Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Literatures
Our mission is to produce graduates with a deep understanding of the role Spanish plays in the increasingly diverse American society in which by the year 2050 one-third of the US population will be Hispanic/Latino. We train and educate students in Hispano/Latino and Luso-Brazilian culture and civilization, including language, literature, linguistics, language pedagogy, inter-cultural communication skills, and translation and interpretation studies. We prepare students for professional careers that require bilingual and bicultural competencies.
Why learn Spanish?
Why learn Portuguese?
Language in the borderlands: documenting the lived experiences of Spanish speakers in San Diego
Lauren Schmidt’s research highlights the ties between language and identity in local Spanish-English bilingualism
“Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity. I am my language.”
— “Borderlands: The New Mestiza” by Gloria Anzaldua
San Diego exists in an in-between space, landing on the border of California and Tijuana, Mexico. Here, in the borderlands, the concentration and variety of Spanish speakers forms its own unique culture. It is this culture, with its lived experiences and identities, that Lauren Schmidt and her colleagues have chosen to explore.
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