Earlham's Spanish and Hispanic Studies Program offers students the opportunity to explore the rich diversity of the Hispanic world. Literature from the Spanish-speaking Americas, Caribbean and U.S. Latino literature and history, indigenous literature from Latin America, regional movements in Spain, Spanish linguistics, translation theory and practice, film, drama and dance are some of the areas students might choose to study. Given that cultural practices are productive as well as reflective and link social construction of knowledge to issues of ethics, politics and power, the faculty in Spanish and Hispanic Studies consistently emphasizes connections between critical pedagogy and cultural studies throughout our courses.  

In consultation with Spanish and Hispanic Studies faculty, students design a program of study in their area(s) of interest to create a solid, coherent and challenging major or minor. Students work closely with faculty, often in small groups, doing collaborative research and working as teaching assistants in our classes. Recent collaborative research projects have included Gender in Film in Spain, Political Performance of the Americas, Comparative Creoles, Immigration, and Indigenous Resistance Movements in Mexico. Spanish and Hispanic Studies majors and minors often take classes or double major/minor in the related fields of Latin American Studies; Comparative Languages and Linguistics; Women, Gender and Sexuality; Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages; Peace and Global Studies; and Sociology/Anthropology.   

Students enhance their work on campus by choosing to participate in one of our semester-long off-campus programs in Spain, Nicaragua and on the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Earlham College programs offer three distinct components. Students study with on-site faculty, live with families, and complete a field study/internship. The off-campus program field study/internship gives students the opportunity to work with local organizations and agencies 10 to 15 hours each week.  

Each year, the Hispanic Studies faculty offer one or more May Term courses, often on topics in Spanish and Hispanic Studies not regularly offered during the academic year. Recent on-campus courses have included Afro-Caribbean Poetry and an intensive reading of Don Quijote de la Mancha.  Off-campus offerings have included Intensive Spanish in Mexico, the Language and Culture of Curaçao, and the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

There are many opportunities to speak Spanish and to be involved in Latino culture on a daily basis at Earlham College and in Richmond. Students may choose to live in La Casa Hispana at Earlham. Our students are active in teaching English, working with children, and organizing special interest groups through AMIGOS, the Richmond Latino Center. AMIGOS has paid summer interns to work with the Latino community. Many students also join the student group SEL (Sociedad de Estudiantes Latinos).

Our graduates have entered a variety of graduate programs and professions in the fields of law, bilingual education, social work, medicine, environmental sciences and international studies. Many also work with governmental and non-governmental organizations, both in the U.S. and abroad, around issues of human rights, social justice and sustainable development.

According to HEDS data, Earlham is ranked 53rd (in the 96th percentile) among 1,469 institutions of higher learning in the U.S. the percentage of graduates who go on to receive a Ph.D. in foreign languages. Of those who receive a Ph.D. in humanities in general, Earlham ranks 34th (in the 97th percentile).