Spanish, BA

Location(s): Main Campus

The Spanish major provides students with a strong foundation in oral and written communication, as well as solid training in textual and cultural analysis. The linguistic and cultural competency acquired through our courses allows students to communicate effectively with Latinos and Hispanics in the US and abroad. Our diverse curriculum help students develop the analytical, argumentative and creative skills valued in many professions across varied fields.

As students advance in the major, a whole world of culture, history and linguistic knowledge opens up through the upper-level courses, extracurricular events, and study abroad opportunities.

Program Requirements

University General Education Requirements

All Binghamton University undergraduate students are required to fulfill this set of university-wide requirements to ensure that every graduate acquires the essential core of a SUNY university undergraduate education. Please refer to the General Education page for more information.

Harpur College Requirements

All students in Harpur College must fulfill additional requirements designated by Harpur College to complement and extend the general education requirements. Please refer to the Harpur College of Arts and Sciences page for more information.

Major Requirements

Language Prerequisites

Students who are interested in completing a Spanish major but need to start with elementary language courses should reach out to a department advisor during their first year to map out their schedule of classes in advance. Students should consult placement guidelines provided by the department before enrolling in their first course at the department.

Course Requirements

Students must complete the following 10 courses for the Spanish major:

SPAN 211 - Intermediate Spanish I (or SPAN 212 for heritage learners)
SPAN 215 - Intermediate Spanish II (or SPAN 213 for heritage learners)
SPAN 250 - Communication Skills I * (or SPAN 249 for heritage learners)
SPAN 251 - Communication Skills II
SPAN 344 - Adv. Reading & Interpretation
Two of these three courses: SPAN 351 , SPAN 360 and SPAN 370 (in any order or concurrently)
Three 400-level seminars

Notes:

*Upon consultation with a department advisor, students with native or near-native fluency in written and oral Spanish may begin at Spanish 251 instead of a heritage language course; however, students will not receive credits for any course they do not actually take.

Note: Those starting above SPAN 211 can complete the ten required courses for the major by taking additional 300- or 400-level courses.

Additional Information About the Program

Heritage learners are students who were raised in a home where Spanish was spoken but received the majority of their formal education in English. Native speakers are those who were born in a Spanish-speaking country and received formal education (elementary/secondary) in Spanish, before they started to acquire a second language.

Courses taken under the Pass/Fail grading option do not count toward the major. A minimum grade of C (satisfactory performance) is required for a course to be applied toward the Spanish major.

Students wishing to transfer courses from other institutions, especially at the 400-level, must obtain approval by a departmental advisor.

Residency Requirement: At least five courses, including one 300-level course and two 400-level courses, for the major requirements must be taken on campus or in a study abroad program in Spain (Barcelona), Colombia (Bogota), and Peru sponsored by Binghamton University.

Prior to their enrollment in abroad courses or programs, students must consult a departmental advisor for guidance and approval of their course selection.

SPAN 491 (Teaching College Spanish) is intended for students who are interested in enhancing their command of the language by assisting a professor in class, as undergraduate teaching assistants. It can be taken for one to four credits toward graduation, but it does not count toward the major requirements. In order to be considered for this course, students need to fill out an application form.

For more information on the Spanish BA program, please refer to the Romance Langauges and Literatures website. To apply to the Spanish BA program, please visit the University Admissions website.