Spanish & Portuguese at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

03/08/2023

Spanish alumna Laura Rodríguez-Romaní (BA ‘10) turned her passion for bilingual literature and education into a career as the owner of Los Amigos Bookstore. Laura recently sat down with Liberal Arts & Sciences at Illinois as part of their LAS@Work series. Read more ➡️ tinyurl.com/mryevv5u

02/07/2023

Please join us in congratulating Brenden Carollo for being selected as one of the recipients of the 2022-2023 LAS Academic Professional Award!

Carollo is the director of fourth-level Spanish, including SPAN 141: Introduction to Spanish Grammar and SPAN 142: Spanish in the Professions. To read more about Carollo's work and the LAS Academic Professional Award, click on the link in our bio.

11/15/2022

Please join us in congratulating Monse Gonzalez-Gutierrez, who was recently awarded the Clarence Shelley Scholarship in recognition of her dedication, determination, and achievements.

Monse is double-majoring in Spanish & Mathematics, and she plans to pursue a PhD in Spanish Literature. Her undergraduate research has focused on feminism in literature, but is expanding to also consider literary representations of mathematics.

The Clarence Shelley Scholarship Fund was established in 2010 by fabled educator, administrator, and founding director of , Clarence Shelley.

¡Enhorabuena, Monse!

09/29/2022

Looking forward to today’s Majors and Minors Fair, sponsored by the Division of General Studies!

Stop by to see us 1-4pm in the Illini Union (Illini Rooms A, B, C) to learn more about majors and minors in Spanish & Portuguese!

🔶🔷🔶🔷

09/13/2022

Spanish Literature and Cultures PhD candidate Beatriz Jiménez is a member of the 22-23 graduate cohort for “Imagining Otherwise: Speculation in the Americas,” the inaugural Interseminars initiative organized by and funded by the Mellon Foundation.

Beatriz was recently featured in an Interseminars Spotlight on the HRI website (link in bio). Her research focuses on storytelling in film, including how cartel violence in Mexico is primarily represented through the lens of the perpetrators instead of the victims.

“The study of these types of films is not only to bring awareness to these problems, but to also show how cinema can be a place of documentation, specifically on how communities can archive their struggles as alternative sites of history and racial formation,” she said."

08/19/2022

We in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese are excited to be meeting so many new freshmen and transfer students at this year’s LAS Liftoff!

06/15/2022

Please join us in congratulating recent graduate Milton Guendica!

While working on his dual degree in Spanish and Speech & Hearing Science (with highest distinction), Milton received Honorable Mention for his presentation at the Undergraduate Research Symposium in the category of Learning and Human Development (Title of presentation: Linguistic discrimination and Latinx parenting).

He also received the 2022 Undergraduate Academic Excellence Award at the Latinx Congratulatory. Milton is pictured here with his nominator, Prof. Salvatore Callesano.

In the fall, Milton will begin a PhD at Northwestern University in Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders. Best wishes, Milton!

05/31/2022

"I am working toward two degrees, so it is a great opportunity to see the diversity of opportunities that my degrees offer."

Spanish major Elena Vara was the David F. Prindable intern for the 21-22 school year.

Read more below!

HRI Intern Spotlight 🎉

Meet Elena Vara, HRI's David F. Prindable intern! She is a junior majoring in Global Studies and Spanish within Liberal Arts & Sciences at Illinois 🔹🔸

▶ https://bit.ly/3vZbito

Why did an internship at HRI interest you?

"I was interested in the David F. Prindable internship because I wanted to have professional work experience in the humanities. When looking at the description of what the job entailed, some of my past work experiences as a social media specialist as well my academic writing seemed applicable.

I am working toward two humanities degrees, so it is a great opportunity to see the diversity of opportunities that my degrees offer."

05/19/2022

It is with profound sadness that we share the news of the unexpected loss of Dara Goldman, professor of Spanish and director of the Program in Jewish Culture and Society.

05/13/2022

We've been featuring our graduates all week over on Instagram and Twitter (), and now we want to share with you some spotlights from the

05/05/2022

Arnoldo Ayala (BA, ’21, Spanish) was the first Latino speaker of the Senate, vice president of education for the Illinois Coalition Assisting Undocumented Students’ Education (I-CAUSE), and department director for Helping Others Personal Excellence (HOPE). His legacy: the HOPE scholarship, a student-run effort that helps students who don’t qualify for federal financial aid continue their education.

“We’re in the second year, so we’ve handed out hundreds of thousands of dollars since it started,” said Ayala.
Ayala is now working at an immigration law firm as a legal assistant, his Latinx background and Spanish degree giving him the tools he needs to help Spanish-speaking clients, and he’s applying to master’s degree programs in public policy to further his career.

Read more via the link in our bio!