Spanish Department Records

St. Kate’s began offering Spanish courses in 1915; these first classes and the beginning of the department were spearheaded by Sister Eleanore Michel and Reverend T. Gutierez. Sr. Eleanore became the first chairwoman and one of the first faculty. The department was combined with French in 1916 to form the Department of Romance Languages, and it remained a joint department until 1941. The department re-combined with the French department in 2011 to create the Department of International Languages and Literatures.

In 1917 the Spanish Club was established offering a social setting for students to practice their Spanish. In 1949 students began spending their summer abroad in Mexico to further their language skills. Additional programs were developed that enabled juniors to spend a semester or year abroad in either Spain or Latin America. The Language Lab was opened in 1955. The first foreign language lab west of the Mississippi, this lab helped students to further their oral and aural skills. At that time the department would make their own recordings since commercial recordings were not available. The Spanish Department's rich offerings of programs and courses helped students learn the language and culture of Spain and Latin America.