Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies

 

Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies

 

As Italian film director Federico Fellini once said, a different language is a different vision of life. Learning a new language or improving proficiency in a language learned at home or in school gives students a deeper understanding of other cultures as well as cognitive and professional advantages. According to recent research, learning a second language as an adult sharpens cognitive skills correlated with academic success. Language study also improves employment prospects in a global economy; a study by Georgetown University found that foreign language majors had the lowest rate of unemployment of any field in the humanities. The Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies contributes to the academic and professional development of its students by developing their skills in critical thinking and writing as well as honing their linguistic expertise. We offer majors and minors in Portuguese and Lusophone Studies, Spanish, and a major track in Hispanic Civilization. In addition, we offer courses in Linguistics and are developing a new minor in Latin American Studies. We also offer classes in several other languages, including Arabic, Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Russian. In conjunction with the Department of Urban Education, we help students interested in teaching become certified to teach world languages as they complete their majors in Spanish or Portuguese. Many of our majors complete a second major in a wide variety of departments, including Business, Criminal Justice, English, Mathematics and Computer Sciences, Nursing and Pre-Medicine, Psychology, Social Work, and Visual and Performing Arts. 

News & Announcements

  • Rutgers-Newark-New Brunswick Caribbean Studies Dialogues invites you to a one-day conference

    Friday April 12, 2013. 9:00 a.m. to 6 p.m.Multi Purpose Room, Paul Robeson Campus Center

     

     

  • Please join us for the talk Portuguese Artists, Feminist Perspectives" by  Filipa Vicente, Portuguese historian and author

    Wednesday, April 3rd from 6:30-7:30PM in the Robeson Center, Room 256

     
  • Please join us for a screening of the award-winning Brazilian film Mutum, followed by a Q&A session with the director, Sandra Kogut

     

    Tuesday, April 9th from 4-6.30pm
    The Dana Room, Dana Library, 4th floor, Rutgers-
    Newark