What is Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American studies?
Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American studies at Nottingham involves the study of the Spanish and Portuguese languages, along with the literature, cinema, painting, history and cultural history of Spain, Portugal, Spanish America, Brazil and Portuguese-speaking Africa. Spanish is now the second most widely spoken international language after English, and Portuguese is the seventh most widely spoken language in the world.
How will I study?
Lectures and seminars are the basic methods of teaching, and seminar work increases as the course progresses. Teaching is informed by the latest research developments. In the latest Research Assessment Exercise, the Department emerged as the joint top-ranking research unit in the country in its discipline.
Staff research specialisms are wide-ranging and include the history and politics of modern and contemporary Cuba, Spain and Brazil; Latin American cultural theory and history; and the literature and visual culture of Spain and Portugal since the Renaissance in Latin, Portuguese, Galician, Catalan and Castilian.
Almost all our language teachers are native speakers of Spanish or Portuguese. During your time here, you will find yourself immersed in the languages, and, at the end of most of our degrees, you will have perfected your command of at least one language. The Hispanic Society, organises many cultural events, including Spanish and Portuguese conversation encounters with groups of visiting undergraduates from Spain and Portugal.
Assessment
Most modules are assessed either by exam or by a combination of exam and coursework. You must pass the first year but your marks do not count towards your final degree. Grades obtained in years two and four make up your degree classification.
Studying abroad
The third year is usually spent abroad, either at university, on a work placement or as a teaching assistant in a school. How much time you spend in a Spanish– or Portuguese– speaking country is dictated by your degree combination.
Career prospects
A languages degree offers proven skills in one or more languages and experience of living in one or more foreign cultures, as well as the intellectual training of an arts degree. It is therefore no surprise that employment rates among our graduates have been consistently high. Our students have been successful in securing employment in a variety of occupations in the business world, in banking and insurance, and in the legal profession.
The average starting salary for 2009/10 full-time graduates of the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies was £17,748.*
*Average starting salary from known destinations of first-degree leavers who studied full-time, 2009/10.
Application and interview
Offers are usually made without interview. Applicants with non-standard entry requirements, including mature students, may be invited to an interview.
Open days
UCAS visit days for students offered a place are normally held from late January to March. You are welcome to visit at other times – please contact us or for dates of our open days visit www.nottingham.ac.uk/opendays