students in a classroom

Study Here, Belong Everywhere
```twig
20+
Instructors ranked as excellent on average each semester
```twig
Popular Minor
Spanish is one of the most in-demand minors offered in the College of LAS
```twig
15+
Upper-level elective courses offered each semester
```twig
19:1
Average student/instructor ratio for our 100-,200-, 300-level courses

Why Study Spanish?

Take a walk with professor Anna Torres-Cacoullos to learn why studying Spanish is important today
Salvatore Callesano
Dr. Salvatore Callesano awarded $19,349 from Curiousity to Impact Fund
Prof. Salvatore Callesano has been awarded $19,349 in funds from the inaugural Curiosity to Impact Fund (C2I) by the College of LAS, to develop a general education US Minority Cultures course tentatively titled “The Social Lives...
Ann Abbott
Dr. Ann Abbott awarded 2026 SLCL Summer Fellowship
Prof. Ann Abbott has been awarded a 2026 SLCL Summer Fellowship for Specialized Faculty, for her project, “Near-Native: An Autoethnographic Book Manuscript about Languages and Cultures.”  The fellowship...
Kara Yarrington
Dr. Kara Yarrington awarded $225,000 from IMMERSE Essentials Funding Program
Dr. Kara Yarrington, Director of Introductory Spanish, has been selected to receive an award in the amount of $225,000 through the IMMERSE Essentials Funding Program for the 2026–2027 academic year. This will fund 750 licenses for...
Faculty photos of Kara Yarrington (on the left) and Michelle Dutton (on the right)
Dr. Kara Yarrington and Dr. Michelle Dutton awarded as Equity Champion Instructors
Dr. Kara Yarrington and Dr. Michelle Dutton have been awarded as Equity Champion Instructors by the Office of the Provost for “their dedication, innovative...
profile photos of Gerson Morales and Angelica Waner
Humanities Research Institute Fellowship Awardees for 2026-2027
Graduate student Gerson Morales has been awarded a 2026-2027 Humanities Research Institute Graduate Fellowship for his...
Photo of Miguel Ángel Galindo and Nerea Muguerza
Illinois in Granada study abroad program featured in LAS news
Miguel Ángel Galindo (MA, ’91, Spanish; PhD, ’97, Spanish) and Nerea Muguerza (MA, ’98, Spanish), longtime resident directors of the Illinois in Granada program in Granada,...

Spring 2027 Highlighted Courses
A woman who is seated looks at her phone, while a boy looks at the viewer

Unwritten Textualities: Indigenous Literatures and Beyond

This course explores Indigenous textualities (literature, art, textiles, etc.) from Nahua, Maya, and Zapotec communities in Mesoamerica and the United States.

a figure of a cartoon person with two word bubbles, one saying hello and the other saying hola

The Social Lives of Bilingualism

This CHP course is dedicated to using sociolinguistics to make interdisciplinary connections via applied research. Topics will include linguistic variation and perceptual dialectology as they are applied to contexts such as healthcare, risk communication, business, artificial intelligence, and law.
Several figures of people looking at the audience, including a man on a horse in the center

Queering the Borders: Gender, Sexuality, and Migration in Latin American and Latinx Culture

This course focuses on the analysis of gender, sexuality, migration, and borders in Latin American and Latinx cultures.
figures of heads with empty word bubbles above them.

Global Varieties of Spanish

Relationship between language, individual and society in the context of the spread of Spanish in the world, concentrating on Spanish varieties spoken in Spain and Latin America, including the United States, but will also give an overview of Spanish in Africa and Asia.

A crowded political mural shows uniformed men shaking hands over a smiling gray bust, while a priest and fallen figures frame the tense, satirical scene.

"Tan Cerca de los Estados Unidos": U.S. Interventions in Latin America Through Literature & Visual Culture

This course addresses the conflictive relationship between the United States and Latin America through literature and visual culture.
Man walking with word boxes in his hand

Sociolinguistics

Introduction to the sociolinguistic variation of Spanish-speaking communities, and to the basic theoretical and methodological concepts of sociolinguistic research.

A scene from the Disney film, Coco, shows a skeleton dressed as a woman.

Greater Mexico and Migration On Screen

This course studies the representation of Mexican migrants and their descendants in the cinemas of the US and Mexico.

A woman carrying a young child in her arms, as she carries something on top of her head.

Advanced Introduction to Latin American Cinema

This course provides an advanced, panoramic introduction to the cinemas of Latin America.
A two-paneled image, with a woman gasping on the left, and a woman crying on the right.

Melodrama in Latin American Culture

This course explores the social and political history of melodrama in Latin America.
A woman holds a camera to her face.

Theory and Literary Criticism. Latin American & Iberian Arguments

This graduate course provides an advanced introduction to a wide range of critical theories and schools of thought for the analysis of literary and cultural objects.

Ghostly and dark female figures in the form of mountains.

Scary stories: The strange, the monstrous, and the supernatural in Spanish and Latin American texts

Discussion of scary stories and films from a variety of historical periods and Spanish-speaking regions
A mural with a crowd of people, including a skeleton figure in the center.

Rethinking Mexico: Cultural Representations of Mexico in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Century

This course explores how Mexican literature and culture have been conceived, experienced, and represented during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
A black and white photograph of a woman sitting at in the front seat of a car holding the wheel

Women Travelers to/from Latin America

This course explores different forms of travel writing written by women from 1820 to the present time to understand mobility as a complex, gendered, and racialized experience.
A hooded woman in the center facing a mother holding two children

Feminisms in the Americas

This course examines questions of gender, sexuality, and identity in contemporary Latina/Latino culture through a discussion of novels, performance pieces, essays, and films.

Upcoming Events

View all events
Profile photograph of a woman smiling.
Faculty Spotlight

Raquel Goebel

Raquel Goebel is a Senior Instructor of Portuguese and the Director of the Portuguese Language Program. She is recognized nationally for her leadership in Portuguese language education, having earned a national Honorable Mention from the ACTFL award committee for Excellence in the Teaching of Culture.

 

Raquel Goebel's Profile
Meléndez faculty headshot

Committement to Graduate Professional Development

Prof. Mariselle Meléndez receives campus Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award!

The award recognizes faculty mentors who show sustained excellence in graduate student mentoring; innovative approaches to graduate advising; demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; and positive impact on graduate student scholarship and professional development. There are just two of these awards made at the campus level each year. Congratulations, Mariselle!