Catalogue 2006-07

• USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
• Spanish and Portuguese
  • Undergraduate Degrees
  • Graduate Degrees
  • Courses of Instruction
    • Spanish
    • Portuguese

Spanish and Portuguese

Chair: Roberto Ignacio Díaz, Ph.D.*

Faculty

Professors: Mario Saltarelli, Ph.D.; Carmen Silva-Corvalán, Ph.D.*

Associate Professor: Roberto Ignacio Díaz, Ph.D.*

Assistant Professors: Orlando Bentancor, Ph.D.; Daniela Bleichmar, Ph.D.; Gabriel Giorgi, Ph.D.*; Alexandra Isfahani-Hammond, Ph.D.

Emeritus Professors: J. Ramón Araluce, Ph.D.; Paul Ilie, Ph.D.

Academic Program Staff

Director of Spanish Language Program: Gayle Fiedler Vierma, Ph.D.

Associate Faculty with Titles in Spanish and Portuguese

Marsha Kinder, Ph.D. (Cinema); Moshe Lazar, Ph.D. (Comparative Literature); Teresa McKenna, Ph.D. (English); Alexander Moore, Ph.D. (Anthropology)

Undergraduate Programs

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers both a major and a minor in Spanish, emphasizing the language, linguistics and culture of Spain and Latin America.

With an intellectual commitment to multiculturalism and interdisciplinarity, the undergraduate program actively explores the transnational intersection of various aspects of Spanish and Latin American culture, including literature, folklore, cinema, art, music and architecture. While living and studying in 21st century Los Angeles -- the ideal site for thinking about the planet’s increasingly transcultural condition -- students are challenged to consider and reconsider a number of important issues: the growing importance of popular culture in Iberia, Latin America and Latino USA; the role of race, class and gender within Spanish and Latin American society; the crucial impact of diasporas and migrations on our contemporary cultural landscape; among many others.

The department encourages students to combine a Spanish major with a double major or minor in another discipline either within the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences or other schools at USC. Faculty undergraduate advisors are available to help provide information and assistance to students wishing to explore these various options.

The department also offers basic language instruction in both Spanish and Portuguese through which students can satisfy their foreign language requirement.

Graduate Programs

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers a Master of Arts in Spanish and a Doctor of Philosophy in Spanish under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School.

Spanish Undergraduate Students Association (SUSA)

Students majoring or minoring in Spanish are eligible to join SUSA, the Spanish Undergraduate Students Association. Each year SUSA sponsors a variety of activities which enrich the cultural, intellectual and academic experience of the undergraduate student.

Sigma Delta Pi, ETA Chapter

USC’s ETA Chapter of the Spanish National Honorary Society is one of the charter chapters of an association that now has over 400 chapters. Spanish majors and minors with outstanding academic records can apply for membership each year. The USC chapter also sponsors yearly cultural activities to which all students of Spanish are invited.

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