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Spanish has become the second language of the United States and the third most spoken language in the world. Constituting over fifteen percent of the U.S. population, Hispanics play a major role in nearly every aspect of private and public life in the nation. Knowledge of Spanish and Hispanic literatures and cultures thus constitutes an essential tool in personal interactions, professional training, and international dialogue. The Department of Hispanic Studies aims to foster in its undergraduates the necessary competence, curiosity, sensitivity, and creativity to act in an increasingly multicultural and internationalized society deeply inflected by Hispanic cultures from around the globe.

In addition to training students to speak, read, and write in Spanish, the Department aims to offer them the basic tools and contextual knowledge to properly interpret and negotiate a broad range of materials, subjects, and real-world situations involving Spanish and its cultures. And while the specialty of our faculty is language, literature, and culture, Hispanic Studies, in the spirit of Brown’s commitment to liberal education, encourages students to complement their learning in the Department with courses from a broad spectrum of fields at Brown, and with study and internship opportunities outside our university and abroad in Spain and Spanish America.

Hispanic Studies at Brown believes that an undergraduate concentration in the field should provide a comprehensive appreciation of the richness and variety of Hispanic cultures. Our students look forward to implementing their training in a range of personal and professional settings, including business and finance, education, medicine and public health, arts, law, politics, diplomacy, and humanitarian and environmental work.

The New Concentration in Hispanic Studies: Greater Leg Room for Your Imagination

This year, Hispanic Studies is very excited to be launching a vastly revised concentration program. The new concentration is designed to challenge our undergraduates to prepare themselves as broadly and rigorously as possible in the study of Hispanic literatures and cultures while taking advantage of the vast opportunities offered by Brown as an institution committed to the highest liberal arts standards and by study abroad opportunities in Spain and Spanish America.

Briefly, our concentrators now have greater leg-room than ever before to explore Hispanic literatures and cultures more intensely and to complement their studies with electives from other departments at Brown or in other countries:

  • The Hispanic Studies concentration now spans ten requirements.
  • For our tracks in literature and culture (Options A, B, and C), two of these requirements (HISP730 and HISP0740) provide a general roadmap of Hispanic Studies, introducing students to standards and methods of interpretation in the field, as well as to major works, genres, and movements in the literatures and cultures of both sides of the Atlantic.
  • Eight of these requirements (generally, 1000-level courses) provide more specific preparation in major areas of Hispanic Studies and the opportunity to complement those areas of study with electives from elsewhere at Brown or abroad.
  • Concentrators now take between two and four advanced-level courses in the principal areas of Hispanic studies -- from medieval and early modern works all the way to works in the twenty-first century.
  • In consultation with the concentration advisor, students also choose from four to six elective courses that best suit their specific needs and interests.
  • Students can now also take up to four advanced-level courses in relevant fields other than Hispanic literature and culture, whether in other departments at Brown or in approved university programs in Spain or Spanish America.

For more details, please refer to our Concentration Requirement Worksheets and contact our Concentration Advisor, Nicolás Wey-Gómez (Note: Option D, Language and Linguistics, is to be offered in 2009-2010, pending approval by the College).

Fall 2009 Placement Exams

Where and when are placement exams offered?
Placement exams in Spanish and French will be given in Room 201 of the Educational Technology Center/Language Resource Center (LRC), located at CIT Building, 115 Waterman Street. Exams are given on a walk-in basis. No appointment is necessary. Students who need to take the placement exam, please do so before pre-registration starts.

Scheduled exam times for Fall 2009 are: October 21-23 from 9:00am through 5:00pm.

Do I need to pre-register to take a placement exam in French or Spanish?
Registration is not required; you may walk in during any of the hours the test is given. There is no limit to the amount of time you may spend on the test, but no one will be admitted after the posted closing time.

The exam for Spanish is adaptive; please allow 30-40 minutes to complete the exam.

Students are encouraged to consult the information available on the Banner Class Schedule and Course Catalog for questions regarding placement, prerequisites, and wait lists.

For more information about the Brown Placement Exam, please visit the LRC website.

Students who are new to the language program should consult the following informational document regarding placement requirements (PDF).

All returning students should consult the following informational document regarding pre-registration regulations (PDF) for the Department of Hispanic Studies to address any concerns about the upcoming pre-registration period.