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 s Spanish continues to be the fastest growing language in our hemisphere and the numbers of Spanish speakers within the United States increase in virtually every area of the country, proficiency in the Spanish language has become more than just a college language requirement. At Bryn Mawr College, students are challenged to go beyond traditional language instruction in order to gain a greater understanding of the richness and diversity of Hispanic culture and its continuing impact on the U.S. and the world. Our courses draw upon an abundant and complex cultural legacy that includes Spanish and Latin American authors, thinkers, filmmakers, literary genres, political figures and movements: Cervantes, Teresa de Jesús, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Elena Poniatowska, Miguel de Unamuno, Jorge Luis Borges, Federico García Lorca, Eva Perón, Frida Kahlo, Isabel Allende, Pablo Neruda, Gabriel García Márquez, María de Zayas, Buñuel, Alejo Carpentier, Almodóvar, the picaresque, Al-Andalus, the Jewish Diaspora, modern state formation, Fidel Castro, Franco, the Spanish Civil War, liberation theology, and African Hispanophone literature.
Many of our courses are cross-listed with departments and programs such as Comparative Literature, Italian, History of Art, and Feminist and Gender Studies. The Department stresses the development of genuine competence in oral and written use of the language at all levels; and most of our courses are taught exclusively in Spanish. In addition to our counter department at Haverford College, the Spanish Department also cooperates with several other Bryn Mawr departments (i.e., economics, anthropology, history, sociology, and history of art) in offering an interdisciplinary program of study in Hispanic and Hispanic-American Studies. This program extends the examination of society and culture into areas other than literature and is open not only to students of Spanish but to those in all the cooperating departments.
Every year we host a series of cultural events (lectures, exhibits, dance, and music), and provide many opportunities for students to enrich their knowledge and contact with the Hispanic world. Likewise, we strongly encourage our students to spend a summer, a semester or a year studying in a Spanish-speaking country. In recent years, students have studied in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, and Spain.
Many undergraduate majors and minors in Spanish have pursued careers as journalists, social workers, state and federal government employees, lawyers, doctors, bankers, and of course, university and secondary-school teachers. Their undergraduate training in Spanish has been essential to their chosen fields.
Major and Minor Requirements
Requirements for the Spanish major:
Two courses must be in Peninsular literature, and one should focus on pre-1700 literature.
Students whose pre-college training includes advanced work in literature may, with the permission of the department, be exempted from taking Spanish 202. SPAN 399 (Senior Essay) is optional for majors with a grade point average of 3.7 who want to graduate with Honors, and may not be counted as one of f the 300-level requirements. This major program prepares students appropriately for graduate study in Spanish.
Requirements for a minor in Spanish:
Six courses in Spanish beyond Intermediate Spanish, at least one of which must be at the 300 level. At least one course should be in Peninsular literature.
College Foreign Language Requirement
The College’s foreign language requirement may be satisfied by completing SPAN 105 (intensive) with a grade of 2.0, or by completing SPAN 101 and 102 (non-intensive) with an average grade of at least 2.0 or with a grade of 2.0 or better in SPAN 102. It may be satisfied also by passing the proficiency exam.
Departmental Honors
Departmental honors are awarded on the basis of a minimum grade point average of 3.7 in the major, the recommendation of the department, and a senior essay (Spanish 399).
Note: Some of our cross-listed courses are taught in English. Students taking them for Spanish credit must do all the appropriate assignments in Spanish. No more than two courses taught in English may be applied toward a major and only one toward a minor.
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