Spanish, M.A.

Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Peter Thomas

The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures offers a program leading to the Master of Arts in Spanish. The goals of the program are: (1) to raise the level of communicative competence of native and non-native speakers of Spanish; (2) to provide critical and practical skills necessary for analyzing, assessing and addressing academic and societal issues related to Hispanic language and culture; (3) to provide knowledge and advanced skills in Spanish language and Hispanic culture necessary for higher-level graduate work; (4) to increase, improve and promote cultural understanding and awareness of regional, national and international Spanish-speaking communities; and (5) to produce professionals capable of dealing with the demands brought by the ever-increasing U.S. Hispanic population and by the global job market.

Admission Requirements

Applicants are required to submit the following materials to the Graduate School:

An application for graduate admission.
Official transcripts of all college work (undergraduate and graduate, including US and foreign institutions).
Three letters of recommendation, with at least one from a professor familiar with candidate‘s academic performance.
Two recorded speaking samples, one in English and one in Spanish, in which the applicant introduces her/himself, describes a person she/he admires, or describes a trip she/he took. (CD recording preferred.)
A 500-word written statement of objectives in English.
A 500-word writing sample in Spanish in which the applicant states and defends an opinion.

Applicants seeking admission to the master‘s degree program in Spanish must hold a bachelor‘s degree in Spanish from an accredited college or university with an overall 3.00 GPA or its equivalent (determined by a personal interview with the faculty or an officially recognized test procedure, such as an “intermediate high” rating on the ACTFL proficiency scale). Admissions decisions are based upon the examination of several factors, and where other indicators of success warrant, individuals who fall below the established criteria may still be considered for admission.

The application deadline for fall admission is April 1 (March 1 for consideration for financial aid and assistantships); for spring admission, the application deadline is November 1.

Degree Requirements

The M.A. program requires a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate study (only six of which may be transferred from another institution) and the successful completion of capstone written and oral individualized comprehensive exams based on coursework. The 30 hours of coursework must be distributed as follows:

1. Core requirements (12 credit hours)

SPN 500 - Advanced Writing Techniques Credits: (3)

Three of the following

SPN 507 - Spanish Phonetics and Phonology Credits: (3)
SPN 511 - Topics in Spanish Civilization Credits: (3)
SPN 512 - Topics in Spanish American Civilization Credits: (3)
SPN 521 - Studies in Spanish Literature Credits: (3)
SPN 522 - Studies in Spanish American Literature Credits: (3)

2. Electives (18 hours)

Chosen from any of the remaining graduate courses.

Note

SPN 511 , SPN 512 , SPN 521 , SPN 522 (variable topics) may be taken to satisfy the electives requirement provided the topic is different from the topic used to satisfy the core requirements.

Additional Information

A student must maintain no less than a 3.0 GPA on all graduate-level courses and has five calendar years to complete the degree program. This five-year period begins with the student‘s first term of work after formal admission to the program.