Spanish, BA | University of Alabama

The curriculum provides students with an attractive mixture of classes with Latin-American, Spanish Peninsular, U.S. Latino, and Transatlantic grounding. Studies will include the renowned works of Cervantes, including Don Quixote.

200 B.B. Comer Hall

Admission into the Major

Course placement information appears in the Spanish course description section of the catalog. Students are expected to formally declare a major no later than the fourth semester of full-time enrollment (or at 61 semester hours for transfer students). Students can declare a major by completing the Change of Major/Minor Application online under the Student tab of myBama. Additionally, students must declare a major with the undergraduate advisor in the department.

Special Opportunities

The Spanish program at The University of Alabama offers a quality education and a range of learning opportunities. These include the Alabama in Spain summer abroad program, the Spanish Outreach program in the Tuscaloosa/Northport area and UA’s semester abroad program in Cuba (offered by the College of Arts and Sciences). The Department of Modern Languages and Classics also offers honors courses in Spanish.

Students earning the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree with a major in Spanish must complete all University, College, and departmental degree requirements. These include the general education requirements, the following major requirements, all requirements for an approved minor, and other sufficient credits to total a minimum of 120 applicable semester hours.

Grade Point Average, Upper-level Residency, and other general A&S requirements can be found at https://catalog.ua.edu/undergraduate/arts-sciences/#requirementstext. A minimum of 12 hours of 300- and 400-level courses in the major must be earned on this campus. Courses taken in UA summer programs (such as Spain and/or Colombia) may be used to satisfy the residency requirement.

Students are responsible for ensuring that they have met all University, College, major, and minor requirements. However, each student must meet with an advisor in the major department for academic planning and to be approved for registration each semester. College advisers are also available for additional assistance with minor, College, and University requirements. For more details, regarding the completion of the Spanish BA, check the departmental website at https://mlc.ua.edu/spanish/undergraduate/major/.

Course Placement

The course level at which students begin their study of Spanish is determined by the language placement score or by having earned credit for prerequisite course(s). Credit by examination awards can be found in the catalog (https://catalog.ua.edu/undergraduate/about/academic-regulations/policies/credit-by-examination/). Students who do not have foreign language course credit should take the UA placement test. The UA placement test is available online at myBama.ua.edu by clicking on the search box and typing "Foreign Language Assessment."

The detailed placement guidelines can be found on the departmental website (https://mlc.ua.edu/undergraduate/language-placement/), or by talking to an advisor (https://mlc.ua.edu/advising/).

Code and Title		Hours
Major Courses
Select three of the following Cornerstone courses:		9
SP 353 or	Spanish Conversation ¹
SP 355	Spanish for Native Speakers
SP 356	Adv Grammar And Compos
SP 364 or	Cultures of Spain
SP 366	Cultures of Latin America
Select two of the following Literature courses:		6
SP 371	Literatures of Spain pre-1800
SP 372	Literatures of Spain post-1800
SP 375	LatAm Literatures pre-1900
SP 376	LatAm Literatures post-1900
SP 377	US Latino Literature
Select one of the following Linguistics courses:		3
SP 383	Fundamentals of Spanish Ling.
SP 384	Spanish Pronunciation
Electives ²
Select one SP elective course at the 300 or 400 level		3
Select two SP elective courses at the 400 level		6
Credit Hours Subtotal:		27
Ancillary Courses
The major and minor in Spanish require the successful completion of the courses below. Students may start directly at the 300 level provided they satisfy the requirements explained in the Course Placement section. Grades in ancillary courses are not computed into the major GPA.
SP 101	Introductory Spanish I	3
SP 102	Introductory Spanish II	3
SP 201	Intermediate Spanish I	3
SP 202	Intermediate Spanish II	3
Credit Hours Subtotal:		12
Total Hours		39

Non-native or non-heritage speakers of Spanish must only enroll in SP 353 Spanish Conversation.
Native or heritage speakers of Spanish must only enroll in SP 355 Spanish for Native Speakers.

SP 361 Intro Romance Linguistic is taught in English and does not count towards the Spanish major or minor.

Credit Option

Departmental placement credit petition: If placed in SP 201 or above, students are potentially eligible to receive placement credit upon written petition. The placement credit form is available at https://mlc.ua.edu/advising/, it must be submitted to the appropriate faculty member listed in it. Heritage language or bilingual students cannot receive back credit for SP 100-200 courses.

Required Minor

This major requires the completion of a minor.

Career opportunities include teaching of Spanish at the high school level, master's degree, doctorate in Spanish, diplomatic corps, FBI, NSA, CIA, translator, interpreter, and hospitality careers (tourism).

A Spanish major is a great double major to have with history, international relations, political science, English, engineering, pre-med, and many others.

Types of Jobs Accepted

sales representative with foreign firm, Spanish teacher at the high school level, Teach for America, international banker, interpreter, translator, and more

Jobs of Experienced Alumni

university professor, high school teacher, junior or state college teacher, interpreter, translator, international banker, international sales representative, international advertising, media consultant, and more

Learn more about opportunities in this field at the Career Center