The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers undergraduates an opportunity to master the four fundamental linguistic skills, speaking, understanding, reading, and writing in Spanish and Portuguese and to study the literary, cultural, and linguistic heritages of the Spanish-and Portuguese-speaking peoples in the Iberian Peninsula and the Americas. The department offers the B.A. degree in Spanish and in Portuguese; the M.A. degree with specialties in Hispanic language and culture, in Spanish and Spanish-American literature, in Hispanic linguistics or studies in bilingualism, and in Hispanic, Portuguese, and Brazilian literatures; and the Ph.D. degree in Hispanic languages and literatures. Students interested in a Spanish or Portuguese major may meet with the department chair and advisors on the first day of each quarter. Resource persons in the department office are available on a regular basis to advise on academic matters.