Spanish, M.A.

The Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures

Graduate Program Requirements

The Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures offers the Master of Arts degree in Spanish.

The Master of Arts degree program in Spanish language and literature serves several categories of students: those anticipating doctoral studies, those teaching or preparing to teach in high school and community college, and those interested in further study beyond the baccalaureate degree. For specific requirements, consult the departmental graduate committee chair. For general requirements, see Division of Graduate Studies.

Master of Arts in Spanish

The Master of Arts degree in Spanish is awarded upon satisfactory completion of a 30-unit program of study. For the culminating experience, students may select either a thesis/project or comprehensive examination.

Admission Prerequisites: Admission to the M.A. program in Spanish requires a minimum 3.0 GPA and assumes an undergraduate major in Spanish, but is open to others with a bachelor’s degree who show intellectual promise and ability to perform at a satisfactory level during their graduate studies. Students lacking the B.A. in Spanish will be required to make up deficiencies prior to acceptance into the M.A. program.

Program Requirements: In order to achieve classified standing, students must complete the following requirements.

Department Spanish Language Exam: Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of competence in Spanish by passing a written language exam. See Student Handbook for more details.
Plagiarism Workshop: The Spanish MA program requires all new MA students to complete an on-line tutorial on plagiarism and academic integrity. See Student Handbook for details.

Graduate Writing Requirement: Students must complete the graduate writing requirement by writing one research paper for a graduate seminar in English which is assessed in content, organization, and writing style. For more information, please contact the graduate program coordinator.

Degree Requirements

Under the direction of the graduate advisor, students prepare a coherent program. Each student’s program of study must include at least 24 units of 200-level work.

Core (3 units)

SPAN 203 - Applied Literary Theory Units: 3

Elective Requirements (21-27 units)

Students are required to complete 21-27 units of elective coursework, depending on the culminating experience chosen and the unit value of the Project or Thesis. Discuss elective choices with program advisor.

Elective course options include:

200-level SPAN coursework (a minimum of 12 units required) - see Advising Note 1
Approved elective course from another department (maximum 3 units allowed)
100-level course electives (maximum 6 units with advisor approval) to be chosen from the following:

SPAN 142 - Introduction to Spanish Literature Units: 3
SPAN 143 - Introduction to Spanish-American Literature Units: 3
SPAN 145 - Mexican Literature Units: 3
SPAN 147 - Twentieth Century Spanish-American Literature Units: 3
SPAN 148T - Major Themes in Hispanic Literature Units: 3
SPAN 149 - The Golden Age Units: 3
SPAN 150 - Twentieth Century Spanish Literature Units: 3

Culminating Experience (0-6 units)

Choose one Culminating Experience from the options below. Depending on the culminating experience chosen, as well as the unit value associated with either SPAN 298 or 299, additional elective units will need to be taken above to ensure a minimum of 30 units total is earned for the degree.

SPAN 298 - Project Units: 3-6
SPAN 299 - Thesis Units: 3-6
Comprehensive Exam (0 units)

Total Units: 30

Advising Notes:

A maximum of 6 units of SPAN 290 is allowed to be taken towards the MA in Spanish.
The following areas must be covered by graduate or undergraduate courses and may be satisfied in undergraduate preparation: Peninsular Spanish literature (two courses including SPAN 142 ), Latin American literature (two courses including SPAN 143 ), Hispanic linguistics (one course).
Students who intend to go on to a Ph.D. program at another institution are strongly advised to study at least one other foreign language.