Spanish Major
Department Advanced Placement Policy
Students with AP credit in Spanish earn placement in the curriculum but not progress toward the minimum number of courses required by the major. Students with AP or IB credit will be advised of their placement in Spanish by taking the obligatory Spanish Background Questionnaire.
Requirements
Students who will be majoring in Spanish must complete between 10 and 14 courses. More specifically, they are required to take one course from each of the eight areas below, plus two or more elective courses from any of these areas. One course offered on campus outside of the Spanish department that is directly relevant to the Spanish major may be counted as an elective, subject to approval by the department chair. Eligible courses may include Montserrat or Honors courses taught (in English or Spanish) by faculty in the Spanish department or courses taught in Spanish in other departments, such as RELS 290 Teología Andina, RELS 295: Un tal Jesús, and HIST 278: Raza e identidad. Ordinarily, no more than four courses outside the Spanish Department (including Montserrat, Maymesters, study abroad courses, and courses taught in Spanish in other departments) can be counted towards the Spanish major.
Majors are strongly advised to take at least two advanced (400-level) courses in their fourth year, again from any of the areas below.
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| Required courses: | |
| Area 1: Composition and Conversation (one required): 1 | |
| Spanish Composition & Conversation | |
| Español para Hispanohablantes | |
| Area 2: Focused Language (one required): | |
| Filmmaking in Spanish | |
| Spanish for Business | |
| Adv Oral Expression | |
| Spanish Grammar Through Translation | |
| Creative Writing in Spanish | |
| Area 3: Culture and Cinema (one required): | |
| Aspects of Spanish Culture | |
| Aspects of Spanish-American Culture | |
| Latin American Film | |
| Spanish Film and Literature | |
| Area 4: Linguistics (one required): | |
| Phonetics & Phonology | |
| Spanish in the U.S. | |
| Second Language Acquisition & Spanish | |
| Bilingualism in Spanish Speaking World | |
| Cultural History of Spanish Lang | |
| Area 5: Introduction to Textual Analysis (one required): | |
| Intro to Textual Analysis 2 | |
| Area 6: Readings in Literature (one required): | |
| Readings in Latin American Lit | |
| Readings in Spanish Literature | |
| Area 7: Advanced Pre-Modern Studies (one required): | |
| Medieval Spanish Literature | |
| Early Modern Spanish Literature | |
| Don Quixote | |
| Colonial Span Amer Literature | |
| Area 8: Advanced Modern Studies (one required): | |
| Depicting Spanish Modernity | |
| Modern Spanish-American Narrative | |
| Staging Spain | |
| Modern Span & Span-Amer Poetry | |
| Body & Text: Gender in Spanish Literature | |
| Spanish Film and Literature | |
| Federico García Lorca | |
| Latinidades in Literature & Pop Culture | |
| Female Voices in Modern and Contemporary Spain | |
| In addition to one course in each of the 8 areas specified above, Spanish majors must take at least two electives, which may be second or third courses in a given area. | |
| Note: Students who begin their study of Spanish above SPAN 301 or 302 do not need to satisfy area 1. Instead they should take a third elective to complete the ten-course minimum requirement. | |
| Note: It is recommended that two of the minimum of ten courses be taken at the 400 level in the fourth year. | |
| 1 | Of the two courses that fulfil area 1, students can take one or the other, but not both. SPAN 302 Español para Hispanohablantes is specifically designed for heritage students who grew up speaking the language regularly at home. |
| 2 | SPAN 305 Intro to Textual Analysis is a prerequisite to Readings courses (SPAN 308 and 309), which in turn are prerequisites to more advanced literature and culture courses. Hence, it is recommended that students take SPAN 305 Intro to Textual Analysis as soon as feasible. |
| 3 | SPAN 308 or 309 are prerequisites to more advanced literature and culture courses. Students who wish to enroll in a course for which SPAN 308 or 309 is a prerequisite can take SPAN 308 or 309 concurrently with that course as long as they (i) have completed SPAN 305 and (ii) obtain the instructor's permission. |
Study Abroad Credit
Spanish majors are strongly encouraged to study abroad at one of Holy Cross’s programs in Latin America or Spain. Students who study abroad for a full academic year can use up to four Spanish courses taken abroad to satisfy major requirements-- or five in the case of students who begin their study of language at the College below Spanish 301 or 302. Each of these courses should be equivalent to a semester-long class at Holy Cross (year-long courses at Spanish and Latin American universities count as two semester-long courses at Holy Cross). Typically, the year-long Spanish language and culture course that Holy Cross students take abroad serves to satisfy both area 2 (Focused Language) and area 3 (Culture and/or Cinema) major requirements, but it can also be counted for other areas, or as an elective if the student has already satisfied requirements in that particular area. Students who attend semester programs can use up to two courses taken abroad to satisfy the major requirements. Upon their return from study abroad, students must still take two advanced (400-level) Spanish courses at Holy Cross in their senior year.