About The Department

Welcome to the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures. We offer beginning and intermediate classes in Italian, French, and Spanish as well as advanced courses in literature and culture of French and Spanish countries. Expect to discuss Spanish influence on music, films, and art, explore the complex, rich history of the Iberian Peninsula as well as study literature from Cervantes and Borges to Gabriel García Márquez and Isabelle Allende.

At Modern Languages, your course of study will balance language, grammar, and conversation with culture, current events, and commerce.  Graduates from our department have gone on to use their language skills to work in various fields, including medicine, travel and education.

Our Programs

The Modern Languages Department at Spring Hill offers minors in Spanish and Latin American Studies.

What can you do with a minor in Spanish or Latin American Studies? With over 500 million global speakers, learning a Romance language provides an enriched view of the world and invaluable language skills that will prove useful in a diverse range of careers such as business, law, education, government, medicine, management, communications and the arts.

With an emphasis on communicative, analytical, critical, and creative skills, our students acquire oral and written proficiency in the chosen language as well as a thorough knowledge of the culture, history and literature of the Hispanic world. When combined with another field of study, a minor in Spanish or Latin American Studies will open doors to a wide variety of careers and educational opportunities. 

Whether you are in Mobile, Barcelona or Mexico City, our alumni have the opportunity to use their voices and skills to make a difference in the life of others.

The Spring Hill Difference

With a smaller class size, our students are more engaged with the curriculum, receive personalized attention from their professors, and are able to pursue scholarly interests under the mentorship of our dedicated faculty. The Department’s Language Resource Center also offers free tutoring in Spanish and French by fellow undergraduate students.

Program Offerings

Program Name

Offered

Program Level

Become immersed in different cultures and multilingual with Spring Hill College’s Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures.

Career Outlook

Career experts across the globe agree that you are much more likely to land the job of your dreams if you graduate with the ability to speak and write a foreign language. At Spring Hill, students will graduate with a solid foundation for several different careers. Students will acquire communication, personal, and critical skills that are becoming more and more important in the workforce. Our bilingual graduates have gone to work in fields such as education, banking, translation and interpretation, and business.

You can also learn more about career development, preparation and opportunities with the Office of Career Development.

Faculty

  • Fabian Balmori

    Department Chair of Modern Languages, Literature, and Culture

  • Stephanie Balmori

    Instructor

  • Matthew Gervase

    Assistant Professor of French and Italian

Department News

Make the most of your summer! Enroll in our online language courses and continue earning credits toward your degree.  Summer registration is now open. Questions? Send an email to modernlanguages@shc.edu.

Access here the latest edition of PAX – Spring Hill’s Peace and Justice.

Calling all Francophiles and film lovers. Join us for an evening dedicated to le septième art (le cinéma!). Sponsored by the French Club.

Come make Mardi Gras masks with the Spanish Club. 

Calling all music fans for a chill finale to a long semester. Bring your favorite rap and hip-hop songs from the French, Spanish and Italian world for this
open DJ event. Or just hang out and snack on croissants and hot chocolate. All good vibes welcome.

Come make pulseras with the Spanish Club

Celebrate Día de los Muertos with Coco, the movie, on Monday, November 1st at 7:00 pm, in the Language Resource Center, LAC 265.

Hosted by the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures with the Center for Student Involvement for Diversity and Inclusion Week.

Resources

Reference Sites

Cervantes Virtual, a digital collection of Spanish literature and literary criticism

El Instituto Cervantes, a worldwide, non-profit organization dedicated to the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language

Dictionaries

 Diccionario de la Real Academia Española

 Diccionario panhispánico de dudas

 Diccionario – Buscapalabras

Podcasts

Radio Ambulante

News in Slow Spanish

Coffee Break Languages

Language Applications

Drops – Essential vocabulary in various languages

Language Reactor – A tool to discover, understand, and learn from native materials.

Study Abroad

Spring Hill College Italy Center

Fulbright U.S. Student Program

 Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities

Media in Spanish

El País – Spain
El mundo – Spain
La Nación – Argetina
El Mercurio – Chile
La Jornada – Mexico
BBC en español – United Kingdom
CNN en español – United States
Radio Televisión Española – Spain