Program Overview

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Master of Arts - Hispanic Studies

The M.A. program in Hispanic Studies is a flexible program, allowing students to concentrate on culture, linguistics, literature, and translation. The program aims to meet the need of students interested in a wide variety of professions, including teaching.

About

The program is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of Hispanic studies, including culture, linguistics, literature, and translation.

Available Options

• Examination Track
• Project Track

Accreditation

For information regarding accreditation at UNLV, please refer to the Academic Program Accreditations.

Learning Outcomes

• Write grammatically and lexically accurate Spanish and demonstrate an ability to write spontaneously in Spanish with a fair degree of accuracy and clarity.
• Discuss academic topics, read on an advanced level, and write analytically on literary and cultural topics.
• Be familiar with basic concepts of Hispanic linguistics.
• Be familiar with major literary movements and the history of Spanish or Latin American literature along with the primary author.
• Understand the nature and development of the culture of Spain or Latin America.
• Learn the process of basic scholarly research.
• Acquire broad linguistic, cultural or literary knowledge and acquire substantial knowledge in three sub-areas of Hispanic Studies based on a reading list provided by the department.
• Students qualifying and choosing the project option are expected to familiarize themselves with relevant theories and bibliographical material on their chosen topic.
• Be familiar with the history, theory, and application of translation.

Career Possibilities

The M.A. in Hispanic Studies offers further development in Spanish language skills, preparation for further graduate study toward the Ph.D., for other professional fields, such as law, medicine, business and government, and for the teaching of Spanish in high school.

Requirements

Plan Description

The M.A. program in Hispanic Studies is flexible, allowing students to concentrate on culture, language, literature, and translation.

Plan Admission Requirements

• Application deadlines: Applications available on the UNLV Graduate College website.
• Before acceptance into the program, students will take a pre-qualifying examination administered by the department that will test their Spanish language skills.
• Candidates for admission to the graduate program in foreign languages should have the equivalent of the UNLV undergraduate major in the corresponding language with a minimum grade point average of 3.00 in the major field.

Plan Requirements

• Total Credits Required: 33

Required Linguistics Course Credits: 3

• WLC 714 - Current Issues in Second Language Acquisition
• SPAN 717 - Seminar in Spanish Linguistics

Required courses Credits: 6

• SPAN 709 - Writing Workshop
• SPAN 720 - Critical Analysis

Elective Courses Credits: 18-21

A variety of courses in language, linguistics, literature, and culture will be offered to allow students to complete their degree.

Culminating Experience Credits: 3-6

• SPAN 798 - M. A. Written Examination
• SPAN 797 - M.A. Written Project (6 credits)

Degree Requirements

1. Completion of a minimum of 33 credits with a minimum GPA of 3.00.
2. Students may apply a maximum of 9 credits at the 600-level to their graduate program.
3. Courses taken for graduate credit may not be repeated, with the exception of SPAN 730 and SPAN 740, provided that topics change.

Plan Graduation Requirements

1. To qualify for graduation, each student must successfully pass a written examination or complete a final research project.
   1. a. Written Examination: Students choosing the written examination option must include SPAN 798 in their program.
   2. Final Research Project: Students with at least a 3.8 GPA may (upon the approval of the Spanish graduate coordinator) substitute a final project (six credits of SPAN 797) for the written examination.

Documents and Downloads

• Plans of Study
• Syllabi
• Degree Worksheets
• Graduate Handbooks
• Program Handbook

Contacts

• Graduate Coordinator: Margarita Jara, Ph.D.
• Department of World Languages and Cultures
• College of Liberal Arts