Requirements for the Major
A major in Spanish, Latin American, and Caribbean Literatures and Cultures requires a minimum of nine courses including senior thesis.
Students may choose to pursue one of three tracks. Study abroad is required.
- Latin American, Caribbean or Peninsular (Spain) Literature
- Latin American, Caribbean or Peninsular Culture
- Translation: Language, Power and Culture (Lengua, poder y cultura)
1. Literature Track
Prerequisite:
- SPAN044 SC Advanced Spanish
a. One course in Cultural Studies. Consult with Major adviser. :
b. Five literature courses above 100, selected in consultation with the academic adviser.
c. Two courses selected from the fields of anthropology, art, Chicanx Latinx Studies, economics, history, international relations, literature, music, politics, sociology. Only one of these may be taken in English
d. Senior Thesis - SPAN191
- Required one-year thesis for students hoping to achieve honors in Spanish.
- Senior Thesis for non-honor students can be taken in the fall or spring of senior year.
2. Interdisciplinary Track
Prerequisite:
- SPAN044 SC Advanced Spanish
a. Two courses in Cultural Studies. Consult with Major Adviser.
b. One literature course. Consult with Major adviser.
c. Five courses taken in Spanish from the fields of anthropology, art, Chicanx Latinx Studies, economics, history, international relations, literature, music, politics, sociology. Only one of these may be taken in English.
d. Senior Thesis - SPAN191
- Required one-year thesis for students hoping to achieve honors in Spanish.
- Senior Thesis for non-honor students can be taken in the fall or spring of senior year.
3. Translation: Language, Power and Culture Track (Lengua, poder y cultura)
The aim of this track is to analyze cultural practices that are in constant fluctuation and crossing multiple kinds of borders putting into question rigid and normative definitions of translatability and untranslatability and of cross-cultural exchanges and interactions. Our first 4 required courses aim to study the asymmetric power relations that keep defining the practices of certain languages, forms of speaking and writing and their translatability in specific geographies where colonial and patriarchal languages keep dominating.
Prerequisite:
- SPAN044 SC Advanced Spanish
Required courses:
a. Requisite: Students must take a minimum of four classes in which the idea of cultural translation is a major theme. Recent offerings in this regard include the following:
• SPAN133 SC Translation and the Right to Language
• SPAN152 SC Border Thinking in Spain
• SPAN154 SC Trans-Caribbean Formations: Translating Identity, Race, and Gender in Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico
• SPAN183 SC Interculturality and Bilingualism in the Andes
• SPAN 137 SC - Translating the Aztecs: Indigenous Cultures and Colonialism in Mexico
• SPAN 139 SC - Plants, Magic, and Race: Intercultural Translations of Shamanism
In a given semester, new courses may be offered that take up the theme of cultural translation, and those courses will be indicated as such in the course description.
b. Electives: Four elective courses 100 and above selected with major adviser.
Courses should be selected from the fields of cultural translation, language translation and translation studies, linguistics, transnational literatures and translation. Two classes taught in another language than Spanish will be accepted. Students can also take elective classes taught in Euskera and Catalán or other languages spoken by diverse ethnic groups in Spain, or other languages spoken by diverse ethnic groups in Latin America, and the Caribbean during their study abroad or when offered at the Claremont Colleges.
Courses taken in programs abroad can fulfill the elective requirement. Among the classes currently taught in Spanish at the 5-Colleges, all classes above-mentioned in the Requirements list may also fulfill the elective requirement, In addition, here is a sample of accepted courses: SPAN100 SC, SPAN127 CH, SPAN131 SC, SPAN134 SC, SPAN186 PZ, SPAN102B PO, SPAN128 PO, SPAN142 PO, SPAN 163 SC. For a wider list, consult with adviser.
**All classes (taken abroad or in Claremont) that may satisfy the elective requirement not listed here will need the department’s chair approval and will go through a departmental petition process that will require a detailed syllabus.
c. Senior Thesis - SPAN191
- Required one-year thesis for students hoping to achieve honors in Spanish.
- Senior thesis for non-honor students can be taken in the fall or spring of senior year.
Honors Requirements
As early as the first semester of the sophomore year, a student may choose to become a candidate for the Honors Program in Spanish, Latin American, and Caribbean Literatures and Cultures. The Honors Program includes the normal course requirements, as stated above, as well as a two-semester thesis written in Spanish or English, in the case of a dual thesis, supervised by three faculty readers and followed by a successful thesis defense before the faculty and majors of Spanish, Latin American, and Caribbean Literatures and Cultures. In order to graduate with Honors in Spanish, Latin American, and Caribbean Literatures and Cultures, the candidate must have a minimum general GPA of 9.0 and a GPA of 11.0 (A-) or above in Spanish, Latin American, and Caribbean Literatures and Cultures major. A senior thesis grade of at least A- is required.
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