Portuguese is the fifth most-spoken language in the world, with about 260 million speakers (and growing to an expected 400 million by 2050), the third most spoken in the West, the most widely spoken in the Southern Hemisphere, an official language in 9 countries and other regions. It is present in Europe, South America, Africa, and parts of Asia.…

Since 1970, higher education in general, and Spanish departments in particular, have experienced a seismic shift, with skyrocketing student enrollment and dramatic increases in the numbers of non-tenure-track faculty. While contingent faculty numbers have continued to rise since 2000, over the past several years, enrollments in college-level…

Most collegiate departments where one can find Spanish, French, German, and other non-English disciplines are referred to as "language departments," either formally or informally. Such designations are interesting as they suggest to the outsider (i.e., non-language person) that these departments consist of experts in language. In this…