Lays the foundations for the historical, linguistic, cultural, sociological, and political study of Spanish in the United States (US). The main goal of the course is to develop critical awareness about the relationship between language, individuals, and society within the diverse Spanish-speaking communities of the US. To this end, the course will analyze issues concerning, first, the historical and dialectal characteristics of the Spanish language in different regions of this country; second, the acquisition of Spanish as a minority language and in contact with both English and a large number of Spanish dialects; and third, the space that Spanish occupies in US public life now and in the future. The design of activities, assignments, and assessment procedures is based on promoting individual and collective awareness about crucial topics related to the present and the future of Spanish as one of the national languages of the US.