This course is intended to enhance language skills and share knowledge of local Spanish-speaking communities. Organized around field-based learning, the material, shaped into modules, will connect students with pre-existing community service organizations in Holyoke, Springfield, and other nearby urban centers. Class time will be devoted to understanding the concept of voluntarism in a pluralistic society. Sociological and historical readings on Latinos will provide context. Students will spend approximately three hours a week doing volunteer work in the field.

In this course students will learn how to approach writing as a process.  The emphasis is on writing as a communicative act rather than as a mere language exercise.  As such, emphasis is given to the interaction between the author and the text, the target audience, and the purpose and message of the final product.  In order to develop the necessary skills that good writers should have, the course will focus on expanding vocabulary, exploring rhetorical techniques for organizing information, developing strategies for writing, and characterizing the target audience(s).  At

In this course students will learn how to approach writing as a process.  The emphasis is on writing as a communicative act rather than as a mere language exercise.  As such, emphasis is given to the interaction between the author and the text, the target audience, and the purpose and message of the final product.  In order to develop the necessary skills that good writers should have, the course will focus on expanding vocabulary, exploring rhetorical techniques for organizing information, developing strategies for writing, and characterizing the target audience(s).  At

This course is designed specifically for native or heritage speakers of Spanish with oral proficiency but little or no formal training in the language. Generally, these are learners who were raised in homes where Spanish was spoken. The course is designed to build on the language base students already possess. Spanish-speaking students are not viewed as using an “improper” form of Spanish that is incorrect or needs to be eliminated. Rather, their language is viewed as an extremely valid means of oral communication.

This course emphasizes fluency speaking and is designed to provide students the opportunity to practice the language through discussion of selected texts and topics of interest.  SPAN 135 prepares students to express opinions, ideas, points of view and critiques on debates, readings and films.  With this goal in mind, this course will also provide exposure to other language skills important to the development of fluency in speaking Spanish. The course will meet for three hours per week with the lecturer and one hour with the language assistant.