Hispanic Studies at Birmingham has a wide range of expertise, including specialists in all the Iberian languages as well as Iberian, Latin-American and Luso-Brasilian literature, history, linguistics and translation studies.
The last few years have seen an increase in the number of students taking Spanish. At any one time, there are about 150 students specialising in Spanish in one or other of the four years.
We have nine full-time lecturers, five specialist language instructors, and colloquial assistants and teaching fellows from many different parts of the Hispanic world. Because of the network of exchange programmes we have set up, you will have the opportunity to meet many native speakers of Spanish and Portuguese throughout your studies, sharing many of your classes with Socrates students.
The first two years offer core courses in Spanish language, literature and culture, covering all the key periods, concepts and structures and developing your learning skills in preparation for your year abroad. We see these as foundation years, during which we will introduce you to a wide variety of methods and approaches to study, as well as giving you a taste of the cultural diversity of the Hispanic world.
You can follow modules which deal with history, linguistics and visual arts and/or opt for more specialised courses, such as Introduction to the Spanish Caribbean, Literature and Violence in Peru or Barcelona: Urban Space and Cultural Identity. You can also study Portuguese, Catalan, Galician and Basque as part of our programmes, beginning in your first or second year and with the option of continuing with them through your year abroad into final year. The final year offers the widest choice of modules, with over 30 specialist options on our books. Choose from modules such as Spanish Fiction since 1975, Advanced Spanish Linguistics, Spanish Caribbean Writers, Contemporary Latin American Novel, Cervantes and the Nature of Fiction, US Latino Culture and Piracy and Conspiracy.
Spanish can be taken post A level in all of our programmes and as a beginner in all programmes except Single Honours Hispanic Studies.
Portuguese is not available as a Single Honours subject but can be taken post A level and as a beginner as part of the BA Modern Languages programme.
Our Hispanic Studies undergraduate degree courses
Joint honours combinations