Spanish Studies (BA)

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Offered by the Department of World Languages and Cultures , College of Arts and Sciences .

Admission to the Program

Students must be approved by the department for formal admission to the major. Language coursework may be waived if high school or other preparation warrants it. Placement will be made in consultation with a departmental advisor.

University Requirements

120 credit hours with minimum 2.00 cumulative GPA (Undergraduate Academic Regulation 2 )
Completion of all requirements for a major (Undergraduate Academic Regulation 9 )

AU Core Requirements

Completion of AU Core foundation requirements (Undergraduate Academic Regulation 8.2-8.6 )
Completion of AU Core Habits of Mind requirements (Undergraduate Academic Regulation 8.7 )
Completion of AU Core integrative course requirements (Undergraduate Academic Regulation 8.8-8.11 )

For additional information, see AU Core Curriculum .

Major Requirements

39 credit hours with grades of C or better
- Prerequisite: completion of intermediate language level (SPAN-253 )
One of the following field concentrations:
- 12 credit hours in a second foreign language at any level
- 12 credit hours in area studies in the major field at or above the 300-level
- An approved minor related to the major field: for example, another language (Arabic Language (Minor) , Chinese Language (Minor) , French Language (Minor) , German Language (Minor) , Japanese Language (Minor) , Russian Language (Minor) ), Anthropology (Minor) , Business Administration (Minor) , Communication (Minor) , Economics (Minor) , History (Minor) , International Studies (Minor) , Literature (Minor) , Political Science (Minor) , or Sociology (Minor)

Course Requirements

Required (17-21 credit hours)

Note: SPAN-352 and SPAN-353 may be replaced by other coursework at 300- or 500-level if warranted by language proficiency.

SPAN-352 Advanced Spanish I: Spain in Context (3)
SPAN-353 Advanced Spanish II: Latin America in Context (3)
SPAN-357 Introduction to Latin American Literature (3)
SPAN-450 Spanish Civilization I: Spain (3)
SPAN-491 Internship: Spanish: Proyecto Amistad (1-6) (2-6 credit hours required)
3 credit hours of Latin American culture and society coursework as approved by advisor

Linguistics (3 credit hours)

Complete 3 credit hours from the following, or 3 credit hours in TESL-XXX at or above 400-level as approved by advisor:

Capstone (3 credit hours)

Complete 3 credit hours from the following or other approved coursework at or above 400-level:

WLC-490 Capstone Independent Research (3)

Electives (12-16 credit hours)

Remaining credit hours chosen from Spanish topics, colloquium, and literature courses

Combined Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees

American University offers students the opportunity to earn both undergraduate and graduate degrees through its combined bachelor’s/master’s programs. See Admission to a Combined Bachelor’s / Master’s Program and Combined Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees for more information.