Hispanic Studies

• 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.

• 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

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.