Spanish

Department: Spanish
Department Chair: Felicia Cruz
Program Option: B.A.

As a Spanish major at St. Kate’s, you’ll develop effective linguistic and cultural communication in a Spanish-speaking environment. The courses develop and maintain Spanish proficiency and provide cultural awareness and sensitivity. All courses are taught primarily in Spanish. To build and maintain Spanish proficiency, you should plan a minimum of one course in Spanish per semester. A section of the core curriculum course “Global Search for Justice” is periodically offered in Spanish. The department also welcomes native Spanish speakers and will design a program with you to meet your needs and interests.

St. Kate’s Spanish majors are a close-knit group who work together in their studies. You’ll have many opportunities to hone your skills and share your appreciation for Spanish language and culture. For example, the department organizes Spanish language tables, an opportunity to converse in Spanish about current events, books and films. Many St. Kate’s alumnae visit campus to join students in these discussion groups. St. Kate’s students also enjoy the benefit of departmental assistants, who are always natives of Spain or Latin America and eager to share knowledge of their culture with you. Recent assistants have hailed from Peru, Mexico and Spain. In addition to the time you spend with your language professors each week, these heritage speakers provide you with various fun-filled opportunities to speak in Spanish during a regularly scheduled, weekly conversational practicum.

Through the Office of Residence Life, the native assistants also provide a walk-in tutorial hour several evenings a week, and plan activities several times a semester. In recent years, they have helped plan activities to celebrate the Day of the Dead, Christmas, Cinco de Mayo and Holy Week. Their presence in fact extends beyond campus, to the neighboring community: our native assistants periodically organize excursions for our students to attend talks, watch movies, see plays, eat and shop in Latino establishments in the St. Paul and Minneapolis area.

On campus, the new state-of-the art Language Center provides access to learning software, interactive CD-ROMs and other materials to help you learn about Spanish-speaking countries and polish your speaking, reading or writing skills. In addition, faculty can direct you to a wealth of cultural information now available on the Internet. The Spanish Club, which holds weekly meetings led by an elected St. Kate’s student and Sigma Delta Pi, the National Spanish Honor Society, offer further opportunities to interact in a Spanish-speaking environment.

As a Spanish student, you are encouraged to engage in experiential or service learning. Together with the Career Development Office, the department enthusiastically encourages earning credit towards the major through internships. In recent years students have interned at The Resource Center of the Américas, Neighborhood House, La Clínica, The César Chávez School, Children’s Hospital, C.L.U.E.S., Homecroft Elementary School and The Jane Addams School for Democracy.

You are also strongly encouraged to study, travel or live abroad. Each January, the Spanish Department sponsors study abroad in Mexico or Spain. In addition to these special programs in Spain and Mexico, more than 50 semester and yearlong programs, January options and summer programs are available around the world. These programs are academically sound and provide strong support services and opportunities for you to immerse yourself in the culture of the country you visit. Students often choose to live with host families or in international residence halls on foreign campuses. St. Kate’s Global Studies staff will help you learn about the many foreign study opportunities and pick the best option for your needs.

St. Kate’s faculty members include professors who have lived or studied abroad, and native speakers of Spanish. All instructors enthusiastically share their experiences, perspectives, and local/international connections with students. Faculty members periodically lead intensive language study programs in Mexico and Spain.
St. Kate’s Spanish program alumnae put their degrees to work in a variety of fields, including working as a U.S. ambassador to Moldova, a V.P. of international marketing and advertising, a bilingual occupational therapist, and as teachers, social workers and nurses.

See also: Education – World Languages and Culture: Spanish with K-12 Teaching Licensure.

MAJOR REQUIREMENTS

Prerequisite:
SPAN 1120 Elementary Spanish II with a grade of B or higher.

The major consists of eight courses

Required courses:
SPAN 3160 Hispanics in the United States
SPAN 3250 Advanced Spanish
SPAN 4860 Senior Seminar

One to three* 2000-level courses:
SPAN 2110 Intermediate Spanish I
SPAN 2120 Intermediate Spanish II
SPAN 2250 Visions of the Hispanic World (bridge course)

Two to four courses at the 3000- or 4000-level:
SPAN 3550 Galdos and the Generation of 1898
SPAN 3700 Contemporary Spanish American Literature
SPAN 4000 Hispanic Masterpieces
SPAN 4100 Hispanic Women Writers
SPAN 4604 Internship (4 cr.)
SPAN 4954 Independent Study (when warranted)
SPAN 4994 Topics

*If you place into SPAN 2110 and/or 2120 you may count it/them toward the major. If you place into the bridge course you will have fulfilled the College’s language requirement but will still need to take an additional seven 3000 or 4000- level courses (with a minimum grade of C) to fulfill requirements for the major.

MAJOR REQUIREMENTS FOR NATIVE SPEAKERS

The major for the native speaker of Spanish consists of the following courses:
SPAN 2250 Visions of the Hispanic World (bridge course)
SPAN 3250 Advanced Spanish
SPAN 4860 Senior Seminar

Plus three of the following courses selected in consultation with a Spanish departmental advisor:
SPAN 3160 Hispanics in the United States
SPAN 3550 Galdos and the Generation of 1898
SPAN 3700 Contemporary Spanish American Literature
SPAN 4000 Hispanic Masterpieces
SPAN 4100 Hispanic Women Writers
SPAN 4604 Internship (4 cr.)
SPAN 4994 Topics

Two courses relating to the Hispanic world, selected in consultation with a Spanish departmental advisor. Examples are POSC 3590, THEO 2850, ENGL 2900, HIST 3590 or selected ACTC Latin America Area Studies courses.

APPLIED FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMPONENT

Students at the post-intermediate level may have the possibility of applying a foreign language in the study of another discipline. For further information, consult the language departments.

Spanish majors satisfy the Writing Requirement for Majors and the fourth writing requirement by completing SPAN 2250 and 4860. You complete the Liberal Arts and Sciences Core Writing Requirement with two other writing-intensive courses (CORE 1000 and CORE 3990).

URL: http://minerva.stkate.edu/academiccatalog0709.nsf/pages/spanish
This page was created on 05/03/2007 and last updated on 05/03/2007.
Comments, questions and feedback about this site may be addressed to registrar@stkate.edu.