UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
Spanish Major
Spanish Minor
Frequently Asked Questions
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
Major/ Minor Advisor:
Dr. Ignacio F. Rodeño
209 B.B. Comer
(205) 348-8466 (direct)
(205) 348-5059 (main office)
(205) 348-2042 (fax)
Questions: spanishadvising@bama.ua.edu
The Department of Modern Languages and Classics offers an exciting major and minor in Spanish: both are extremely popular as evidenced by the ever-increasing student interest. As of December 2011 Spanish had 178 registered majors and 187 minors approximately.
The Spanish Major
The Spanish Major requires 27 hours on the 300-400 level; between required courses and electives. The curriculum provides students with an attractive mixture of classes with both grounding in Latin-America andSpain. A minimum of 12 hours at the 300 or 400 level must be earned on this campus.
Students should begin their 300-level course work with the required SP 353, Conversation. This course introduces students to linguistic immersion in the target language. Please note that native or heritage speakers are not permitted in this class.
SP 356, Grammar and Composition (also required), is a rigorous study of grammatical concepts, as well as the tools needed to write successful essays in Spanish, with emphasis in the creation of academic papers, as these will be part of assessment in future courses .
There are two civilization courses, one of which is required: SP 364 Spanish Civilization (Spanish Peninsular culture and history) and SP 366 Spanish-American Civilization (Latin American culture and history).
Students are also required to select two of the five literary survey
courses offered: SP 371 (Literature of Spain from the Middle Ages through the 18th century); 372 (Spain’s literature from the 19th century to the present.); SP 375 (Spanish-American literature from the colonial period to independence); SP 376 (Spanish-American literature from independence to the present); and SP 390 US Latino Literature (literature created by US authors of Hispanic descent in from the 19th Century to the present). In these courses, students are introduced to selections taken from important literary works fromSpain, Latin-America, and Hispanic US. Students need not follow any sequence and they may mix and match courses. Students must have taken SP353 and SP356 prior to these classes.
Students are required to take SP 491, Cervantes and Don Quijote. This course focuses on the renowned Spanish writer and provides students with an in-depth study of a world masterpiece.
Students are also required to choose a second 400-level course from the wide variety offered by the Spanish faculty. Possibilities are SP 484 (Hispanic Linguistics); SP 488 (Senior Seminar in Peninsular Literatures); SP 489 (Senior Seminar in Latin-American and US Latino literatures) and a series of popular literature classes (SP 421, 422, 425, 426, 434, 436, 441, 493, 494 and the 498 Honors Seminar).
The Spanish faculty is also quite proud of its specialty courses, offered virtually every semester as “Senior Seminars” in both Latin-American and Spanish Peninsular topics. Areas of study include: Spanish and Latin American cinema, Benito Pérez Galdós, the Spanish Civil War, Hispanic autobiography and narratives of the self, Spanish American Modernism, crime and trauma narratives, relation between labor and literature,…. Similar to these are the SP 490 courses (Open Topics) which may focus on anything fromCubato Peruvian history to US Latino theater to Hispanic women writers.
For the remaining six hours of electives, students may select anything
on the 300-400 level. Additional offerings to the already mentioned include: SP 360 Commercial Business; SP 390 Technical Writing (aimed to train the student in the intricacies of business correspondence and jargon); SP 390 Economics, Politics, and
Media (in-depth study of the subtleties of Hispanic business and economy)
Please note that SP 361 Introduction to Romance Linguistics is taught in English and therefore it does not count towards Spanish major or minor.
Double Major in Spanish and Business
Students may major in Spanish (College of Arts and Sciences) and Business (Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration). Requirements for the double major are multiple and vary slightly from the standard major. Interested students
are encouraged to see the advisers, either in A&S or in C&BA,at the beginning of their college careers.
Click to download the checklist for the Spanish major
SUGGESTED SEQUENCE FOR THE SPANISH MAJOR
SP 353
SP 356
SP 364/366
Any TWO of the following:
SP 371
SP 372
SP 375
SP 376
SP 390 US Latino Literature
SP 300-400 elective (except SP361)
SP 300-400 elective (except SP361)
SP 491 Cervantes / Don Quijote
SP 400 elective
Spanish Minor
The Spanish Minor has emerged over the last few years as one of the most enticing options for students in business, pre-law, pre-med, nursing, criminal justice, political science and many other areas of study.
Sstudents must take 15 hours on the 300-400 level. A minimum of 6 hours must be earned on this campus.
Students should begin their 300-level course work with the required SP 353, Conversation. This course introduces students to linguistic immersion in the target language. Please note that native or heritage speakers are not permitted in this class.
SP 356, Grammar and Composition (also required), is a rigorous study of grammatical concepts, as well as the tools needed to write successful essays in Spanish, with emphasis in the creation of academic papers, as these will be part of assessment in future courses .
There are two civilization courses, one of which is required: SP 364 Spanish Civilization (Spanish Peninsular culture and history) and SP 366 Spanish-American Civilization (Latin American culture and history).
The remaining six hours must come from courses on the 300-400 level. Students are encouraged to select from the offerings that best complement their major. For instance if the major area is Business, Spanish business courses (Commercial, Technical Writing, Economics, Politics, and Media) might enhance the student’s marketability significantly.
SUGGESTED SEQUENCE FOR THE SPANISH MINOR
15 HOURS on 300 or 400 LEVEL
SP 353
SP 356.
SP 364 or 366
SP 300-400 elective
SP 300-400 elective