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The Spanish curriculum consists of a sequence of courses designed to both train students to the nuances of Spanish language and to expose them to the finest cultural achievements of the Hispanic world. Language courses focus on the crucial areas of grammar, vocabulary and composition even as to introduce students to contemporary cultural issues. Transitional courses introduce students to sophisticated literary texts and products of contemporary culture as a continuation towards linguistic mastery. A wide range of upper-level seminars offer students unique opportunities to gain knowledge in both the breadth and depth of literature and culture in the Spanish-speaking world.

Our students are as multidisciplinary as our faculty; many take double majors in Spanish or French and another field. Students graduating with majors in French or Spanish in recent years have been accepted into some of the nation's most prestigious graduate programs in those fields, including such universities as Harvard, Yale, Cornell and Brown.

Pomona's program in Romance Languages is enhanced by a state-of-the-art multimedia laboratory, the Foreign Language Resource Center, with integrated computer, audio, and visual components, including interactive video disks and computer-assisted language programs. Students can also improve their command of French and Spanish by residing in the Oldenborg Center for Foreign Languages and International Relations and participating in the programs there, which include daily language tables at lunch, frequent study breaks featuring cultural programming, and a foreign language film series. Most students also spend at least a semester at one of Pomona's Study Abroad programs.

The major in Spanish is designed to assist students in achieving a superior level of linguistic fluency in Spanish as well as cultural competency through the study of the very finest literary production and the complex histories and cultures of the Spanish-speaking countries of Spain and Latin America, and of the Spanish-speaking communities of the United States. Students majoring in Spanish are required to complete major requirements and senior exercises as described below. They are also expected to participate in the Study Abroad Program and to reside in Oldenborg Center for one year. 

Upon graduation, Spanish majors should be able to:

1. demonstrate advanced competence in written and spoken Spanish.
2. demonstrate the ability to read critically, interpret analytically, and write coherently about both verbal and visual texts produced in the Spanish-speaking world:
a. identify literary figures and devices and describe their function.
b. compare and contrast analyses and interpretations of different literary and cultural texts.
3. identify and evaluate the specific nature of a wide array of literary genres.
4. recognize basic critical methodological approaches in the study of these genres, such as close reading, socio-historical contextualization, and literary and cultural theory. 
5. demonstrate knowledge of literary and cultural traditions, such as major movements, writers, and works of the Spanish-speaking world, focusing on at least one and ideally multiple traditions: Spanish American, Spanish and US/Latino literary cultures. 
6. produce a senior thesis/paper with a clear thesis statement, a logical structure, appropriate evidence and persuasive analysis. 
7. demonstrate an understanding of basic elements of scholarly research and writing ,
a. locate, evaluate and incorporate material relevant to the research project.
b. present the bibliography in proper scholarly format.
8. articulate an argument in an effective and convincing manner in formal spoken Spanish.