We are delighted that you are interested in both Cornell College and
Spanish. We are very proud of our Spanish program, which offers variety
and flexibility and includes courses in Spanish language (grammar, composition
and conversation) as well as Peninsular (Spain) and Latin American literature
and culture and civilization. As you can see by glancing through our
course
offerings, we offer literature classes at both the introductory
and advanced levels in prose, poetry, and theatre. What is not immediately
apparent from looking at the list of courses we offer is the wide variety
of topics which are and can be covered in the Seminar/Topics course
and through Independent Studies, wherein students are able to do in-depth
studies of topics and writers which particularly interest them. Recent
topics covered in the seminar have been "Women in the Nineteenth-Century
Peninsular Novel," "Novels by Galdos," "Latin American
Poets," "The Latin American Novel of Social Protest,"
"Latin American Women Writers," "Gabriel Garcia Marquez
in Film and Fiction," "Latin American Fantastic Literature,"
and "Latinos in the United States."
Studying languages at Cornell is a unique experience. The One-Course-At-A-Time
system allows our students to be immersed in the target language for
three and a half weeks without the interference of other course work.
Because of the small class size (cap of 20 students), it is possible
to actively apply and practice the target language as you are learning
it. To make our teaching more effective at all levels (but especially
at the introductory level), we have a brand computer/language
laboratory, which offers students new ways to do group work as well
as an opportunity to explore a vast array of documents in Spanish which
are available on the Internet.
Our program strongly emphasizes studying
abroad in order to gain better understanding of the Hispanic culture
and language. Because of Cornell's association with the ACM
(the Associated Colleges of the Midwest) and SIT
(School for International Training), our students can participate in
semester-long programs in Costa Rica, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico,
Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Cornell also sponsors its own block-long courses,
which allow students to study language or culture in a Spanish-speaking
country. We regularly take groups to Mexico and Spain and have taken
two groups to Bolivia. Several of our students have returned to Mexico
and Bolivia in order to participate in one to two-month long internships. In the fall of 2004 we took a Cornell group to Bolivia for an entire semester. We hope to repeat this program in the spring of 2008.
Spanish majors are
required to take eight upper-division courses in Spanish; however,
two of these may be taken in a related discipline which has a direct
connection with Hispanic culture (eg., Latin American history, anthropology
of native Mesoamerican and South American indigenous peoples, religions
of ancient Mexico, the economy of developing nations, etc.). Many former
students who graduated from Cornell with a major in Spanish have successful
careers in art, law, education, diplomacy, and social service. A minor
in Spanish is also available and is essentially a slightly reduced major.
We hope you find in our program something that meets your needs and
sparks your interest. If you have any questions about our program, please
do not hesitate to contact one of us.
With our sincerest wishes for your academic success,
THE CORNELL COLLEGE SPANISH DEPARTMENT
Carol Lacy-Salazar (clacy-salazar@cornellcollege.edu)
Sally Farrington-Clute (sfarrington-clute@cornellcollege.edu)
Marcela Ochoa-Shivapour (mochoa-shivapour@cornellcollege.edu)
