By closely working with professors in class and individually, students learn about the diversity of target Hispanic cultures and engage critically in a variety of intellectual, academic, social and emotional approaches to life. Students' regular practice in the second language and constant exploration of Hispanic cultures broadens their horizons and prepares them to become global?citizens.

Educated people spend their lives pursuing growth in political, social and intellectual freedom. One kind of intellectual freedom requires us to break away from the notion that our native language is the most natural and apt means of expressing the full range of human experience. An education can start with the discovery that all words are purely conventional devices. They are nonetheless tools that stir emotions, articulate ideas, and establish relationships with others. Learning another language contributes to our education by intimately exploring cultural and linguistic concepts that broaden our?understanding

Our basic courses offer the opportunity to begin acquiring the skills and knowledge necessary for the eventual mastery of a language. When students take full advantage of that opportunity, they can use the target language in all subsequent courses. The Department emphasizes the use of the target language in most of its courses because it believes that students can best appreciate another culture from within its own mode of?expression.

With a view toward career opportunities, the Department encourages integrating language study with a variety of other academic areas, such as history, philosophy, international studies, environmental studies, biology, economics, political science, and English. Courses in cultural studies and literature, aside from their intrinsic worth, also present multiple perspectives on other cultures and areas of intellectual?experience.