Course overview

Study the language and culture of contemporary Spanish and Latin Amercan societies, as well as the legacies that Spanish expansion and settlement left in Central and South America. While the course balances the study of both regions, it also allows you to focus more than one aspect of the regions you are studying - from colonial Latin America to the modernisation of Spain.

The Spanish and Latin American programme at Portsmouth is comprehensive as it offers a wide range of opportunities including:

• a sound understanding of political, social and economic developments in Spain, and Latin America
• a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the regions, including art, economics, business studies, history, cultural studies, sociology, politics and cinema 
• degree level language skills in Spanish with the possibility of studying a second foreign language
• two half-years studying at our partner institutions in Spain and Latin America
• the development of key skills that allied with intellectual and academic development will provide a solid preparation for the world of work or further study

You will spend half your placement year in Spain and the other half in one of our partner institutions in Latin America. It is also possible to do a work placement during your year abroad. View these videos to give you an idea of what you can expect on your period abroad.

Spanish can be studied from beginner's level or from A2 level, with all students reaching the same degree-level Spanish at the end of the course.

Placements

This course allows you to take the Learning From Experience (LiFE) option, which lets you earn credits toward your degree for work / research placements, volunteer roles or internships undertaken alongside your studies. The option gives you the opportunity to enhance your employability skills, to reflect on the ways in which you've done so, and to learn to express this to potential employers.

One of the UK's top universities for Languages and European Studies

In 2011's National Student Survey results for European Languages and Area Studies, Portsmouth came joint top nationally. Students’ responses show that they particularly appreciate staff availability and the pastoral support provided by staff in the School of Languages and Area Studies.

For further details on all language courses offered, visit the website of the School of Languages and Area Studies (SLAS). If you are interested in this course and would like further information please contact us (details below). You can also view a virtual tour of the School.

Course content

Year one

• Either General Language Grade 1 & 2
  Or General Language Grade 3 & Language Project
• Introduction to Spanish Studies
• Introduction to Latin American History
• Studying at University
• Developing Research Skills

Year two

• Either General Language Grade 3 & 4
  Or General Language Grade 4 & Language for Professional Communication 1
• Golden Age Spain
• Options including:
  • Revolution, Repression & Resistance
  • Text Analysis & Translation
  • Pre-Columbian & Colonial Latin America
  • Democratisation in Latin America
  • Key Issues in Development
  • Managing Across Cultures

You may also take a beginner's course in a third language as part of your course if you so wish: we offer Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese and British Sign Language in this format.

Final year

• Dissertation/Major Project
• General Language Grade 6
• Language for Professional Communication 2
• Options including:
  • Spanish Civil War & Franco Regime
  • City & Nation: The Latin American Urban Experience
  • Translation Theory & Practice
  • Political & Economic Development in C20 Spain
  • Transitional Justice & Human Rights In Latin America
  • Contemporary Issues & Controversies In Latin America
  • Interpreting

Teaching and assessment

We provide a varied, creative and stimulating learning environment. Our aim is to enable you to become an independent thinker equipped with skills that will continue to influence your experiences beyond your time at university.

Our staff are highly motivated and research active, ensuring that you are taught by enthusiastic specialists in their subjects. Many language teachers are native speakers. They will enthuse you about their specific fields of expertise, from Latin American Development to German History to Applied Translation Theory, provide advice and guide you to appropriate learning resources.

Blended learning means that through 'Moodle', your University interactive Intranet site, you will be given opportunities to develop and support your knowledge and skills acquired via traditional class contact. Classes include general lectures and seminars (i.e. interactive teaching with small groups of students). Most of our seminar teaching is undertaken in small groups so that students acquire skills and confidence in their analytical skills and are encouraged to ask questions and develop arguments and debates. Students are encouraged to work in small teams analysing primary documents and debating contemporary issues so that all students learn from a range of opinions and interpretations and increase their academic abilities in a genial environment. Emphasis is placed not just on what the student can take from the seminar but what they can bring to the experience and how they interact and learn from their peers.

Classes may also take the form of hands-on skills development sessions where you learn how to access electronic resources. Language is taught using the MELISSI multimedia digital classrooms (they are much more than language laboratories!) or via small oral practice classes with Language Assistants.

Our assessment methods are varied, with relatively few formal examinations. The emphasis is on continuous assessment, with assessments designed to measure the learning outcomes of your various units. Most assessment is done through submission of essays, reports, case studies, book reviews or other pieces of written work. Some units are assessed by means of projects, which can be particularly useful to build up your career profile. Some language-based tests are oral presentations to measure your progress in oral communication.

Career prospects

Your time at University of Portsmouth will help you to develop a wide range of skills in analysis, criticism and argument. Students on our degree programmes often have a worldview and study experience abroad, which makes them flexible and adaptable and highly employable. During your course, you will have the opportunity to develop a range of capabilities that are valued by prospective employers. You will have many opportunities to develop transferable key skills such as:

• communication
• research
• time management
• team working
• problem solving

These transferable skills are used in many careers across the private, public and voluntary sectors. Allied with intellectual and academic development, they will provide a sound preparation for the world of work or further study.

Year abroad

Students who choose to study at one of our partner universities within the EU will do so as part of the EU Erasmus ‘student mobility’ programme. This means that you will not have to pay fees (they are waived) and that you will receive a grant from the EU (covering living costs). In addition you will benefit from an intensive language course at the beginning of your stay, which is in many cases provided free of charge as part of the Erasmus programme.

The period spent abroad enhances students’ intercultural awareness, which is a quality increasingly appreciated by employers in a globalised economy.

Career paths

This programme aims to prepare you for a wide range of employment possibilities both at home and abroad.

The course is structured to develop a range of skills and competencies throughout the four years of study and students thereby gain the analytical and practical skills sought by employers. These include language skills, good communication skills in written and oral forms and transferable key skills. An interdisciplinary approach to study is fostered throughout the course.

Whether it is working with Journey Latin America or Save the Children, doing post-graduate work and becoming a teacher or university lecturer or working in insurance or finance the Spanish and Latin American Studies programme will provide you with the skills to allow you to aim for a wide range of jobs.

Students have gone from working as a Stagiaire at the European Commission or financial advisors or working in advertising to promoting English language textbooks for the Oxford University Press in Mexico.

Facilities and features

The School is located in Park Building, just behind the Guildhall in the centre of the city. Park Building houses two large, modern, high-tech lecture theatres, a number of smaller but equally high-tech lecture theatres, four computer suites, multimedia digital classrooms and editing suites. The Learning Resource Centre provides facilities for independent study, including listening booths, video/DVD/CD players and satellite TV monitors. You are encouraged to make effective use of information from a wide variety of sources, including audio-visual materials, satellite television, interactive video, CD-ROM and web searches.

You will also have access to the University Library. Open from 8am until midnight every day during term-time, it provides an abundance of information to help with study and research. It has also invested heavily in the purchase of electronic resources. There are thousands of electronic journals and ebooks available, which can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection.

Entry requirements

View all the entry requirements for BA (Hons) Spanish and Latin American Studies for the academic year 2013/14 (opens in new window).