Spanish in the Community

The Spanish in the Community House is for students who would like to engage in the Greater Richmond Area through Spanish. Richmond is home to influential business, media, political and government leaders, many of which are active in the local Spanish-speaking Latino/Hispanic community. 

Thanks to the initiative of LAIS faculty and the generously volunteered time of these community leaders, students taking the class will benefit from lectures presented on issues related to the class. Courses like “Spanish in the Community” are an ideal venue for such guest lectures since they bring the emphasis to comprehension and production through immersion in context.

Programs will include:

·        Guest lecturers

·        Service-learning projects

·        Working with area children

·        Community festivals

·        Translating/Interpreting

About the Class

Taught exclusively in Spanish, this course will develop listening, oral and written communication skills through the study of the Latin American and Spanish immigrant experience. 

In addition to the classroom study of Hispanic immigrant literature, newspapers, films and TV programming, students will participate in a service-learning project of their choice in the local Hispanic community (20 hours total, approximately two hours per week throughout the semester), keeping a journal of their activities. They also will attend lectures given by guest speakers tied to the Hispanic community. 

All the knowledge gained throughout the semester will be integrated through a bilingual capstone project using Digital Storytelling in which the students will have a chance to present what they have learned to each other and to the Living & Learning Committee.

About the Professor— Professor Carlos Valencia       

Professor Valencia is from Oviedo, Spain, and has been studying and working in the United States for over fifteen years. He has taught at the University of North Carolina and Wake Forest University.

He began teaching at the University of Richmond in 2005 and is currently the Director of Technology for the Latin American and Iberian Studies Department and the coordinator of the Languages Across the Curriculum program.

Professor Valencia’s research interests include 18th- and 19th-century Spanish literature and the integration of technology into the classroom. He also studies German and enjoys playing soccer.