1. Academics
  2. Areas of Study
  3. Spanish
  4. Major/Minor Requirements

Please note: The information displayed here is current as of Tuesday, September 27, 2016, but the official Course Catalog should be used for all official planning.

2016-2017 Course Catalog

Required for the Spanish major

  1. Ten standard courses (or a minimum of 60 units) including one 300-level course, one 400-level course, four 500-level courses, and four electives. These can include a second 300-level course. The remaining electives must be taken at the 400-level and above. They may include up to six units of internship and up to six units from approved courses outside the department, chosen from the following offerings:
    • ARHI 230: Baroque Art
    • ARHI 270/271: Latin American Visual Art
    • EDUC 563: Foreign Language Methods
    • HIST 155: Gender in Latin American History 1490-1800
    • HIST 178: Colonial Latin American History
    • HIST 179: Modern Latin American History
    • HIST 260: Culture and Power in Renaissance Europe
    • HIST 261: Rebellion and Discipline in Reformation Europe
    • HIST 371: The Rise and Fall of American Empires
    • HIST 374: Visions of the Conquest
    • HIST 378: Ethnicity in Latin America
    • HIST 422: Revolt and Revolution in Latin America
    • LING 150: Introduction to Linguistics
    • ENG 150: Literary Analysis
  2. Approval of the completed Senior Experience: Spanish Multimedia Portfolio.
  3. A grade average of C is required for the major. At least four of the advanced Spanish courses (400-level and up) must be taken on the Appleton campus.

Required for the Spanish minor

  1. Six standard courses (or a minimum of 36 units) including one 300-level course, one 400-level course, two 500-level courses, and two electives. These can include a second 300-level course. The remaining electives must be taken at the 400-level and above. They may include up to six units of internship or up to six units from approved courses outside the department.
  2. A grade average of C is required for the minor. At least three of the advanced Spanish courses must be taken on the Appleton campus.

Teaching Certification

The Spanish department offers a course of study that prepares its majors to teach Spanish at the elementary and secondary level. Students interested in becoming licensed to teach Spanish, K-12, should plan to complete the major and should consult with the education department about certification requirements.

Study abroad

The Spanish department strongly advises majors and minors to participate in off-campus programs in Latin America or Spain to fulfill program requirements and complement departmental offerings. Non-majors with sufficient linguistic preparation are also encouraged to participate. Off-campus offerings include other disciplines in addition to Spanish, such as biology, psychology, government, economics, history, art history, music history, etc. Please contact the specific department and the director of international programs for information on credit transfer toward non-Spanish requirements.

Numbering

Courses numbered 101-201 are primarily language and general culture courses. They introduce students to the most important linguistic skills until they reach an intermediate level of competency. Any SPAN 200-level class satisfies the general education requirement in language competency. SPAN 202 is a gateway course to the major but it does not count as one of the requirements. It provides intensive practice in the linguistic and analytic skills that students will need to succeed in subsequent classes. Courses numbered in the 300s provide communicative and intellectual development through the study of specific knowledge areas (literature, film, news media, linguistics). The 400-level courses provide more advanced exploration of cultural, socio-political, artistic, filmic, and literary topics. Courses at the 500-level are seminars for advanced majors that delve into specific and sophisticated academic topics pertinent to our faculty’s fields of research and expertise. Students are expected to participate fluently in high-level academic discussions and produce superior scholarly work appropriate for this last stage in their education.

Tutorial studies and independent projects can be pursued in courses numbered in the 390s and 590s, subject to faculty availability and approval by the chair of the department. Some internships are eligible to become a 595 course, subject to approval by the chair of the department and the availability of a faculty supervisor who will evaluate the corresponding academic project.

The one-unit capstone course (699) allow students to connect, reflect on, and expertly demonstrate all the areas of knowledge and proficiency studied and achieved in the major.

Native and advanced heritage speakers of Spanish are strongly encouraged to take the online placement exam and take Spanish courses at the 300 level and up. Less advanced heritage speakers may place in the 100-200-level courses with instructor’s approval.

Note: The department does not offer DS/Tutorials/IS below the 300-level.

Senior Experience in Spanish

The Spanish department's Senior Experience consists of a multimedia portfolio that provides measurable evidence of the desired intellectual qualities, academic knowledge, cultural competence, and linguistic skills required of Spanish majors. The portfolio is a requirement for completion of the major. It presents a collection of evidence that demonstrates a student's attainment of the learning goals established by the program. The portfolio also serves as a measure of students' steady progress towards those goals by allowing comparisons between early and recent academic work, so that students can gauge their improvement and focus on the development of specific skills. Students are encouraged to provide a title for their portfolio that is appropriate and descriptive of its content.

Students pursuing double majors, double degrees, and education certification are strongly encouraged to consult with their advisors and department chairs to plan their senior experiences as early as possible, especially if they are interested in pursuing an interdisciplinary capstone.

Spanish majors are required to submit their multimedia portfolio in the required format to the Spanish department by the third Friday of their final term at Lawrence. Spanish faculty members will assess the portfolio and communicate the outcome of their evaluation to the students by the seventh week of the term. Unapproved portfolios must be revised and resubmitted before the last day of classes in order for students to graduate.

The portfolio must include the following components:

  1. A cover letter*, in Spanish, which will specify the following:
    1. An Individualized Portfolio Theme
    2. A description of the content of the portfolio
    3. A reflective statement (in Spanish) of at least two pages, in which the student:
      1. Evaluates his/her development during the years as Spanish majors
      2. Justifies the selection of materials for the portfolio
      3. Links the samples to their interests
      4. Reflects on the improvement gained throughout their careers at Lawrence
    *This part of the portfolio is expected to be error-free
  2. A list of the courses completed for the major.
  3. A minimum of 15 pages written in Spanish from 3 different courses of the student's choice at the 300-level and above. One of the three samples must be in the condition in which it was originally submitted and also revised, while the other two must be revised and thoroughly edited in order to reflect the student's current level of proficiency.
  4. Two spoken samples (two-minutes each) prepared and recorded independently by the student in a computer lab.
    1. Audio Sample 1: A reading of a text in Spanish
    2. Audio Sample 2: A presentation with the recommended multimedia software (see Moodle site). This presentation must be about an off-campus experience such as a study abroad, internship or immersion program away from the Appleton campus (at a Spanish-speaking location or internship assignment). It should include no fewer than 5 student-taken photos, accompanied by a recorded, voice-over commentary in Spanish done by the student. Students will use their own visuals (photos or short video clips). No copyrighted or third-party visual materials (e.g., photos from commercial guidebooks, or other people's photos from Flickr or Facebook) may be used as part of the project. After the presentation is submitted and approved, it will become part of a rotating showcase of students' experiences made available to on- and off- campus communities through departmental or Senior Experience websites.

The entire portfolio must be presented in electronic format through the required channels. Students should familiarize themselves with these departmental requirements at the time of declaring the major.

Important: Students must register to take an Independent Study (SPAN 699) for one (1) unit (S/U) with their assigned faculty evaluator during the term when they will submit their Portfolio.

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