May 20, 2024

Undergraduate Catalog 2023-2024

Spanish, B.A.

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University General Education Requirements

Chairperson: Concetta Williams

The Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Literatures offers a BA in Spanish. The program emphasizes quality preparation in the humanities, provides access to traditionally underrepresented populations, especially Latino students, and contributes to the economic and social welfare of the community. At the heart of the department’s philosophy is a belief that language and communication are paramount to the human experience.

Competence in more than one language is not only integral to a complete educational experience, but also enables individuals to participate more fully in the global society and marketplace. In addition, the study of other languages and cultures empowers people to behave with a greater sense of self and to be successful in their relationships with those of different backgrounds.

Students enrolled in the liberal arts option in Spanish may prepare for careers in government, public service, translation, interpreting, sales, etc. Completion of the teacher preparation option in Spanish qualifies students for an Illinois Professional Educator License (PEL) with an endorsement for teaching Spanish for grades K-12. Licensure requires the successful completion of the Illinois Licensure Spanish content area test and the edTPA. The program meets Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) standards for foreign language education in Spanish.

The department offers introductory and advanced courses in Spanish and French. It also offers introductory courses in African languages, Arabic, Chinese, and German. The first-year foreign language courses are intended to develop the ability to understand, speak, and read the target language. The department also offers minor sequences in French, Spanish, and Latin American/Latino Studies for students majoring in other degree programs.

The department will grant a maximum of nine hours of proficiency credit to both Spanish and bilingual education majors, six hours to elementary education majors and students undertaking a Spanish minor or Latin American/Latino Studies minor, and six hours to French minors.

Proficiency credit will be awarded during the last semester of the program.

Liberal Arts Option

General Requirements

Admission to the department is contingent upon good academic standing and acceptance by the department. The department will not accept D transfer credit in the major. All Liberal Arts in Spanish majors will be assessed periodically during their course of study. As students progress in the program, all majors will be evaluated by examinations in the areas of oral proficiency, reading, and writing. By graduation they will be expected to have met the Advanced + level in these skills and passed a culture/literature exam. During their senior year, students must successfully complete a Senior Capstone project and presentation on a Spanish literary classic assessed by a departmental faculty panel. In addition to vocabulary and fluency, students will be evaluated on their ability to identify themes and style of a particular author and interpret and analyze text and ideas in a given socio-historical context. Performance is evaluated on content, vocabulary, and fluency.

Transfer students should complete 30 hours in the major or have consent of the department and the appropriate departmental assessments for graduation. Courses older than seven years will not be accepted. Oral proficiency will be assessed.

Course requirements

Completion of 120 semester hours of work including the university General Education Requirements, the College of Arts and Sciences General Education requirements (3 hrs. foreign language requirement embedded in the major Spanish courses and 3 hours general education course carrying the diversity designation), 45 hours in Spanish, 9 hours in cognate electives, and 24 hours in general electives selected with the Spanish departmental advisor’s approva

General Education (36 credit hours)

Core requirements

English composition (6 hours)
Oral communication (3 hours)
Mathematics (3 hours)

General requirements

Humanities/Fine Arts (9 hours); at least 3 hours Humanities and 3 hours Fine Arts
Social Sciences (9 hours); in at least two different disciplines
Natural Sciences (6 hours); 3-hour Physical Science and 3-hour Life Sciences, one of which must be a lab course

College of Arts and Sciences Requirement (3 credit hours)

One course in a Foreign Language (3 hour) *embedded in the Spanish major courses
One general education or major course carrying the diversity designation (*embedded in electives)

Required Spanish Courses (29 credit hours)

SPAN 2010 - Intermed Spanish I Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 2020 - Intermed Spanish II Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3010 - Advanced Spanish I Credit Hours: 3
or
SPAN 3020 - Advanced Spanish II Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 2060 - Conversatnl Span I Credit Hours: 3
or
SPAN 2070 - Converstnal Span II Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3130 - Culture of Spain Credit Hours: 3
or
SPAN 3140 - Cult Latin Amer Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3150 - Span Comp I Credit Hours: 3
or
SPAN 3160 - Span Comp II Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3220 - Survey Span Lit I Credit Hours: 3
or
SPAN 3230 - Survey Span Lit II Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3500 - Span Amer Lit I Credit Hours: 3
or
SPAN 3510 - Span Amer Lit II Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4995 - Span Senior Sem Credit Hours: 2 (Senior Capstone).

Students must choose one course from the following group:

SPAN 3190 - Afro-Hisp Cult/Lang Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3210 - Intro Span Lit Crit Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3660 - Afro-Hispanic Lit Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4140 - Topics Span Lit Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4150 - Mexican Literature Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4170 - Intro Span Phon/Ling Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4300 - Hispanic Lit of U.S. Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4410 - Med Span Lit to 1500 Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4420 - Golden Age Span Lit Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4440 - Span Lit 20 to Present Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4450 - Spanish Film Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4610 - Pre-Columbian & Colonial Lit Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4620 - Lat Am Lit Independ - Mod Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4630 - Lat Am Lit - Modern to Boom Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4640 - Lat Am Lit Boom & Post-Boom Credit Hours: 3
or
SPAN 4650 - Latin American Film Credit Hours: 3

Elective Spanish Courses (15 credit hours)

15 credit hours in Spanish to be selected with the approval of the academic advisor.

Cognate Elective Courses (16 credit hours)

16 credit hours of cognate electives to be divided among courses that will either complement the Spanish degree or will create a more intensified area of expertise in a field related to the major. These electives may be taken from anthropology; political science; foreign languages; art; music; educational leadership, curriculum, and foundations; history; geography; or any other academic discipline approved by the department. Courses are to be selected with the approval of the academic advisor and must include a course designated “Diversity.”

Elective Courses (21 credit hours)

Courses are to be selected with the approval of the department academic advisor.

Secondary Teaching Option

General Requirements

Students must complete 120 credits hours of work including the university General Education requirement (36 credit hours), the College of Arts and Sciences General Education requirement for a Foreign Language (embedded in major requirements), 47 credits hours in area of specialization, 14 hours pre-professional education courses, and 23 credit hours in professional education. Licensure requires the successful completion of the Illinois Spanish Content Area Test, edTPA, and proficiency at the Advanced level in Spanish (ACTFL/OPI proficiency interview).

Specific Requirements

General Education (36 credit hours)

Core requirements

English composition (6 credit hours)
Oral communication (3 credit hours)
Mathematics (3 credit hours)

General requirements

Humanities/Fine Arts (9 credit hours): at least 3 credit hours in humanities and at least 3 credit hours in fine arts
Social Sciences (9 credit hours): in at least two different academic disciplines
Natural Sciences (6 credit hours): 3 credit hours in physical science and 3 credit hours in life sciences; one course must include a lab

College of Arts and Sciences Requirements (embedded in major)

One course in foreign language (3 credit hours)
One general education course or major course carrying the “Diversity” designation

Required Courses (47 credit hours)

SPAN 2010 - Intermed Spanish I Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 2020 - Intermed Spanish II Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 2060 - Conversatnl Span I Credit Hours: 3
or
SPAN 2070 - Converstnal Span II Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3010 - Advanced Spanish I Credit Hours: 3
or
SPAN 3110 - Span:Natve Spkrs I Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3020 - Advanced Spanish II Credit Hours: 3
or
SPAN 3120 - Span:Natve Spkrs II Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3130 - Culture of Spain Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3140 - Cult Latin Amer Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3150 - Span Comp I Credit Hours: 3
or
SPAN 3160 - Span Comp II Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3210 - Intro Span Lit Crit Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3220 - Survey Span Lit I Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3230 - Survey Span Lit II Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3500 - Span Amer Lit I Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3510 - Span Amer Lit II Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4170 - Intro Span Phon/Ling Credit Hours: 3

select one course from the following:

SPAN 3190 - Afro-Hisp Cult/Lang Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3300 - Lang/Cult Hispnc U S Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3660 - Afro-Hispanic Lit Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4140 - Topics Span Lit Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4150 - Mexican Literature Credit Hours: 3
or
SPAN 4300 - Hispanic Lit of U.S. Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4410 - Med Span Lit to 1500 Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4420 - Golden Age Span Lit Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4430 - Span Lit 18th & 19th Cent Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4440 - Span Lit 20 to Present Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4450 - Spanish Film Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 4995 - Span Senior Sem Credit Hours: 2

Required Supportive Course

(to be taken before student teaching). SPAN 1092 or pass the state Content Area Certification Test in Spanish.

Required Pre-Professional Education (14 credit hours):

ED 4312 - Teaching with Technology Credit Hours: 3
ED 1520 - Intro to Teaching Credit Hours: 2
ED 2000 - Hist/Phil Am Pub Ed Credit Hours: 3
PSYC 2020 - Educational Psych Credit Hours: 3
S ED 4301 - Char Except Children Credit Hours: 3

Professional Education (23 credit hours):

Course must be passed with at least a grade of C.

*Restricted to students admitted to the College of Education.

S ED 4303 - Students w/Excep Nds Credit Hours: 2 *
ED 4500 - Prin/Prac Secondary Ed Credit Hours: 2 *
ED 2000 - Hist/Phil Am Pub Ed Credit Hours: 3
READ 4100 - Content Read Mid Sch Credit Hours: 2 *
FL&L 4000 - FL Methods Elem Sch Credit Hours: 3 *
FL&L 4630 - Meth Teach K-12 Span Credit Hours: 3 *
SPAN 1092 - Il Frgn Lng Cert Rev Credit Hours: 1
FL&L 4675 (student teaching);*
CAS 2630 - Classroom Management Credit Hours: 1
BIL 4005

Spanish Honors Program

The Spanish Honors Program is designed for rising juniors (second semester sophomores) or juniors who wish to challenge themselves beyond the requirements of their major (Liberal Arts Spanish or K-12 Spanish Education). Students are provided with faculty mentorship and opportunities for independent research during their junior and senior years of undergraduate study. The Honors Committee of the department solicits candidates from faculty in the department. Candidates are then interviewed for final admission into the program. Students may also apply to the program by contacting the Honors advisor.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible, students must meet the following criteria:

be juniors or second semester sophomores;
have a minimum GPA of 3.25 in Spanish coursework (after a minimum of 12 credit hours taken) and a cumulative average GPA of 3.0.

General Requirements

Honors students must meet the following criteria:

successfully complete 15 honors credit hours in the major with a minimum grade of B;
complete 9 credit hours taken from honors designated courses or independent studies within the major at the 3000 and 4000 levels. These courses will require additional projects, research, and activities;
fulfill course requirements over three or four semesters (one honors course should be taken each semester);
enroll in and successfully complete the Spanish Honors Seminar (6 credit hours) and complete an honors thesis or special project under the supervision of a faculty member. A presentation will be required.