Chair, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies
Jessica Burke
Jessica Burke's interests include Latin American literature and culture, especially Mexico.
Hispanic Studies
You’ll find a diverse curriculum that includes courses in the Spanish language and in Latin American, Spanish and U.S. Latinx literatures and cultures. During the Academic Year In Spain, which is in Madrid, you will be totally immersed in Spanish life and language. That’s an experience no classroom can duplicate.
About the Major
The course of study includes Spanish language for non-native and native speakers. Hispanic studies is a field of great practical value to students who are interested in careers in international affairs, government, education, the arts or any profession that requires competence in Spanish.
The way you learn Spanish at Hamilton is more hands-on and it almost happens organically, where it’s not like you’re having these very regimented drills where you have grammar hammered down your throat or you’re memorizing things. It’s about discussion and reading and then your skills naturally evolve as you are exposed to more material and as you spend more time discussing.
Bianca Buonaguro — Hispanic studies major
We live in an increasingly bilingual culture and in a world in which communicating and understanding across geographical and ethnic lines is essential. The Hispanic studies program reflects Hamilton’s liberal arts tradition of reaching beyond the limits of one’s own experience and building bridges to the world.
Encuentros (online magazine)
Careers After Hamilton
- Bilingual Literacy Tutor, AmeriCorps
- Executive Director, City of Boston
- Veterinary Student, Cornell University
- Spanish Teacher, New York City Department of Education
- Outreach Manager, Explorer Programs, National Geographic Society
- Foreign Language Chair, Trinity-Pawling School
- Executive Vice President/Chief Risk Officer, E*TRADE Financial
Meet Our Faculty
Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies
Marissa Ambio
Marissa Ambio’s recent writing examines the work of Junot Díaz.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies
Marcelo Carosi
Marcelo Carosi’s research focuses on cultural representations of feminine labor.
Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies
Luis Miguel dos Santos Vicente
Luis Miguel dos Santos Vicente has published articles and book reviews on travel writing.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies
Ignacio Huerta Bravo
Ignacio Huerta Bravo's teaching and research have been focused on totalitarianism, with special attention to Fascism in Spain.
Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies
Mihyang Cecilia Hwangpo
Cecilia Hwangpo studies national identity in Argentina and Cuba in the early 20th century.
Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies
Edna Rodriguez-Plate
Edna M. Rodríguez-Plate's research begins with basic questions about identity.
the Burgess Professor of Hispanic Studies
Joana Sabadell-Nieto
Joana Sabadell-Nieto specializes in the recent literatures of Spain.
Teaching Fellow in Hispanic Studies
Natasha Colón Hernández
Natasha Colón Hernández graduated from the University of Puerto Rico, Carolina with a B.A. in social sciences.
Visiting Instructor in Hispanic Studies
Brisa Núñez García
Brisa Núñez García area of expertise is Latin America 20th-21st century, Southern Cone.
A Sampling of Courses
Spanish Immersion I 115F
Designed for exceptionally motivated beginning students who wish to accelerate their acquisition of Spanish. Intensive and interactive study of all of the basic grammatical structures of Spanish, with particular emphasis on writing and speaking. Successful completion will place students into 130 or 135. Students who follow the sequence through 135 may qualify for study abroad in one year. This course is only offered in the fall. Proseminar.
View All CoursesConversation on Hispanic Cultures 140FS
Intense focus on speech emergence and oral presentation. Study of diverse cultural readings and other aesthetic productions as a basis for refinement of grammar comprehension and as a means to further improve writing, reading and listening skills. Three hours of class, with additional activities, TA sessions and laboratory work. Taught in Spanish. Oral Presentations. Proseminar.
View All CoursesSpanish for Heritage/Bilingual Speakers 201F
Integrated review of the grammatical structure of Spanish for bilingual students who are native or heritage speakers, with intense emphasis on grammar and writing. Major emphasis placed on anthropolitical linguistics; special focus on political and cultural history of U.S. Latinx: issues of immigration, bilingualism, English-Only, social and political movements. Interdisciplinary readings and film by Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. Latinx authors and filmmakers. Intense interaction focused on discussion and oral and written argumentation. Writing-intensive. Proseminar.
View All CoursesCrime Fiction 213S
Analysis of the representations in Latin American fiction of such issues as delinquency, murder, marks of difference, language and social justice, and the critical perspectives which these phenomena engender. Works by Arlt, Borges, Puig, and others. Not open to senior majors. Proseminar.
View All CoursesWomen in Spanish Literature and Film:"Chicas de película" 224F
With an emphasis in the last two decades, this class will focus on literary and visual constructions of women in Contemporary Spain. Movies, poems and short stories will help us ask questions and explore ideas concerning Spanish women and society such as war and gender violence, immigration, sexualities, citizenship, interpersonal relationships, masculinities in transition, etc. Films and literary texts by Bigas Luna, Isabel Coixet, Icíar Bollaín, Anna Rossetti and Carme Riera, among others. Proseminar.
View All CoursesUnderstanding the Contemporary Hispanic Caribbean World 283S
In each of the three Hispano-Caribbean islands toward the 1950s, different political fall-outs produced a corpus of texts distinct from that of their predecessors. The Cuban Revolution, the death of the Dominican dictator Trujillo, and Puerto Rico’s new political status as a U.S Commonwealth all spurred a reconsideration of literature and other media as a socio-political space in which to articulate new notions of cultural identity. This course, through poetry, film, music and narrative, examines the cultural shifts and their aesthetic correlates arising from these fracturing events. Oral Presentations. Proseminar.
View All CoursesToday and Tomorrow
Connections and Careers
Savannah Ryan ’21 Headed to Mass General as Researcher
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