Spanish
The Spanish program at Coe: more than just language classes!
Spanish has never been a foreign language in the United States, and today there are more than 50 million Spanish-speakers in the U.S. — more than in Spain or Colombia! Spanish is increasingly popular among our students due to its importance in life in the U.S. and in the increasingly globalized world. Students in our program develop their language skills, gain a greater appreciation for cultural diversity and become better global citizens. In the last five years, we have maintained a high number of students enrolled in our classes, and this number will grow stronger as the diversity of the college increases. From beginning language classes to upper-level seminars, students in the Spanish program learn about the identities and cultural traditions of the many countries (including the U.S.) that share the Spanish language.
¡Bienvenid@ al programa de español!
The Spanish program offers more than just classes in language, culture and literature. It provides a home for students from diverse backgrounds and for students who want to expand their cultural horizons. We welcome a rich array of speakers to campus, from poets and novelists to scholars and translators. Through the years, the program’s May Term in Alicante has inspired scores of students with onsite language learning and cultural experiences, and our students also have participated in semester-length study abroad programs in Spain, Argentina and Costa Rica. Study abroad is a natural extension of language learning, and these experiences often are the things that students remember most about the college experience. Finally, Coe Spanish students are committed to service in the community, working locally with English-language-learning pupils in the Kids On Course summer program and completing prestigious Fulbright fellowships in Spanish-speaking countries after graduation.
Through their work in the classroom and their real-world experience in the Cedar Rapids area and abroad, our students are language learners and community ambassadors who demonstrate Coe is a college that cares. In these and other ways, our Spanish program functions not only as a program for language learning but as a vibrant intellectual presence and an anchor for the cultural life of the college.
Come and check out the resources we offer to help students thrive in their use of Spanish as a second/heritage language and to aid them in becoming global citizens capable of productive and ethical interactions regarding the issues affecting the societies of the Hispanic world.