BA in Romance Languages with Emphasis in Spanish
Degree Program Description
In the MU Spanish program, abrimos puertas- we open doors. Doors to connecting with 500 million Spanish speakers in 20+ countries worldwide, doors to 1 in 7 of your neighbors right here in the US, doors to professional opportunities at home and abroad, doors to discovering a new you. Our program gives you the keys to unlock all your potential. With dynamic pedagogy, diverse academic and extracurricular offerings, and life-changing study abroad programs, we ensure that you live the language inside and outside of the classroom. Come join us and open the door to becoming the bold, bilingual global citizen that you were meant to be.
Our degree requires a minimum of 30 hours of Spanish beyond SPAN 2100. We strongly encourage all majors to spend at least one semester (or summer) studying abroad, preferably after their second year of the language. Given the liberal arts foundation of a degree in Spanish students pursue careers in a variety of fields or continue their studies. Graduates have pursued careers in the health sciences, business, law, journalism, tourism, diplomacy, and education among many others fields.
Major Program Requirements
Course work must be completed with a grade in the C range or higher in each of the required courses and students must maintain a 2.0 GPA in the major. In addition to University, general education, and College of Arts and Science requirements, students must also meet the following major program requirements. All major requirements in the College of Arts and Science must be completed with grades of C- or higher unless otherwise indicated.
Students who work toward a double major (two BA degrees within the College of Arts and Science) may be able to complete the majors with a minimum of 120 credits.
To obtain the BA degree in Romance Languages with an emphasis in Spanish, the following courses, or their equivalents, must be included in the graduation plan (numbers in parentheses indicate prerequisite courses):
| Major core requirements | ||
| SPAN 2160 | Intermediate Spanish Composition and Conversation | 3 |
| SPAN 3150 | Advanced Spanish Conversation | 3 |
| or SPAN 3721 | Spanish Phonetics | |
| SPAN 3160 | Advanced Spanish Composition | 3 |
| or SPAN 3280 | Commercial Spanish | |
| SPAN 3420 | Introduction to Hispanic Literature I | 3 |
| SPAN 3430 | Introduction to Hispanic Literature II | 3 |
Additional Requirements
Students must complete five 4000-level courses selected with the advisor’s approval.
- Required courses: five courses of choice.
- Up to 12 credits of SPAN 4980 may be counted toward fulfillment of major requirements.
| Peninsular | ||
| SPAN 4410 | Spanish Medieval Literature | 3 |
| SPAN 4420 | Golden Age Poetry | 3 |
| SPAN 4421 | Renaissance and Golden Age Prose | 3 |
| SPAN 4422 | Spanish Theatre in the Golden Age | 3 |
| SPAN 4423 | Don Quijote | 3 |
| SPAN 4441 | Twentieth-Century Spanish Novel | 3 |
| SPAN 4490 | Hispanic Oral Traditions | 3 |
| Spanish American Literature | ||
| SPAN 4450 | Hispanic Literature of Resistance | 3 |
| SPAN 4470 | Survey of Spanish American Literature I | 3 |
| SPAN 4471 | Survey of Spanish American Literature II | 3 |
| SPAN 4480 | Mexican Literature | 3 |
| SPAN 4520 | Modernista and Contemporary Poetry | 3 |
| SPAN 4530 | The Spanish American Theatre | 3 |
| SPAN 4540 | Afro-Hispanic Literature | 3 |
| SPAN 4550 | Nobel Laureates in Spanish American Literature | 3 |
| Other | ||
| SPAN 4130 | Stylistics | 3 |
| SPAN 4442 | Advanced Contemporary Culture of Spain | 3 |
| SPAN 4460 | Advanced Contemporary Culture of Spanish America | 3 |
| SPAN 4461 | Advanced Spanish Civilization | 3 |
| SPAN 4530 | The Spanish American Theatre | 3 |
| SPAN 4711 | History of the Spanish Language | 3 |
| SPAN 4721 | Structure of Modern Spanish | 3 |
| SPAN 4722 | Spanish Across the Continents | 3 |
| SPAN 4723 | Language and Society: Spanish in the U.S. | 3 |
| SPAN 4980 | Special Themes in Spanish | 3 |
| SPAN 4993 | The Capstone Experience in Spanish | 3 |
It should be noted that SPAN 4960 Special Readings in Spanish cannot be used to fulfill this requirement except by permission of the department chair.
- Students beginning at a level higher than SPAN 2160 due to placement testing must still complete 30 credits in order to receive the major.
- Students declaring the major can use SPAN 2330 towards the 30 credits requirement.
- In addition, the student is required to take a Writing Intensive course in the major, normally SPAN 3420W or SPAN 3430W.
- It is highly recommended (not required) that students study for a summer, a semester or a full year in a Spanish-speaking country.
Semester Plan
Below is a sample plan of study, semester by semester. A student's actual plan may vary based on course choices where options are available.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| SPAN 2160 | 3 | SPAN 3150 or 3721 | 3 |
| ENGLSH 1000 | 3 | Math and Quantitative Reasoning | 3 |
| Missouri State Law Requirement: Social Science from Arts and Science | 3 | Biological, Physical, or Mathematical Science | 3 |
| First-year orientation course | 3 | Behavioral Science | 3 |
| Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 | Humanities | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| SPAN 3160 or 3280 | 3 | SPAN 3420 or 3430 | 3 |
| Biological, Physical, or Mathematical Science | 3 | Biological or Physical Science with lab | 3 |
| Humanities | 3 | Humanities, First Writing Intensive Course | 3 |
| Behavioral Science | 3 | Second Major, Minor, Certificate, or Elective | 6 |
| Second Major, Minor, Certificate, or Elective | 3 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| SPAN 3420 or 3430 | 3 | SPAN 4000-level | 3 |
| Social Science 2000+ | 3 | SPAN 4130 | 3 |
| Humanities 2000+ | 3 | Second Major, Minor, Certificate, or Elective | 9 |
| Second Major, Minor, Certificate, or Elective | 6 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| SPAN 4000-level | 3 | SPAN 4993 | 3 |
| SPAN 4000-level | 3 | Second Major, Minor, Certificate, or Elective | 12 |
| Second Major, Minor, Certificate, or Elective | 9 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total Credits: 120 | |||
Degree Audit
The degree audit is an automated report reflecting a student’s academic progress toward the completion of a degree.
MU students can request a degree audit by logging in to myDegreePlanner. Students may also access myDegreePlanner via myZou, in the Student Center, click on the Academic Progress Tile, then select Request Degree Audit. The audit automatically pulls in the student’s MU course work, transfer courses and courses in progress. This is available to current students, admitted students, and those who last attended less than three terms ago.
Past MU students can request a degree audit by contacting the Academic Advising Unit of the division in which they were last enrolled at MU. For contact information, go to https://advising.missouri.edu/contact/.
Prospective students, can access a preliminary MU degree audit via https://www.transferology.com. Information on the college credits already earned will have to be manually entered before it can be evaluated against current degree requirements.
For additional details on degree audits, go to https://registrar.missouri.edu/degrees-audits/degree-audits/.
Major and Career Exploration
The University of Missouri has many resources to assist you in exploring majors and career possibilities. For guidance, visit the Majors and Careers website or view specific resources below.
- Change your Major. If you are considering changing your undergraduate major or are choosing between several majors, schedule an appointment with an advisor in the Discovery Center by calling (573) 884-9700 or through the Discovery Center service in your MU Connect success network.
- Decided on a Major. If you have decided on a major, visit an academic advisor in the School or College that you are interested in to discuss the process of declaring that major.
- Identify your Interests and Strengths. If you would like to learn more about your career interests, abilities, values, and talents, visit the staff at the MU Career Center. No appointment is necessary to explore career options with one of our staff members.
- Explore MU Majors. If you would like information about MU majors and degree programs, visit Majors at Mizzou or the Degrees, Majors (Degree Programs), Emphasis Areas, Minors and Certificates page in the catalog.
For additional major and career exploration resources, visit Major & Career Exploration in the catalog.