Spanish

Bachelor of Arts

Understanding a language is more than simply knowing how to translate; it requires an immersion in its culture and history.

We offer a wide variety of courses that incorporate literature, linguistics, and culture into the study of the Spanish language. In addition to working interactively with their faculty mentors and each other, we strongly encourage students to study abroad.

The Curriculum

The goals of our Spanish program at Cal Lutheran are proficiency in the language and a high degree of familiarity with Hispanic literature and culture. In order to achieve these goals, we offer a wide variety of courses, from language through literature, linguistics and culture.

Most of our majors and minors go into teaching, some into private industry and some into government service. Our program tries to address itself to the needs of these students by preparing them for an increasingly pluralistic and globally oriented society as well as a competitive career world. To that end and because language and literature are inseparable from a cultural context, our program has a strong cultural orientation. In all of our courses, we strive to develop in our students an understanding of as many aspects of Hispanic culture and civilization as possible in conjunction with the subject focused on. We also place a strong emphasis on developing students’ critical thinking skills in all our courses and many are conducted in Spanish in order to develop students’ proficiency in the language.

Spanish faculty use interactive lectures, group work, entertaining cultural activities, such as singing, video and film presentations, computer-aided presentations and exercises to give the students a well-rounded learning experience. A computer lab is available to enhance this experience outside the classroom.

In addition, students have the opportunity to participate in a variety of cultural activities on campus, such as the Dia de los Muertos and Las Posadas celebrations in the fall, as well as the Encuentros festival in the spring. They also can become members of the Spanish honor society, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, Sigma Delta Pi and participate in the Latin American Students Association.

We strongly encourage majors and minors in Spanish to study abroad. The Spanish Department sponsors a program in Guanajuato, Mexico, which provides students with an excellent opportunity to polish their language skills through immersion in the culture. Other opportunities to spend a semester or junior year abroad at any one of a variety of universities in Spain and Latin America are available through the Cal Lutheran Study Abroad Program



Programs

Offered as a major (BA) and a minor.


Recommended Minors

Want to add even more value to your degree? Consider one of these minors to gain a unique combination of skills and perspectives.


The Experience

I studied abroad in Granada, Spain, where I took all my courses in Spanish and lived with a host family that only spoke Spanish. This experience helped me greatly with my language acquisition and earning the confidence to speak it. Before I studied abroad, I was only minoring in Spanish but when I was planning my classes for Spain, I found out I would only need to take a few more classes to meet the major requirements so I upgraded it from a minor to a double major.

Tessa Kirk '20

Many of the classes offered in the Spanish major are in place to not only teach the language but to help you use the language in a way that will be beneficial to the future career you are aiming for such as medicine, business, or law. The combination of both my biology and Spanish degrees has provided me with interesting courses as well as real-life applications for continuing my educational journey.

Kari Orr '24

Your Future

Most of our majors and minors go into teaching, some into private industry and some into government service. Our program tries to address itself to the needs of these students by preparing them for an increasingly pluralistic and globally oriented society as well as a competitive career world. To that end and because language and literature are inseparable from a cultural context, our program has a strong cultural orientation.


Our alumni study at:
  • Boston University
  • California Lutheran University
  • California State University, Northridge
  • Gonzaga University, School of Law
  • Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles
  • Northwestern University
  • The University of Illinois at Chicago
  • The University of Oregon
  • University of West Los Angeles School of Law
  • Washington University in St. Louis
Our alumni work for:
  • Bromund Law Group
  • California Lutheran University
  • Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
  • CSU Channel Islands
  • ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission program
  • Hayward Police Department
  • Lamia Financial Group
  • La Roca Women’s Shelter
  • Los Angeles Police Department
  • New Mexico Orthopedics
  • Peace Corps
  • Simi Valley Unified School District
  • Sport Court of Southern California
  • Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
  • The ABRITE Organization
  • Ventura County Probation Agency
Career paths:
  • Academic Counselor
  • Bilingual Content Producer
  • Communications Director
  • Admissions
  • Legal Processing Assistant
  • Non-Profit Assistant
  • Productions Assistant
  • Project Administrator/Coordinator
  • Police Officer
  • Registered Behavior Technician
  • Teacher

of Cal Lutheran graduates find a job or enroll in graduate school within nine months

More Career Outcomes



Victoria Sanchez
The Spanish department helped me strengthen my abilities and knowledge in speaking the language. I am the Office and Program Manager at Harbor House in Thousand Oaks. With Spanish speaking skills, I am able to make strong connections with clients that face language barriers with our non-Spanish speaking staff.

Victoria Sanchez '23
Spanish and Criminology and Criminal Justice Major
Office and Program Manager, Harbor House Thousand Oaks

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