Develop a Global Mindset With a BA in Spanish
Build upon your cultural understanding of Spanish-speaking nations and communities.
Refine and professionalize your language skills and cultivate an understanding of Hispanic cultures. With a Spanish major, you'll gain practical experience through study abroad, internships and courses in Spanish for the professions.
Why earn your Spanish degree at St. Edward's?
Spanish majors participate in service experiences and often volunteer their Spanish-speaking skills to social services across Austin. The Spanish program also offers opportunities to study abroad in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Spain. Choose a program led by St. Edward’s professors for several weeks, or study at an international university for a semester.
Grow as a second-language learner
If you have studied Spanish formally and did not grow up hearing the language, you are probably a second-language learner. You can take a placement test or receive credit through CLEP or AP exams. For information on receiving credit for your prior knowledge in Spanish, contact Georgia Seminet.
Improve as a heritage learner
If you grew up hearing Spanish spoken by your parents or grandparents, you are probably a heritage learner. We have special classes designed to help heritage learners improve their grammar, vocabulary, and cultural knowledge. You can also take a placement test or receive credit through CLEP or AP exams. For more information, contact Emily Bernate.
Gain hands-on experience
Apply your Spanish skills by interning or volunteering at organizations that serve Austin’s Spanish-speaking residents where you’ll assist immigrants, refugees, asylum-seekers and other vulnerable members of the community. Spanish majors have interned as tutors and advocates for young English learners. They have interned at El Buen Samaritano, which provides healthcare, education and basic needs for Latino families, and at the Equal Justice Center, a nonprofit law firm.
Use your Spanish for good
The Spanish program at St. Edward’s University offers a certificate in Advanced Spanish for the Health and Helping Professions for students with advanced oral proficiency. Develop interpersonal communication skills in Spanish focused on in-person encounters and interviews in a clinical or medical setting. Through this certificate, students will demonstrate cultural knowledge of the Latinx sociocultural context through research and experiential learning.
What do our graduates do?
Spanish majors go on to a variety of careers and graduate schools from St. Edward's. Here's a sample:
- Reporter for Searchlight New Mexico, a nonprofit investigative journalism outlet
- Graphic designer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
- Account executive at NWN Corporation, a technology solutions company
- Vice president of sales for Brazilian Blowout
- Officer at European Climate Foundation
- House manager at The Long Center for Performing Arts
Explore Details About the BA in Spanish
Degree Plan
Major Requirements:
The BA in Spanish requires 36 hours of major coursework, which includes a combination of language, linguistic, and cultural studies in Spanish. Our Majors are required to take SPAN 3330 (offered every fall), 3341 (offered every spring), 3322 and 4398. They must complete a total of 2 4000-level courses.
General Education Requirements:
The degree requires 34 hours of general education courses that students compete over four years in addition to their major courses and electives.
Electives:
Students complete three (3) additional hours of elective coursework from the following areas of study: cultures, communication, history, political science, religious studies, or history.
An example of courses students in this major take:
- Spanish in the United States – Students enrolled in this course will discover how U.S. Spanish differs from other dialects and learn about code switching, language discrimination, and bilingual language acquisition.
Skills You Will Gain
Upon completing the Spanish program, you’ll be ready to:
- Effectively communicate with Spanish speakers from all over the world;
- Translate and apply your Spanish to careers like immigration law, bilingual psychiatry and counseling, bilingual speech therapy, education and non-profit work;
- Provide a comforting and accepting space for Spanish-speakers.
Associate Professor of Spanish
"Learning new languages gives us the freedom to communicate and collaborate with people from different cultures. Come learn how Spanish can help you become a more compassionate, analytical, and effective communicator."
Associate Professor of Spanish
"Learning another language paves the way toward a deeper understanding of another culture, its history and unique ways of doing things. Command of another language also allows you to access otherwise closed professional opportunities. Whether to enhance your professional profile or for reasons having to do with travel and adventure, learning Spanish enriches your life by making Spain and nations across Central and South America accessible."
Professor of Spanish and Associate Dean of Arts and Humanities
"Ser bilingüe y poder viajar me abrió una ventana a otras culturas. Creo que es algo fantástico y me encanta compartir este interés en las culturas globales con amigos, colegas, estudiantes y todos los que tienen el deseo de ver el mundo."