Spanish & Portuguese Studies

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies contributes to the academic and professional development of our students by developing their skills in critical thinking and writing as well as honing their linguistic expertise. According to recent research, learning a second language as an adult sharpens cognitive skills correlated with academic success. Language study also improves employment prospects in a global economy; a study by Georgetown University found that foreign language majors had the lowest rate of unemployment of any field in the humanities. 

We offer majors and minors in Spanish and Portuguese, as well as new minors in Latin American Studies, Latina/o Studies and Translation & Interpreting Studies. In conjunction with the Department of Urban Education, we help students become certified to teach world languages as they complete their majors in Spanish or Portuguese. We  also offer several internships which allow students to gain academic credit and professional experience by teaching at the Hoboken Dual Language Charter School, serving as interpreters/translators at the Rutgers Law School Clinics or other organizations in the community through the Lives in Translation Project, or working at the Brazilian Endowment for the Arts.

Our department also serves as an important link between Rutgers University-Newark and the sizeable Latino and Lusophone populations in northern New Jersey and in the city of Newark.  We foster cultural and intellectual ties to these communities through our teaching, research, and outreach activities, and many of our students come from these communities. Every semester, our department offers scholarly and cultural events which are attended by faculty, students, and members of the wider community.