Spanish, BA

Introduction

The Spanish major at Pacific offers small, engaging upper-division classes and a flexible curriculum that explores the diverse cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. Students build advanced language skills while developing a global perspective and real-world experience.

A customizable capstone allows students to pursue research, internships, or interdisciplinary projects that connect Spanish with another major. The program also maintains strong ties to our Latinx Studies minor and to the local Hispanic community, offering rich opportunities for cultural and civic engagement.

As part of the major, students can choose to study abroad, take short-term travel courses, engage with the local community, or simply focus more on classes here on campus. Whatever path they take, they graduate ready to communicate with over 500 million Spanish speakers and succeed in a wide range of careers at home and abroad.

Baccalaureate Degree Core

Baccalaureate Core & Other Graduation Requirements

Major Requirements: 32 Credits

Required Courses: 8 Credits

SPAN 201 - Intermediate Spanish 4 credit(s)
SPAN 202 - Intermediate Spanish 4 credit(s)
OR SPAN 211 - Spanish for Heritage Speakers 4 credit(s)

Upper-Division SPAN Courses: 20 Credits*

SPAN 301W - Composition and Conversation 4 credit(s)
OR SPAN 303W - Introduction to Hispanic Literature 4 credit(s)
OR SPAN 315W - Advanced Grammar and Composition 4 credit(s)
One 400-level SPAN course other than capstone courses (SPAN 490, 491, 492, 493, and 475) 4 credit(s)
Three 300-400 level SPAN courses taken at Pacific Univeristy 12 credit(s)*

12 credits from study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country (Note: students bringing in 8 credits of study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country may count 4 credits of Global Skills (IS 311, IS 312, IS 313) towards the Spanish major.

Capstone: 4 Credits

SPAN 490 - Capstone: Research I 2 credit(s)
AND SPAN 491 - Capstone: Research II 2 credit(s)
OR
SPAN 475 - Internship variable credit(s) (minimum 2 credits)
AND SPAN 492 - Capstone for Internships I 1 credit(s)
AND SPAN 493 - Capstone for Internships II 1 credit(s)

* Up to 4 credits may be upper-division LTNX courses.

**Note: Students may petition to apply 4 credits of lower-division, short term travel coursework (from any discipline) in a Spanish-speaking country toward the Spanish major. Contact Spanish Program head for petition requirements.

Program Details

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. 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.