a comprehensive liberal arts education.

A major in Spanish, one of the most widely spoken languages, provides the student not only with communication skills but also with an integrative and cross-disciplinary exposure to a wide variety of literatures and cultures within the Spanish-speaking world: the regions of Spain influenced by Christian, Islamic, and Jewish traditions; the many countries of Latin America where European, African, and Amerindian peoples interacted to form rich and complex cultures, and the Latino communities in the United States with their rapidly growing populations and their increasing prominence in American life. The faculty of the department is fully committed to passing on to students the intellectual benefits to be gained from comprehensive knowledge of a diverse culture that has contributed greatly to the ideas, values, and accomplishments that have profoundly shaped the global community.