Participation in the Hispanic studies program at Oberlin opens up a wide spectrum of personal and professional opportunities. Many students majoring in Hispanic studies pursue a double major or a major/minor combination with Latin American studies, classics, other modern languages, sociology, anthropology, comparative literature, art history, history, comparative American studies, or politics. Recent graduates have gone on to graduate school and found jobs in a broad range of fields from journalism to social work, medicine, law, public health, and education.
Up to three full courses of transfer credit per semester, including coursework done abroad, may be counted toward the major, up to a maximum of five full courses. HISP 300 does not count toward this limit.
Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Credit
Transferred credit for HISP 300 counts toward the major as a Spanish-taught Hispanic studies course.
Study Away
All Hispanic studies majors are strongly encouraged to spend at least one semester in a Spanish-speaking country. Students interested in studying away should consult their major advisor about opportunities to transfer credit from such an experience toward the major.
Students who major in Hispanic Studies will do a capstone project based on a 400-level seminar taken in the spring of their junior year or the fall of their senior year. In the spring of their senior year (the last semester for summer graduates, the penultimate semester for December graduates) they will enroll in HISP 501. As part of this course, which is a 2-credit course meeting once per week for a 1.5-hour period, students will expand the term paper of their 400-level seminar into a 15-20 page research paper (written in Spanish) and prepare a 15-minute oral presentation based on the paper, to be given at the end of the semester.
In consultation with their Hispanic Studies advisor, students may request permission to base their capstone work on a course taught outside of the Hispanic studies department. An honors project in Hispanic studies (HISP 505H, HISP 505F) automatically fulfills the capstone requirement.
