Department of Spanish and Portuguese: Indiana University

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University is a department with a multifaceted mission. As a community of scholars, we advance and disseminate knowledge in our varied fields of inquiry. As teachers of graduate students who will continue in the profession, we are transmitters of that knowledge. We introduce undergraduate students to some of the world's richest cultures and literatures, supplying them with linguistic and communicative skills, analytic ability, and an international perspective. Our undergraduate and graduate programs rank among the top 15 in the country and the top 3 in the Big Ten. The faculty, which has grown significantly in the last few years, includes specialists in literature, theoretical and applied linguistics, and language pedagogy, and all of their work is informed by immersion in another culture. Current faculty members hold adjunct appointments in Communication and Culture, Comparative Literature, Gender Studies, History, Latino Studies, Linguistics, and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures.

The teaching of Spanish in the United States is in a stage of expansion that is likely to continue indefinitely. Contributing factors are a growing domestic Hispanic population, increased trade and cultural relations with a more democratic Latin America, and Spain's role in the European Union. It is no wonder that U.S. students now view Spanish as an almost indispensable tool for their future. The teaching of Portuguese has also experienced growth, as awareness of Brazil and its economic and cultural importance has increased within the context of enhanced Latin American-U.S. relations. Our department is one of the few in the United States that offers Catalan, the language of the vibrant city of Barcelona and its region, Catalonia, in northeastern Spain.