Spanish

Why Study Spanish?

Spanish is the second most spoken language on the planet and is the mother tongue in 21 countries. Over 400 million people speak Spanish worldwide and the United States alone is home to 40 million Spanish speakers. Hispanic countries and their populations have an enormous economic, political, social, linguistic, and cultural impact around the world.

Ole Miss Spanish majors and minors study the language, linguistics, histories, literatures, and cultures of Latin America and Spain. Our students develop language skills in listening and reading comprehension; speaking and writing; and multicultural competency.

The Spanish major at Ole Miss empowers our students to navigate complexity, diversity, and change, while developing talents that are highly sought in the workforce: Effective communication, problem-solving, analytical thinking, worldliness, and the ability to work with diverse groups of people. We guide our students to become global citizens with superior Spanish skills to make an impact on our interconnected world.

Over 130 students are currently majoring in Spanish at Ole Miss. Our Spanish graduates have gone into careers in education, research, communications, government, economics, accounting, business, banking, tourism, technology, journalism, translation, foreign service, cultural affairs, international diplomacy, fine arts, publishing, professional athletics, multimedia production, app coding, engineering, pharmacy, health care, and dozens more professions where our majors are applying their language and cultural expertise.

Prospective Students

• The UM Spanish Information Sheet provides a summary of our Spanish program and our Spanish program alumni.
• The UM Spanish Degree Sheet provides degree requirements and a sample 4-year curriculum plan.

Degree Requirements

• Bachelor of Arts in Spanish + Spanish Minor
• Master of Arts in Modern Languages: Specialization in Spanish
• Doctorate in Second Language Studies: Specializations in Applied Linguistics and Spanish
• List of Spanish Courses at Ole Miss

Student Resources

Extracurricular Activities

Spanish at the University of Mississippi Facebook Group

El café de los lunes Conversation Group

Our weekly informal conversation group: Practice your Spanish, meet new friends, caffeinate your body, and exercise your mind.
— Mondays 1:00p-3:00p in the Honors College 1st Floor Kitchen
— El café de los lunes on Facebook + El café de los lunes on Instagram + El café de los lunes on Twitter

Hispanic Heritage Film Series

Our annual film festival features the latest movies from the Hispanic world. Also, our library has an extensive and ever-growing collection of Hispanic films for Hispanic cinephiles.
Hispanic Heritage Film Series on Instagram

LASO: The Latin American Student Organization

LASO hosts Latin American cultural celebrations and social events for students at the University of Mississippi.
LASO on Facebook + LASO on Instagram

Study Abroad

Go Away! We encourage all of our majors and minors to immerse themselves in the study abroad experience. The Study Abroad Office offers dozens of programs in Spanish-speaking countries where students at all levels of Spanish study a variety of linguistic, literary, and cultural topics.

Sigma Delta Pi Spanish Honor Society

Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, is the only honor society devoted exclusively to students of Spanish in four-year colleges and universities and is the largest foreign language honor society in existence with over 150,000 members. In the Department of Modern Languages, the Delta Iota chapter of Sigma Delta Pi recognizes outstanding achievement in Spanish among students at the University of Mississippi. Each spring semester, the Spanish faculty invite outstanding students to join this prestigious honor society. For more information, contact the chapter director Dr. Jason Klodt.

Faculty

The Spanish faculty at the Department of Modern Languages consists of eight tenure-track professors and four instructional professors, whose expertises include Hispanic sociolinguistics, second language acquisition, colonial Spanish literature, Nahuatl, Spanish-American literature, Al-Andalus, Aljamiado, premodern Spanish literature, Spanish cinema, and Hispanic women writers. Our Spanish classes feature low faculty-to-student ratios allowing students to work closely with the Spanish faculty.

Contact Information

Basic Language Program: 100 & 200 Level Spanish

Director of the Basic Spanish
Julia Bussade, Ph.D. Lecturer
bussade@olemiss.edu
Bondurant Hall C-108
662-915-7709

Majors and Minors: 300 & 500 Level Spanish

Undergraduate Academic Advisor for Spanish Majors + Minors
Heather Allen, PhD. Associate Professor of Spanish
hjallen@olemiss.edu
Bondurant Hall C-111
662-915-6981

Undergraduate Academic Advisor for Spanish Majors
Stephen Fafulas, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Spanish
stephenf@olemiss.edu
Howry 208
662-915-8987

M.A. Students: 500 Level Spanish

Diane Marting, Ph.D.
dmarting@olemiss.edu
Bondurant E-104
662-915-7104

Ph.D. Students: 600 & 700 Level Spanish

Felice Coles, Ph.D. Professor of Spanish and Linguistics
fcoles@olemiss.edu
Bondurant E-210A
662-915-7702

 

Financial Assistance

Scholarships, fellowships, and assistantships help many students study Spanish. Modern Languages awards scholarships to students of Spanish, the College of Liberal Arts awards additional scholarships, and other financial support is available from the Office of Financial Aid.