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SPAN - Spanish Major

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Program Title

Spanish

Program Type

Major

Degree Designation

BA

Department(s)

Program Description

Major effective prior to 2011

Modifications Made to Curriculum: Fall 2020, Fall 2023

Requisites

Prerequisites

Majors and Minors in Spanish are expected to have completed, through courses or placement exemption, the Introductory and Intermediate language sequence:

  • course - Fundamentals of Oral and Written Spanish I OR course - Fundamentals of Oral and Written Spanish I in Spain

  • course - Fundamentals of Oral and Written Spanish II OR course - Fundamentals of Oral and Written Spanish II in Spain

  • course - Intermediate Spanish OR course - Intermediate Spanish in Spain


Requirements for the Major (36 Credits)


Students must choose from two concentrations:

  1. Second-Language Learners: students who have learned Spanish as a second language in classroom settings or through study abroad.

  2. Heritage Learners: students who were raised in a Spanish-speaking environment and would like to improve their Spanish in an academic setting.

I. Core (8 credits)

A. Gateway (4 credits)

  • course - Gateway to Hispanic Literature and Cultural Studies

Must be taken before taking advanced courses in literature and cultural studies. May be taken concurrently with advanced electives in language, linguistics, and community-based learning.

B. Hispanic Studies Seminar (4 credits)

  • course - Hispanic Studies Seminar

  • course - Specialized Honors I AND course - Specialized Honors II

If a student has not made significant progress on their Honors Thesis (as determined by the thesis advisor) before the beginning of the Spring semester, the student must enroll in the Hispanic Studies Seminar in the Spring semester.

Note: Preferably taken in the junior or senior year. With departmental permission, advanced students may take a Hispanic Studies Seminar more than once in place of an elective at the advanced level.


II. Concentrations (28 credits)

A. Second Language Learners

  1. Advanced Intermediate Language Sequence (12 credits):

  • course - Advanced Spanish Language and Culture through Images and Film

  • course - Spanish Conversation in Cultural Contexts

  • course- Exploring Culture Through Writing

Notes:

  • It is recommended that students take course before course .

  • Students may take their final course in the Advanced Intermediate Language Sequence concurrently with course.

  • Students who placed out of one or more of the above courses through the Spanish placement exam, or whom the department determines have met the respective Spanish proficiency, should substitute the credits of the course(s) with advanced electives offered by the department.

  1. Upper Level (16 credits): Available courses listed below, under “Areas”

  • Advanced Literature and Cultural Studies (8-12 credits)

  • Advanced Language and Linguistics, Community-Based Learning (4-8 credits)

Note: 4 credits offered in English by the department may be applied to this requirement; 8 credits with permission of the department.

B. Heritage Learners

  1. Advanced Intermediate Language Sequence (8 credits):

  • course - Spanish Language & Conversation for Heritage Learners

  • course - Exploring Culture Through Writing

    Notes: Students may take course concurrently with course. Heritage learners who placed out of one or more of the above courses through the Spanish placement exam, or whom the department determines have met the respective Spanish proficiency, should substitute the credits of the course(s) with advanced electives offered by the department.

  • Upper Level (20 credits): Available courses listed below, under “Areas”

  • Advanced Literature and Cultural Studies (8-16 credits)

  • Advanced Language and Linguistics, Community-Based Learning (4-12 credits)

    Note: 4 credits offered in English by the department may be applied to this requirement; 8 credits with permission of the department.

Important

It is highly recommended that all majors complete one of the following that relates to Spanish or a Spanish-speaking country: study abroad, short-term program, community-based learning course, or internship. Spanish majors are highly encouraged to spend a semester abroad in a Spanish-speaking country.

An internship in Spanish may count for 2-4 credits towards the major with departmental permission.

Students wishing to receive official certification of their proficiency may do so by contacting ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages), for a fee, and the department will accept their score.


Areas

I. Advanced Literature and Cultural Studies

Gender and Relationships:

  • course - Love, Sex, and Spirituality in Early Modern Spain

Autobiographical and Life Writings:

  • course - Representations of Self: U.S. Latinx Identities in Literature and Popular Culture

Literature and Cultural Studies:

  • course - Young Writers, Neo-Realism & Urban Culture in the Hispanic World

  • course - Self, Place and the Environment in the Hispanic World

Colonial and Post-Colonial Studies:

  • course - Reading Nation, Gender and Ethnicity in Latin American Culture

  • course - Colonial/Postcolonial Encounters: Europe, Africa and the Americas

  • course - Cultures in Contact and Conflict in the Hispanic World

Politics and History:

  • course - War and Imagination: The Spanish Civil War

Selected Topics

  • course - Selected Topics in Hispanic Literature and Cultural Studies

  • course - Selected Topics in Hispanic Literature and Cultural Studies in Spain

II. Advanced Language and Linguistics

  • course - Cinematic Language: An Introduction to Spanish Filmic Discourse

  • course - History of the Spanish Language

  • course- Introduction to Spanish Linguistics

  • course - Spanish Sociolinguistics

  • course - Advanced Expression and Stylistics

  • course - Selected Topics in Spanish Language and Linguistics

  • course - Doing Business in the Hispanic World

  • course - Selected Topics in Spanish Language and Linguistics in Spain

III. Community-Based Learning

  • course - Community Based Learning: The U.S. Latino/a Experience

IV. Courses Taught in English

  • course - Selected Topics: Latin American, Peninsular or Transatlantic Contexts

  • course - Selected Topics: U.S. & U.S. Regional Contexts

  • course - The Culture of Melodrama in the Hispanic World

  • course - Gender, Sexuality and Performance in Spanish Theatre

  • course - The Making of the U.S. -Mexico Border

  • course - Power, Identity, and Globalization in Contemporary Latin American Culture

  • course - The Bicultural Imagination: Latinx Cultures in the U.S.

  • course - Gender and Sexuality in Hispanic Cultural Production

  • course - Selected Topics in Hispanic Studies

  • course - African Roots of the Americas

  • course - Sociolinguistic Theory and Method

  • course - Selected Topics in Hispanic Studies in Spain

  • course - Latino Politics