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Department of Foreign Languages, 
Literatures and Cultures (FLN) (FRN) (GER) (SPN)

Master of Arts in Spanish
      Admission Requirements
      Degree Requirements
      Other Requirements
Unspecified Content or Variable Credit Courses
FLN Course Descriptions
FRN Course Descriptions
GER Course Descriptions
SPN Course Descriptions

Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures website

James Jones, Chairperson
305 Pearce Hall, (989) 774-3786

James Courtad, Ph.D., Spanish
Marcela Hurtado, Ph.D., Spanish
Mary-Garland Jackson, Ph.D., Spanish
James Jones, Ph.D., German
Susan Knight, Ph.D., Spanish
Krzysztof Kulawik, Ph.D., Spanish
Gilles Labrie, Ph.D., French
Keith Palka, Ph.D., French
Alejandra Rengifo, Ph.D., Spanish
Norma Richardson, Ph.D., Spanish

Students may earn a Master of Arts in Spanish or they may earn a concentration in French, German, or Spanish in the Master of Arts curricula in secondary education, offered through the Department of Teacher Education and Professional Development. To be admitted to this program, a student must have a background in the specific (relevant) foreign language that includes a minimum of 24 semester hours of course work beyond the 100 level, with an acceptable grade point average in the foreign language of concentration.

Master of Arts in Spanish
This master's degree provides students with a unique program that is designed to enhance fluency, foster interaction with Hispanic cultures, broaden knowledge, and promote professional development. Students in this program will achieve a high level of proficiency in the Spanish language and will become more deeply and personally acquainted with Hispanic cultures. The program consists of a combination of courses taken at CMU and at sites abroad. As the courses are offered on weekends during the semester and during summers spent abroad, the program will fit many needs, including those of the "nontraditional" learner. Its interdisciplinary and multi-cultural bases will enhance the learning of a wide variety of students, including (but not limited to) teachers of Spanish. The faculty, comprised of experts in linguistics, literary history, and culture studies, strive to provide each student with individual attention. Students will also gain a sense of community and common purpose, especially through participation in the study abroad portions of the program.

At the end of the program, the student will be able to:

1. work effortlessly in all four communication areas (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) of Hispanic societies;
    
2. synthesize current political and social happenings, and interpret these syntheses to speakers of the non-Hispanic world;
    
3. interact with ease at all social levels by identifying the historical differences which separate Hispanic societies from other societies;
    
4. integrate his/her personal acquaintance with cultures and customs of the Hispanic world (in Spain and Latin America) to those aspects that have been transplanted to the United States;
    
5. explain to persons from the non-Hispanic world the similarities and distinctions within the different Hispanic societies; and
    
6. understand differences between English and Spanish linguistic aspects such as the sound system, morphemics, and syntax; OR analyze literary texts within their cultural context.

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Admission Requirements
In addition to general university requirements for regular admission status, students seeking admission to the master's program in Spanish must:

1. have completed an undergraduate major in Spanish with at least a grade point average of 3.0 in their undergraduate Spanish course (beyond the 100-level)*;
    
2. have at least a grade point average of 2.7 in their undergraduate coursework.
    
3. submit letters of reference from three persons who are well acquainted with them and can provide information about their Spanish language skills and prospects for success in this graduate program. The letters are to be sent directly to the Spanish Graduate Coordinator.

*Per university policy, conditional admission may be considered for applicants with background or grade point average deficiencies. Courses taken to make up admission deficiencies cannot be counted toward graduate degree requirements. Regular admission status should be requested upon completion of all deficiencies.

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Degree Requirements

1. Required courses offered at CMU (15 credit hours from the courses listed below). Students must complete four of the following:

SPN 610 (3-6) Studies in U.S. Latino Cultures
SPN 620 (3-6) Cultures and Literatures of Spanish America
SPN 630 (3-6) Cultures and Literature of Spain
SPN 640 (3) History of the Spanish Language
SPN 650 (3) Stylistics
SPN 660 (3) Spanish Phonology

2. Required Courses in Latin America (6 credit hours)

SPN 670 (3-6) Study Abroad: Latin America

• A course on Spanish-American Cultural Issues (3 credits)
• A course in Language or Linguistics (3 credits)

3. Required courses in Spain (6 credit hours)

SPN 680 (3-6) Study Abroad: Spain

• A course in Spanish Culture (3 credits)
• A course in Language or Linguistics (3 credits)

4. Plan B paper (3 credit hours)

SPN 697 (1-3) Independent Study

Total: 30 credit hours
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Other Requirements
When the student begins the M.A., she or he will write an essay (500 words), on a topic chosen by the Spanish faculty, and will engage in a brief oral interview with two members of the Spanish faculty. The purposes of the essay and initial interview are to aid in advising and to establish the student's entering proficiency level.

To assess the student's oral proficiency in Spanish upon completion of the program, the student must pass an oral interview with a committee of graduate faculty in Spanish at CMU. This oral interview will assess:

1. the student's ability to converse, describe, evaluate, synthesize, and state opinions;
    
2. the student's accent and pronunciation;
    
3. the scope of the student's active vocabulary;
    
4. the student's mastery of grammar.
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Unspecified content or variable credit courses. Click here for additional information regarding these types of courses. The following courses offered through the department are of unspecified content or variable credit: FLN 597; FRN 591, 597; GER 597; SPN 591, 597, 697.
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