Our Purpose

As we enter the new millennium our global community becomes ever more closely knit together, and besides being increasingly knowledgeable in one’s academic field, the successful citizen of the future will need to be attuned to at least one other culture. The Spanish faculty at Truman State University enthusiastically accepts the challenge to prepare its students for leadership roles in the coming decades as citizens of the world.

The Hispanic world is the ideal place for a student to commence his or her quest for an understanding of the other. There are several reasons for this. First of all, Spanish is the third most widely spoken language in the world. Secondly, the vastness of what was the Spanish Empire encompasses a myriad of populations and cultures in the Americas, Europe, the Philippines, Africa and elsewhere. Hence, Spanish is not only a window into the Spanish soul and its civilization but also a medium to interact with other cultures that have through the centuries adopted Spanish as their native language.

Why choose to pursue studies in Spanish at Truman State University? First of all, where better to seek a well-rounded education in the humanities than at Missouri’s Premier Liberal Arts University, which has been repeatedly recognized by U.S. News & World Report as well as Money magazine as one of the “best buys’’ in the country. More specifically, Truman State University has the largest strictly undergraduate program in Spanish in the state of Missouri. The program boasts fourteen full-time professors of Spanish, most of whom hold doctorates and are dedicated to undergraduate teaching. As such the Spanish program is able to offer an array of courses to permit maximal exploration of Hispanic literature, civilization, cinema, linguistics, anthropology, history and art.

Moreover, the University’s mission to facilitate exposure to other cultures is carried out through the two programs run by Spanish faculty - one in Salamanca, Spain, seat of one of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious universities, and the other in exotic sun-drenched Costa Rica.

As you can see, Truman State University is an excellent choice for studies in Spanish!

For more information about the Spanish program, write or call:

Dr. Carol Marshall		Dr. Juan Carlos Valencia
e-mail: carolmar@truman.edu	or	e-mail: jvalenci@truman.edu
(660) 785-6012		(660) 785-4372

Department of Classical and Modern Languages
Truman State University