Spanish majors must complete a minimum of 10 courses and a maximum of 14, including one course from each of the eight areas below, plus two or more elective courses. An elective is a second course or its approved equivalent taken from any of the required areas, on campus or abroad.
Majors are strongly advised to take at least two advanced (400-level) courses in their fourth year, again from any of the areas below.
Areas
Majors must take one course from each of the eight areas below, plus two or more elective courses.
Spanish 301 “Spanish Composition and Conversation"
Spanish 302 “Español para hispanohablantes”
Spanish 312 “Filmmaking in Spanish”
Spanish 314 “Spanish for Business”
Spanish 319 “Advanced Oral Expression”
Spanish 320 “Spanish Grammar through Translation”
Spanish 366 “Creative Writing in Spanish”
Spanish 303 “Aspects of Spanish Culture”
Spanish 304 “Aspects of Latin American Culture”
Spanish 420 “Latin American Film”
Spanish 421 “Spanish Film and Literature”
Spanish 318 “Spanish Phonetics and Phonology”
Spanish 413 “Spanish in the US”
Spanish 414 “Second Language Acquisition and Spanish”
Spanish 415 “Bilingualism in the Spanish-Speaking World”
Spanish 422 “Cultural History of the Spanish Language”
Spanish 305 “Introduction to Textual Analysis”
Spanish 308 “Readings in Latin American Literature”
Spanish 309 “Readings in Spanish Literature"
Spanish 400 “Medieval Spanish Literature”
Spanish 401 “Early Modern Spanish Literature”
Spanish 402 “Don Quixote”
Spanish 409 “Colonial Spanish-American Literature”
Spanish 403 “ Depicting Spanish Modernity”
Spanish 405 “Modern Spanish-American Narrative”
Spanish 406 “ Staging Spain”
Spanish 407 "Modern Spanish and Spanish-American Poetry”
Spanish 416 “Body and Text: Gender in Modern Spanish Literature”
Spanish 421 "Spanish Film and Literature"
Spanish 436 "Federico García Lorca”
Spanish 450 “Latinidades in Literature and Pop Culture”
Spanish 461 “Female Voices in Modern and Contemporary Spain”
Two courses from any of the areas above, or by approval of the chair.
Note: One course from outside the regular program offerings of the Spanish department that is directly relevant to the Spanish major may be counted as an elective, subject to approval by the department chair. Eligible courses may include one of the following:
a) Montserrat or Honors courses taught by faculty members affiliated with the Spanish department, or
b) courses taught in Spanish in other departments at Holy Cross, such as history or religious studies or
c) four-week summer courses taught in Spanish, such as Maymesters.
Study Abroad for Spanish Majors
Note: Students who begin their study of Spanish above SPAN 301 or 302 do not need to satisfy area 1. Instead they should take a third elective to complete the ten-course minimum requirement. Spanish majors are strongly encouraged to study abroad at one of the College’s programs in Latin America (Buenos Aires, Argentina; Lima, Peru; or Ecuador) or Spain (La Coruña, León, or Granada).
Planning Considerations for Study Abroad Students
- Up to four Spanish major requirements can be met by a year of study in an approved program abroad, or up to two in a semester. Students who started Spanish at Holy Cross with a course lower than SPAN 301 or 302 may ask the department chair to count an additional study abroad course towards their Spanish major.
- A yearlong course at a study abroad site counts as two courses at Holy Cross. One of four courses taken abroad each semester is a required Holy Cross language course. For yearlong programs, this course can fulfill two major requirements, normally Focused Language (Area 2), Culture and Cinema (Area 3), or an elective. For semester programs, the course may be used for Area 2, Area 3 or an elective.
- Students planning to study abroad should prioritize taking Introduction to Textual Analysis (Area 5) and a Readings course (Area 6) at Holy Cross. Students should also consider studying Linguistics (Area 4) at Holy Cross either before or after their time abroad.
- Study abroad allows students to explore their academic interests in local culture, literatures, and arts through direct enrollment in university classes abroad, alongside native students and taught by native professors. Students are encouraged to seek classes similar in scope to offerings at Holy Cross in order to receive major, minor (concentration) or common area credit. Remember that Spanish majors are strongly advised to take two 400-level classes in their senior year.
- If you declare a Spanish major while studying abroad, please notify your class dean and the registrar, who will help with course approvals and advising contacts.