Student Opportunities
Hispanic Studies majors and minors, like all Davidson students, follow their hearts regarding their extra-curricular activities, and their interests are diverse.
Post-Davidson Opportunities
English Teacher Assistant in Spain’s Public School
You should begin this process in the Fall of your senior year. The application cycle generally opens in January. See Spain’s Ministry of Education site for details, and talk with faculty in Hispanic Studies!
Fellowships
For several fellowships like the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship or Research Fellowships or the Watson Fellowship, you should begin the process in the spring/summer of your junior year. Applications are usually due in August of your senior year.
Note: Recent graduates are also eligible to apply for Fulbright grants.
Fellowships are competitive awards and programs that provide funding and other resources for meaningful immersive work, like research, teaching, or service. Like scholarships, fellowships can also support academic study.
These featured fellowships support a variety of experiences in Spanish-speaking countries and beyond. Interested candidates should contact Davidson’s Office of Fellowships to learn more about these fellowships and other programs.
Opportunities for Current Students
Below are a few cultural clubs and activities that appeal to many students in the department.
Spanish Table
La mesa de español meets in Vail Commons every Tuesday from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and every Friday from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Spanish speaking faculty and staff look forward to joining you for lunch!
Apprentice Teachers (ATs)
The Apprentice Teacher (AT) Program gives advanced and bilingual students the opportunity to turn their Spanish proficiency into meaningful leadership and teaching experience. ATs play an integral role in Davidson’s Spanish language program, leading small-group sessions that give beginning and intermediate students additional opportunities to practice speaking and listening in a supportive, collaborative environment.
As an AT, you will design and lead interactive lessons, facilitate conversation, and help your beginning and intermediate peers build confidence communicating in Spanish. Along the way, you will strengthen your own Spanish while developing transferable skills in leadership, public speaking, planning, intercultural communication, collaboration, and facilitating group dynamics. ATs also receive ongoing training and professional development throughout the academic year.
Most ATs lead two 50-minute sessions each week and receive preparation time for each session. In addition to Majors and Minors, the program also welcomes The program welcomes native and heritage speakers, highly proficient non-native speakers, and students returning from study abroad who want to continue using their Spanish while contributing to the language-learning community at Davidson.
Recruitment typically begins in the spring for the following academic year, with limited openings sometimes available in the fall.
Interested in becoming an AT? Contact Hispanic Studies Language Program Coordinator Prof. Brandon Cannon at brcannon@davidson.edu for more information and application instructions.
SiDES: Spanish in Davidson Elementary School
Every week, Davidson College students teach Spanish lessons at Davidson Elementary School (DES). SiDES grew out of a partnership that began in the 1970s, and today roughly sixty Davidson volunteers bring Spanish to about thirty K-4 classrooms each semester. You can join as a volunteer or earn credit through SPA 315—Teaching Spanish in the Elementary School, offered in the fall. We have space for up to 70 participants each semester.
Picture it: you’ve planned a creative lesson, you walk into a room of energetic elementary schoolers, and you teach in Spanish. Then the lesson goes differently than expected, and you adjust on the spot. That’s the experience, and it builds skills you can use well beyond the classroom: planning from scratch, thinking on your feet, speaking with confidence, giving and receiving feedback, collaborating with peers, and working with supervisors.
If you like Spanish, kids, or teaching, please join us! To find out more, contact Prof. Kyra Kietrys at kykietrys@davidson.edu.
Summer Internship Teaching Experience in Spain
Finish your semester, then help Spanish kids finish theirs. For six weeks in May and June, you’ll teach English alongside certified teachers in Spain, working as a conversation tutor or teaching assistant in one of several partner schools, with students ranging from preschool to high school. You’ll live with a host family and experience Spain’s educational system from the inside, fully immersed in Spanish culture and improving your own Spanish.
The internship is unpaid, but food and housing are included. Your only expense is travel, and grants are available.
Applications are due in February each year. Questions? Contact Prof. Kyra Kietrys at kykietrys@davidson.edu.
The International House
The International House looks for bilingual, passionate volunteers and interns such as you to help Charlotte welcome the world. Possibilities include interning with the immigration legal clinic and helping immigrants apply for citizenship at our fall Naturalization Workshop.
Check out Davidson’s Mulliss Center for Civic Engagement for internship opportunities with IHCLT. Your language skills and your presence will make an important impact in someone else's life!
Private Tutoring
Every year, the Department of Hispanic Studies compiles a list of Hispanic Studies majors and minors who are interested in tutoring middle school and high school students. This is a private service between Davidson College students and the parents of the children in need of tutoring. The Department of Hispanic Studies only serves as a liaison between both parties to facilitate connections.
Contact our departmental coordinator Latesha Owens at laowens@davidson.edu for a copy of the list.
Organization of Latinx American Students
Many Hispanic Studies students and those from other majors are enthusiastic about their participation in the Organization of Latinx American Students (OLAS). During its more than 20 years of existence, OLAS has sought to promote awareness and appreciation of Hispanic cultures on campus, and its membership is very diverse, with an executive board that represents nearly every ethnicity on campus. With cultural holiday parties, film screenings, and a host of inspiring and thought-provoking lectures about Latin American cultures, causes, and groups, OLAS aims to foster and maintain a spirit of solidarity among students interested in Hispanic cultures, including but not limited to Spanish speaking countries and their descendants.
Questions? Contact Prof. Melissa González at megonzalez@davidson.edu.
Sigma Delta Pi, Omega Chapter
Sigma Delta Pi is the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society. Our chapter was chartered at Davidson in 1931 and rechartered in 2022 by Visiting Assistant Professor Tony Pasero. In 2024, then-chapter president Anya Neumeister ’24 received the Mario Vargas Llosa Award for outstanding achievement in all upper-division courses and exemplary involvement in extracurricular activities related to Spanish.
Eligible students will receive an invitation to apply late in the fall semester from our chapter advisors, Prof. Geyer and Prof. Kietrys.