Spanish Major

Program Chair: Dr. Andres Ruiz-Olaya

Degree Types: Bachelor of Arts (default) or Bachelor of Science (alternative)

Mission

Since its foundation, the University of Mary has supported the need to form students with key values of the Christian, Catholic, and Benedictine tradition, sending forth students as leaders who serves Truth with moral courage.

The Spanish Program offers students the opportunity to expand their thinking and living by learning and experiencing a language and culture outside their own. The program prepares liberal arts students to be citizens of a global  community. We offer them the opportunity to expand their concepts of language, culture, civilization, geography, philosophy and art while enhancing their job opportunities in a market that aims for excellence.

Objectives and Outcomes of a major in Spanish

Students are able to:

1. Communicate orally in Spanish in real-life situations.
   • demonstrate proficiency in the comprehension of oral messages.
   • demonstrate proficiency in oral expression in Spanish including presentation to an audience of listeners on a variety of topics study (i.e., linguistics, literature, culture)
   • understand someone else speaking about a discipline-related topic and be able to engage that person in discussion.
   • evaluate the use of language to convey meaning, to inform, and to persuade.
   • participate in multilingual communities at home and around the world.
2. Communicate in writing with minimal errors in grammar, spelling, and the mechanics of writing.
   • write clear and coherent essays in Spanish on various topics related to everyday situations and work.
   • exhibit research skills for producing papers including familiarity with library resources such as online databases and catalogs, the ability to gather and synthesize information, the ability to properly quote, paraphrase and summarize other texts, and familiarity with basic documentation formats.
3. Read critically, interpret analytically, and write coherently about literature produced in Spanish
   • analyze and interpret a variety of literary and cultural texts.
   • write clear and coherent essays in Spanish on literary topics.
   • interpret the use of rhetorical and literary techniques.
   • demonstrate a broad and deep knowledge of literary and cultural traditions: major movements, genres, writers and works of the Spanish-speaking world.
   • apply critical thinking skills as they read texts.
4. Read critically, interpret analytically, and write coherently about fundamental principles of the Spanish language
   • identify and explain distinctive linguistic features of Spanish.
   • identify and analyze some distinctive stylistic and dialectal features of Spanish.
   • synthesize selected scholarly work in Spanish linguistics, and Spanish Applied Linguistics.
   • apply Spanish linguistics theory to textual analysis.
5. Understand and demonstrate appreciation of the cultural values of the Spanish-speaking world
   • identify significant individuals, key eras, and major historical events and developments within Spanish-speaking nations and cultures.
   • describe and compare political, religious, social, economic and educational systems and institutions in Spanish-speaking nations and cultures.
   • discuss how the major physical and geographical features of Spanish-speaking countries have shaped their development and evolution of their cultures.
   • analyze social, ethnic and linguistic diversity in the Spanish-speaking world.
   • compare and contrast the differences and similarities between the U.S. and the Spanish speaking cultures.
   • draw connections with other disciplines
   • acquire information about other disciplines using the Spanish language.