The Department of Spanish Studies was established at the Faculty of Humanities (BTK) of the University of Debrecen (UD) in 2024.
UD students had also been able to study the Spanish language previously in a variety of formats, including courses offered at the Foreign Language Center of the university and as part of the Mediterranean Neo-Latin specialization program launched within the Institute of Mediterranean Languages and Cultures.
Spanish studies have been offered as a department-level program as of the 2025–2026 academic year. This curriculum includes, among other things, disciplines like language development, Spanish linguistics, Spanish-language literature, translation, contemporary Spain and Latin America as well as Spanish civilization. Beginning in the 2026–2027 academic year, the department will also train Spanish teachers.
- As a ‘young’ department, we regard the building of relationships as very important to us, which is why the visit by these diplomats was of particular significance. In addition to the talks with the ambassador, we were also able to hold discussions with Economic Counselor Rafael Fuentes Candau and Education Attaché Marta Álvarez Michans- said Dóra Bakucz, Head of the Department of Spanish Studies at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Debrecen, in an interview with the portal hirek.unideb.hu.
During the course of the meeting, the visitors were given an overview of the history and the process of how the department had been established as well as how its degree programs had been launched. Furthermore, they were introduced to the results of the activities pursued during the past academic year and were also informed about long-term future plans and ideas.
At the meeting, the possibility of establishing closer ties with institutions of higher education in Spain was also raised, which could result in the arrival of a Spanish native speaker as a language instructor in Debrecen in the future. The ambassador also offered his assistance in supporting exchanges for students and faculty as well as in the launching of joint Spanish-Hungarian academic and research projects.
As the conclusion of their visit to our university, the diplomats also attended a “Spanish Afternoon” held in the venue of the National Library of the University of Debrecen called “A Sziget [The Island],” where attendees were treated to a reading session in Spanish, Catalan and Hungarian from the newly published volume Tanatológia: Contemporary Catalan Plays, recently published and translated by two faculty members of the department, Dóra Bakucz and Ádám András Kürthy. In addition, Miguel García Viñolo, a linguist from the department, talked about what we can learn from linguistic jokes that contain cultural references.
This cultural event also featured a performance by the amateur troupe of the Spanish bilingual program at Mihály Fazekas High School, who presented Francisco David Abad Rocamora’s “La isla de los famosos” [The Island of the Famous] in the Spanish original.
Press Center – BZs