Undergraduate Degrees

Graduate Degrees

Courses of Instruction

Taper Hall of Humanities 124
(213) 740-1258
FAX: (213) 740-9463
E-mail: ilewis@mizar.usc.edu

Chair: Theodore A. Sackett, Ph.D.

Faculty

Professors: Paul Ilie, Ph.D.; Lucille Kerr, Ph.D.*; Theodore A. Sackett, Ph.D.; Mario Saltarelli, Ph.D.; Carmen Silva-Corvalán, Ph.D.*

Associate Professors: J. Ramon Araluce, Ph.D.*; Beth Miller, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor: Roberto Ignacio Díaz, Ph.D.

Director of Basic Language Program: Cynthia Ramsey, Ph.D.

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

*Recipient of university-wide or college teaching award.

Undergraduate Programs

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers a B.A. degree in Spanish, with an opportunity to emphasize Spanish language and linguistics, Spanish and Spanish American literatures. The department does not offer a major in Portuguese, but has a unique program of intensive instruction in Portuguese through which LAS undergraduate students can meet their foreign language requirement.

The department has a Basic Spanish Program in which students can enroll to satisfy the college language requirement. The program enables students to acquire the comprehension, conversation, reading and writing skills they need to meet their language requirement.

Students are encouraged to combine a Spanish major with a major or minor in another discipline in the college or other schools. The department also offers a Spanish minor. The faculty undergraduate advisors are available in the department to provide information and assistance in considering these various possibilities.

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.

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.

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 for all 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 enroll in first semester Spanish (SPAN 120).

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.

Advisement

Every year faculty members are assigned to serve as Spanish undergraduate advisors, providing advice prior to every pre-registration and keeping a personal file for every student. Please call the department for additional information and for information on interdisciplinary programs.

Department Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts

Prerequisite: A score of 5 in the AP language section, completion with grade of C or better of a fourth semester language course (SPAN 240), or the grade of "A" in SPAN 220 and the passing of an entrance exam.

Lower division requirements are: SPAN 265 and 266. Upper division requirements are: Three 300-level courses: one literature course, either SPAN 304 or 305; one language course, either SPAN 311 or 312; one culture course, either SPAN 360 or 370. Five other upper division courses in language, literature or culture, two of which must be 400-level courses. These courses are to be chosen in consultation with a Spanish Department undergraduate advisor.

Department Minor Requirements

Prerequisite: A score of 5 in the AP language section, completion with grade of C or better of a fourth semester language course (SPAN 240), or the grade of "A" in SPAN 220 and the passing of an entrance exam.

Lower division requirements are: SPAN 265 and 266. Upper division requirements are: One course each in literature, language and culture and an elective, one of which must be a 400-level course.

Graduate Degrees

The degree programs in Spanish provide an optimal academic environment for students interested in advanced studies and research in the fields of Hispanic literatures and linguistics. M.A. students in the Spanish programs pursue a course of study designed to develop a broad knowledge of the subject matter within the framework of traditionally established intellectual concepts, as well as in the light of current developments in the field. Ph.D. students are encouraged to devise individualized programs of specialization in keeping with the highest standards of scholarship. The Spanish graduate programs are integrated with other programs in the university, (e.g., comparative literature and general and applied linguistics), providing a nationally competitive center for advanced studies in Hispanic literatures and linguistics.

Admission Requirements

Master of Arts

An undergraduate major in Spanish is required; however, programs may be arranged for promising students who have not completed such a major. A formal application, personal statement, three letters of recommendation, and a writing sample should be submitted to the department. All applicants are required to take the complete Graduate Record Examinations.

Doctor of Philosophy

In addition to the admission requirements for the master's degree, a high level of accomplishment at the master's level is required.

Degree Requirements

Graduate degrees are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to Requirements for Graduation and the Graduate School for general regulations. All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.

Master of Arts in Spanish

Thirty-two units, including SPAN 511 and either SPAN 595 (literature emphasis) or SPAN 596 (linguistics emphasis), are required. A minimum of 21 units must be at the 500-level or higher. For those specializing in literature, broad coverage of all periods and genres of both Spanish and Spanish American literature is expected. For those specializing in linguistics, coverage of major areas, both theoretical and applied, is required. Combinations of literature and linguistics are possible.

Eight units may be taken in other departments with approval of the graduate advisor.

Facility and correctness in the use of spoken and written Spanish are required. All applicants for the degree must pass a comprehensive written examination, with an added oral component, in either literature or linguistics or a combination of these. Reading knowledge of one language in addition to Spanish and English is required. Evidence of such knowledge must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee, upon petition by the student. Such reading knowledge may be demonstrated by the completion of courses in the foreign language, with the passage of an exam testing proficiency in reading comprehension and translation, or by such other methods of evaluation as may be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee upon petition by the student. All candidates for the M.A. in Spanish are encouraged to teach a Spanish course in the department. A screening procedure is conducted at the end of the first year in residence.

Doctor of Philosophy in Spanish

All applicants for the Ph.D. in Spanish are encouraged to teach a Spanish course in the department.

Course Requirements

In addition to fulfilling the requirements listed for the master's degree, applicants for the doctorate must complete 28 additional units of course work (60 unit minimum). Students who have not taken SPAN 511 and either SPAN 595 or 596 or their equivalents elsewhere, must take SPAN 511 and the other relevant course in addition to the minimum of 60 units.

Minor Requirement

Students must fulfill a minor requirement consisting of two graduate courses taken at the 500-level or above in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. These two courses must be in Hispanic linguistics for students specializing in literature, and in Hispanic literature for students specializing in linguistics. In one of these courses a grade of B- or better must be achieved; the other course may be taken pass/no pass.

Screening Procedure

At the end of each student's first year of course work at the doctoral level, a screening procedure is conducted by all faculty members with whom the student has studied in order to determine whether the individual is progressing satisfactorily toward the degree objective.

Foreign Language Requirement

Reading knowledge of two languages in addition to Spanish and English is required; each student's guidance committee specifies which languages are to be offered. Reading knowledge may be demonstrated by the completion of courses in the foreign language, with the passage of an exam testing proficiency in reading comprehension and translation, or by such other methods of evaluation as may be approved by the student's guidance committee.

Guidance Committee

Immediately after a student's screening committee declares, after the first year of doctoral course work, that the student is making good progress toward the degree objective, the student and a graduate advisor select a guidance committee. The members of the committee advise the student in the selection of course work and conduct the qualifying examination.

Qualifying Examination

Literature: A four-hour comprehensive exam on both Spanish and Spanish American literature, based on an initial core list to which additional titles will be added by the student, in consultation with the guidance committee, to reflect Peninsular or Spanish American emphasis; two, three-hour exams selected from among the following: an approved field outside the department, a genre, a period, critical theory, a movement, a figure; one of the two exams just mentioned may be replaced by a paper presented at a national conference or a paper accepted for publication by a nationally-circulated, refereed journal, either option to be reviewed and approved by the guidance committee; an oral exam consisting of an explication de texte, clarification of the written sections and a defense of the dissertation prospectus.

Linguistics: A six-hour comprehensive examination, based on an initial core reading list to which additional titles will be added, for three different areas in the field (applied, historical, sociolinguistics, syntax, etc.); one of the three areas just mentioned may be replaced by a paper presented at a national conference or a paper accepted for publication by a nationally-circulated, refereed journal, either option to be reviewed and approved by the guidance committee; a four-day take-home exam in the major area of concentration; students choosing a second minor in literature may instead elect to be examined on an area in this field (a genre, a period, a movement, etc.); an oral exam clarifying the written portions and also a defense of the dissertation prospectus.

Dissertation

When the student passes the qualifying examinations and advances to doctoral candidacy, a dissertation committee of three members is appointed by the department chair in consultation with the candidate and the guidance committee. One faculty member serves as the dissertation director and aids the candidate in developing a dissertation on a topic in Hispanic linguistics or literature which can be considered to be original and of significance to scholarship.

Defense of the Dissertation

The department utilizes a defense oral examination in which the candidate, after completing the dissertation, discusses it with the committee and makes any changes required prior to typing in final form.

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