Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic Studies
Overview
The Hispanic studies major prepares students for graduate study
and careers in education, business, communications, media and
social sciences. Conversation, culture and literature are
emphasized in the program to prepare students for the changing
needs of society.
Hispanic Studies at the Mount
The Hispanic Studies major at the Mount prepares students to
speak and write in Spanish. The emphasis on understanding and
appreciating the diverse Hispanic cultures is integral to the
major. Students are encouraged to practice the language through
service learning in the community and study abroad opportunities.
Close faculty and student mentoring is a hallmark of the
program.
Related Programs
Many students planning careers as childhood and adolescence
teachers major in Hispanic Studies. Other students majoring in
Hispanic Studies are also encouraged to major or minor in Public Relations,
Media
Studies, Business, Human Services or Psychology, depending on career
interests.
Program Requirements
The Hispanic Studies major requires a minimum of 36 credits (39
maximum). The grade on the Mount Saint Mary College Spanish
entrance exam determines which level the student can begin.
Students take 24 credits of required courses and 12 elective
credits. Students are encouraged to study abroad. The Mount offers
a summer and spring semester in Segovia, Spain, but accepts other
programs as well. Students who minor in Hispanic Studies must
take a minimum of 18 credits.
Where Mount Students have interned
Many Hispanic majors have received full time jobs in districts
where they did student teaching.
Career Options
Career opportunities abound in teaching, translating, marketing
communications, criminal justice, business, finance, healthcare,
social work, and government, to name a few.
Career Outlook
“With well over 35 million Spanish speakers in the United
States, and with over 40% of the population growth being among the
Hispanic people, the stage is set for an enormous increase in
Spanish usage in the United States. This has sparked a lot of
interest among US citizens, a group not particularly known for
their multilingualism. This interest will only increase as the
Hispanic population of the US approaches 50 million by the year
2015. But it's not only in the US where Spanish is popular. In
Europe, Spanish is the second most popular second language, after
English. With some 400 million speakers, Spanish is the fourth most
commonly spoken language in the world. Only Mandarin, English and
Hindi have more speakers. If you count only native speakers,
Spanish outranks English. Spanish is an official language on four
continents and is the mother tongue in 21 countries. The sheer
number of Spanish speakers and their rate of growth makes learning
Spanish a smart choice.”
See also: Top Ten
Reasons to Learn Spanish (studyspanish.com)