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Undergraduate Degrees
General Information
Spanish Language Proficiency Examination
Students who have studied Spanish in high school are required to take a placement test, administered by the University Testing Bureau. Credit is given only for course work taken above the level of proficiency determined by the examination. Students with no record of previous instruction in Spanish are not required to take the placement examination and should contact the department for assistance.Courses in Spanish
All courses at the 200, 300 and 400 levels are conducted in Spanish unless otherwise noted in the course descriptions that follow. Courses are kept small to allow for maximum interaction between students and professors.Advisement
Every year faculty members are assigned to serve as Spanish undergraduate advisors and mentors, providing advice prior to registration and throughout the academic year.Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in Spanish
| required courses - Lower Division (8 units) | Units | |
|---|---|---|
| SPAN 265 | Spanish for Communication: Society and the Media | 4 |
| SPAN 266 | Spanish for Communication: Arts and Sciences | 4 |
| Required courses - upper division (16 units) | Units | |
|---|---|---|
| Two of the following literature courses: | ||
| SPAN 304 | Survey of Fiction | 4 |
| SPAN 306 | Survey of Drama | 4 |
| SPAN 308 | Survey of Poetry | 4 |
| One of the following language courses: | ||
| SPAN 310 | Structure of Spanish | 4 |
| SPAN 315 | Advanced Grammar and Translation | 4 |
| One of the following culture courses: | ||
| SPAN 320 | Iberian and Latin American Cultures: Readings on Society | 4 |
| SPAN 321 | Iberian and Latin American Cultures: Readings on the Arts | 4 |
Electives (16 units):
Four other upper division courses in language, literature or culture.
Only one section of SPAN 316x may be taken for major or minor credit.
Honors Program
The B.A. in Spanish with Honors is available to students who have a GPA of at least 3.5 in courses counted for major credit and an overall GPA of 3.0 (by the time of graduation). Desire to complete the major with honors typically should be approved by a department faculty member no later than the second semester of the junior year. To complete the honors program the student must write an honors thesis in Spanish in conjunction with a 400-level course. The thesis, in the range of 25-30 pages (6,250-7,500 words), must be endorsed by a departmental honors committee by April 1 of the senior year.Minor in Spanish
| required courses - lower division (8 units) | Units | |
|---|---|---|
| SPAN 265 | Spanish for Communication: Society and the Media | 4 |
| SPAN 266* | Spanish for Communication: Arts and Sciences | 4 |
| Upper division (16 units) | Units | |
|---|---|---|
| Any four courses at the 300- or 400-level | ||
| Basic language ** | Units | |
|---|---|---|
| SPAN 120 | Spanish I | 4 |
| SPAN 150 | Spanish II | 4 |
| SPAN 220 | Spanish III | 4 |
*The second 260-type course may be taken concurrently with upper division courses.
**Majors and minors must meet one of the following Prerequisites: a score of 5 in the Spanish language or literature advanced placement (AP) exam, a score of 620 in the Spanish achievement exam, a score of "Met" in the USC Language Placement exam, or the successful completion of SPAN 220. Students must have departmental approval.
Students who place beyond SPAN 220 in the USC language placement exam who have never taken a course in Spanish must complete SPAN 240 before they can register in SPAN 265 or SPAN 266.
Minor in Latin American Studies
The Latin American Studies minor recognizes the lasting importance of U.S.-Latin American relations. The overriding goal is to encourage students to learn more about Latin America by combining conceptual, area and language studies during their time at USC. The purpose of this 20-unit minor is to deepen students' knowledge of Latin America by offering courses from multiple disciplines within a context of close faculty guidance. The gateway requirement of one four-unit course provides the student with options in both humanities and the social sciences, and the designated electives are similarly meant to allow students to blend these specialties.For fulfillment of the requirements for the minor a student must choose four classes outside of his or her major department dedicated exclusively to the minor (which may be the same four classes). After the gateway course, these elective courses must be spread across at least two disciplines and/or departments.
Required Courses
One of the following 4-unit gateway introductory courses: REL 133, COLT 250, HIST 273, HIST 372, IR 364, IR 365, POSC 350.If the student has chosen a lower-division (100- or 200-level) course among the introductory choices, all area electives must be at the upper-division (300- or 400-) level.
Elective Requirements
AMST 448 and SPAN 462 are available for elective credit for this minor degree beginning fall 2009.
Four courses (16 units) from the following list: AHIS 127, AHIS 128, AHIS 318, AHIS 319, AHIS 411, AMST 448, ANTH 425, COLT 250, ECON 340, GEOG 335, HIST 272, HIST 370, HIST 371, HIST 372, HIST 374, HIST 451, HIST 456, HIST 470, HIST 473, HIST 474, IR 364, IR 365, IR 408, IR 426, IR 454, IR 465, IR 466, PORT 250, POSC 350, POSC 430, POSC 431, SOCI 366, SOCI 420, SPAN 320, SPAN 321, SPAN 372, SPAN 462, SPAN 495.