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Spanish Program

With more than 400 million speakers worldwide, Spanish is the 3rd most spoken language in the world, and one of the six official languages of the United Nations. The United States boasts 41 million Spanish speakers. This language has an important role in California’s history and contemporary society, including the Central Valley.

The major and minor in Spanish at UC Merced is part of the Department of Literature, Languages, and Cultures. Our program accommodates both heritage and second-language speakers. The Spanish program prepares learners with academic and specialized language skills and intercultural competence necessary to participate effectively in professional and local contexts where bilingualism is in demand (e.g. business, education, healthcare). Thus it helps students face the demands of an ever more globalized society, one that requires and values broad linguistic and cultural competence, by requiring the study of Iberian, Latin American, and Latina/o literatures, linguistics, and cultures. Learners are challenged to think critically, to analyze literary works and discourse using linguistic approaches. Our curriculum is designed to engage students’ capacity for rigorous analysis and independent thought within a considerable range of disciplines and endeavors and to cultivate the intellectual, creative, ethical, and social qualities essential for leadership in a rapidly changing global community. We believe we have established a lively intellectual environment that fosters innovative thinking among faculty and students alike.

 

Are you a student looking for a way to practice your Spanish language skills? Join us every week at La Mesa de Español. Please click here for more information.

 

We are hosting an end-of-semester banquet! Please sign up before April 18th. Click here to sign up!

 

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Events & Happenings

Oct
13
El 13 de octubre de 2022 se celebró el Primer Simposio sobre bilingüismo y español en los Estados Unidos, organizado por los profesores Cristián H....

Featured News

November 4, 2022

Nuestra ex-alumna, Alejandra Tenorio Zurita (’20), ha comenzado a trabajar como ayudante de cátedra en el New American Legal Clinic del San Joaquin College of Law, un programa dedicado a...

November 4, 2022

En la primavera, el profesor Cristián H. Ricci enseñará por primera vez el curso Capstone 190, diseñado para los estudiantes del último año de la carrera de español. En el mismo, los estudiantes...

November 4, 2022

Nuestra querida estudiante Melissa Escalera ha sido galardonada con el Outstanding Graduating Student Award! Melissa ha hecho una gran labor en UC Merced. Su trabajo en nuestras clases de...