Why Wooster?

› The curriculum at Wooster is designed to develop a critical understanding of cultural differences in a variety of contexts that correspond to the three general areas in the study of Hispanic languages, literatures, and cultures: Peninsular Spanish Literature and Culture; Latin American Literatures and Cultures; and Hispanic Linguistics.

› Students are encouraged to consider participation in Wooster's study abroad programs during their second or third years. Semester and full-year programs are available, allowing for flexibility in the student's curriculum, personal preference and degree of language proficiency. Program sites include Córdoba, Madrid, and Salamanca, Spain; Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic; Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, and La Plata, Argentina; and the Border Studies Program in El Paso, Texas/Juárez, Mexico. Many students have also had successful semesters through programs in Chile, Ecuador, and Mexico.

› A student from Spain or Latin America comes to Wooster every year to help with conversation in the language classes and with the organization of a number of activities. This student assistant resides at the Spanish House with a diverse group of other students — majors and non-majors — who speak only Spanish.

› Activities such as film series, meals, parties, lectures, and language tables allow students and instructors to exchange views in a very informal atmosphere.

› Each year, the College also offers sophomores a unique research experience. Some students, for example, have worked on the field investigation of the Puerto Rican community in Cleveland, as well as on the writing of research papers that resulted from the field research. As coauthors, these students participated in the presentation of the papers at international conferences. Occasionally, such student research with a professor will result in publication. The knowledge of research methodology that results from such experiences is very helpful as preparation for junior and senior Independent Study.

Life After Wooster

Spanish majors at Wooster have excelled in a variety of fields after graduation. Many choose to enter the field of education, and a number of them hold positions as language teachers at the high school and middle school level. Other Spanish majors from Wooster have taken such positions as application coordinator with the American Institute for Foreign Study, independent consultant at the Center for Technology Education at Johns Hopkins University, and bilingual educator in the Chicago public school system. The added dimension of fluency in Spanish provided by the exceptional curricular and creative programs at Wooster has given graduates a decided advantage when entering the fields of business, industry, education, and government.