Spanish

Degree Type Bachelor of Arts
Department Romance Languages
Academic Division The College
Offerings Major Minor
Spanish majors focus on learning to speak Spanish fluently, to understand language more fully through the analytical tools of linguistics, to explore the history and culture of Spanish-speakers through coursework and study abroad, and to gain expertise in literary analysis and appreciation by reading and analyzing texts produced by Spanish speakers across many cultures and over many centuries.

Why Study Spanish at W&L?

A strong foundation in Spanish is a powerful complement to any profession, while coursework in Spanish-language literature, culture and linguistics, with an emphasis on reading, writing, speaking and analyzing a second language, prepares students for success in post-graduate study in Spanish as well as many other academic fields.

Completing the Foreign Language FDR

One of the Foundation and Distribution Requirements at Washington and Lee is proficiency in a foreign language. The Department of Romance Languages offers coursework towards language proficiency to fulfill this requirement.

Opportunities for Students

An extended study abroad experience sets students on the road to linguistic and cultural fluency and is strongly encouraged by our faculty.

In Lexington, students are encouraged to live in Casa Hispánica, a university theme house for speakers of Spanish. Students in Spanish are also involved in the English for Speakers of Other Languages Program (ESOL), which facilitates communication within the increasingly diverse population of Rockbridge County. Other opportunities for Spanish students include the annual Romance Languages Poetry Night and the Spanish-language literary magazine, PLUMA. A native Spanish-language teaching assistant conducts twice-weekly conversation tables in the university dining hall, regular office hours, and weekly conversation-based cultural activities open to all students at Casa Hispánica.

Students may participate in the honors program, which allows engagement in original research with a faculty member on a topic of interest. Completed projects are invaluable assets for graduate or professional school.

After W&L

Spanish majors have gone on to pursue graduate study as well as careers in which language and cultural proficiency have proven invaluable. A number of graduates have won Fulbright fellowships. Recent examples include:

  • Kendre Barnes ’13, Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, Panamá
  • Anna Paden Carson ’16, Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, Colombia
  • John Dannehl ’17, Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, Spain
  • Jared Shely ’18, Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, Colombia

Matthew Bailey

Department Head
P: 540-458-8160
E: baileym@wlu.edu

Shirley Richardson

Administrative Assistant
P: 540-458-8821
E: srichard@wlu.edu

Sample Courses

At W&L, we believe education and experience go hand-in-hand. You'll be encouraged to dive in, explore and discover connections that will broaden your perspective.
SPAN 211

Spanish Civilization & Culture

A survey of significant developments in Spanish civilization. The course addresses Spanish heritage and the present-day cultural patterns formed by its legacies. Readings, discussions and papers, primarily in Spanish, provide an opportunity for further development of communication skills.

SPAN 214

Contemporary Spain in Context

This course examines contemporary social issues in Spain through lectures and interviews with local subjects in Spain. Lectures provide a formal understanding of contemporary Spanish society, while interviews of local subjects provide data for further analysis by the students that may challenge, complement or further develop their understanding of current social issues.

SPAN 213

Foundations of Spanish Civilization

Travel to Seville, Spain, to focus on the medieval and Renaissance periods, from the troubled co-existence of Muslims, Jews and Christians to the Christian reconquest and subsequent Empire. Significant cultural currents are examined through texts (literary, historical and religious), direct contact with art and architecture through site visits, and with hands-on exposure to early and contemporary cuisine. Students live in homestays, attend daily classes, participate in site visits, and engage with the local culture independently and through planned activities.

SPAN 308

Power & Ideology

This course explores different theoretical approaches to account for the relationship of language and power, and therefore the relationship between language use and social processes. In particular, it observes how meaning is constructed and reconstructed in discourse, especially by the dominant classes with access to public discourse: politicians, academics, journalists, etc., whose messages generally reach and influence large audiences. For this reason, political discourse is an important source of data to observe how social actors employ specific linguistic choices to achieve political goals.

SPAN 333

El Cid in History & Legend

A study of the most significant portrayals of the Castilian warrior Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, El Cid (1045-1099), from his 12th-century biography Historia Roderici to the Hollywood blockbuster El Cid. Epic poems, late medieval ballads, and Renaissance drama all recreate the legendary life of El Cid. This course examines the relevant narratives in an effort to determine the heroic values and attributes recreated by authors and their audiences for nearly 1,000 years.

SPAN 347

Poetry & Power

We read Spanish-American poetry on power and violence as a way of engaging and investigating the multifaceted and layered historiographies of the region. To intensify our reading, we also "read" a diversity of complementary cultural production, including paintings, murals and music. Through these self-conscious acts of reading—that is, acts of identifying, evaluating and critiquing form as much as content—we enhance our ability to analyze and debate ways of defining power in the Americas from within, without, and in liminal zones.

Meet the Faculty

At W&L, students enjoy small classes and close relationships with professors who educate and nurture.
Matthew Bailey Department Chair, Professor of Spanish
Bailey teaches Spanish language, culture and literature. His research interests include medieval Spanish literature and culture, and more specifically, medieval epic narrative.
Jeff Barnett S. Blount Mason Jr. Professor of Spanish
Barnett teaches courses in Spanish language, translation, and Spanish-American literature and culture. His research deals with modern Latin American narrative and cultural studies as well as literary translation.
Mónica Botta Associate Professor of Spanish; Program Head, Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Botta teaches courses in Latin American Theater, literature and culture. She has researched Latin American culture with an emphasis on post-dictatorship periods.
Javier Buenadicha Visiting Instructor of Spanish
Buenadicha studied history, mass communication and applied linguistics in Spain and now teaches Spanish language at the elementary and intermediate levels. His research interests focus on history of Spain in the 20th century.
Dick Kuettner Adjunct Professor of Romance Languages and Teacher Education; Director, Global Discovery Laboratories
In addition to his responsibilities at the Ruscio Center for Global Learning, Kuettner teaches courses on teaching methods for world languages.
Ellen Mayock Ernest Williams II Professor of Spanish
At Washington and Lee, Mayock has taught courses in Spanish, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her research focuses on gender and its intersections in literature and film, feminist theories and practice, and representations of conflict and violence. Mayock also writes poetry and creative nonfiction.
Seth Michelson Assistant Professor of Spanish
Michelson teaches the poetry of the hemispheric Americas, as well as a diversity of courses on the literatures, cultures and languages of the region. His research focuses on poetry and state violence, and he is the author of numerous book chapters, articles and essays on the subject, among others.
Christina Pinto-Bailey Visiting Associate Professor of Spanish and Portuguese
Pinto-Bailey teaches courses in Spanish and Portuguese languages, Latin American culture, civilization, and literatures. Her research focuses on gender and racial issues in fiction and poetry by Latin American/Brazilian women.
Antonio Reyes Associate Professor of Spanish
Reyes teaches courses on Political Discourse and Language Ideology, as well as a spring course in his native Cádiz, Spain. He has published a monograph: Voice in Political Discourse.