Study away programs offer academically rigorous courses of study and require a solid language foundation. 

We expect all Spanish majors to spend a semester or a full year in an immersive study abroad program where they have the possibility to enroll in courses at a local university, and where they live with a host family or in another similarly-immersive housing arrangement where only Spanish is spoken.  Students may choose from a list of pre-approved study abroad programs, or they may submit a petition for an alternate program to the Department.

Students studying abroad for one semester may count up to three courses for the major, while students studying abroad for two semesters may count up to four courses towards the major. Under either scenario, one of the courses of each study abroad semester must be a humanities course focused on literature.  If a student does not take a literature course, then the maximum number of courses they may count towards the major drops by one (three for a year-long experience; two for a semester-long experience). Art, dance, and music practice courses may not be counted for major credit while abroad, but they may count for Amherst College credit. Non-liberal arts classes such as Spanish for the Health Professions or business courses taken abroad may not be counted for Amherst College credit nor for major credit.  Spanish majors must discuss their potential classes with their Spanish major advisor before going abroad, and obtain their advisor’s approval of courses via email during their first week of classes abroad.

Currently, there are many opportunities to study in Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Spain. Click on the link to read more about programs that offer an immersive experience for Spanish majors: Programs Exclusively in Spanish. 

We highly encourage students to declare the Spanish major before going abroad. Students considering adding a Spanish major after returning from abroad should be aware that these course and program requirements will be applied retroactively. Please contact Janna Behrens, Director of International Experience, for further information on programs and the Chair of Spanish to declare the major.

Any student needing a language evaluation or recommendation for study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country must contact their current Spanish instructor at Amherst College. For those students who don't have an easily identifiable instructor, please contact Senior Lecturer Carmen Granda.

Tags:  spanish  study abroad