Spanish, BA

Introduction

Learn one of the world’s most widely spoken languages and prepare to interact in the global community. Spanish majors study abroad for a semester in a Spanish-speaking country*. Students may also practice their language skills with a native-speaking language assistant on campus or with the many Spanish-speakers in the surrounding area. Other program highlights include short-term travel courses in Spain or Costa Rica as well as the opportunity to get first-hand experience teaching languages in local schools.

*Note: Heritage Spanish speakers and other students who can (a) demonstrate already having met the student learning objectives of Study Abroad, (b) have Advanced Low or higher linguistic proficiency in all four skill areas (reading, listening, reading, writing), and (c) who can demonstrate unavoidable barriers to spending a full semester abroad, may petition to have an alternate plan of study substitute for the required study abroad credits.

Admissions  

Program Length

Four years for a complete BA degree.  Two years for students transferring in with an AAOT degree.  Program length may vary depending upon the student’s course load and academic progress. Note: If Study Abroad is for a year, only 12 credits are required, otherwise 16 are required. Students enter the sequence at a level appropriate to their previous preparation and may be exempt from up to 16 credits of lower division coursework in the major unless otherwise noted.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students completing the major in Spanish will:

• achieve linguistic proficiency in Spanish in listening, speaking, reading and writing equivalent to ACTFL Advanced Low (for a description of ACTFL proficiency levels, see https://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/guidelines/ACTFLProficiencyGuidelines2012.pdf),
• demonstrate a comparative understanding of cultural diversity,
• be able to analyze at least one aspect of major historical, social, intellectual, artistic and/or linguistic trends of the Spanish-speaking world; and
• leverage disciplinary knowledge to create a capstone project that demonstrates an understanding of the cultures and languages of the Spanish-speaking world.