Bachelor of Arts in Spanish

The Spanish major will help you prepare for the many professional opportunities that await you in our increasingly bilingual world. Spanish majors at UMass Amherst can choose from different international programs and complete their major requirements by studying abroad. While at UMass, you will benefit from elementary, intermediate, and advanced language classes, as well as classes for business, medical, and service professions. In addition, students participate in a wide array of activities, including conversation hours, film festivals, and talks given by exciting guest speakers. Students wishing to major in Spanish should consult with their Major Advisor. Course listings, including those for other Five College Spanish departments, are available in Spire each semester. Majors are encouraged to select courses in a wide range of disciplines, historical periods, and geographical areas. Our Integrative Experience is designed to give a longer-term opportunity for our students to explore the way in which their major relates to their broader experiences, both at the University and the Spanish or Portuguese-speaking worlds. All our primary majors must take Span 394PI (the preparation class) during their sophomore or junior year. In it they begin to consider their reasons to choose the major and their goals with it after graduation. In this first class students also seriously consider their options for study abroad, service-learning, andor internships - the Integrative Experience's second component - with the guidance of visitors from the International Programs Office, the Office of Civic Engagement & Service Learning, and Career Services. Students in this class also explore the way in which to incorporate other University and extracurricular opportunities, beyond the specific major requirements, into their career and personal goals. Upon finishing their study-abroad, service-learning, andor internship, students register for Span 494RI, where they get an opportunity to reflect upon these experiences and their relation to their broader University education in a group setting.

Students should have certain minimum high school unit requirements such as four years of English, three years of college preparatory mathematics (algebra II is a minimum requirement), two years of the same foreign language, three years of science (including two with a laboratory component), two years of social science including one course in U.S. history, and two electives from the above areas, arts and humanities, or computer science.