The study of Spanish was introduced at Mount Holyoke College in the 1894/1895 academic year. Courses in Spanish were not offered consistently until 1901 when the Department of Romance Languages was formed. The department expanded to become the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures in the 1936/1937 academic year. Spanish was taught in this department until the 1941/1942 academic year. The following year, an independent Spanish Department was formed. An independent entity for thirty-three years, the Spanish Department merged with the Italian Language and Literature Department in 1975/1976 to form the Department of Spanish and Italian.