Introduction

Please click here to see Modern Languages Department information.

The Master of Arts program in Spanish at the University of Colorado Denver offers an alternative to exclusively literary studies that traditionally lead to doctoral programs. By integrating language, literature, linguistics, pedagogy, and cultural studies with ancillary work in other disciplines, the degree provides the broader expertise that will lead to or enhance careers in K-12 teaching, health care, higher education, counseling, interpreting, translation, law enforcement, government, banking, hospitality, law, travel and tourism, international and domestic business, arts and media, and diplomacy. Students can tailor the program to their specific interests and needs by developing a topical focus including courses within and outside of the Department of Modern Languages. Students choose from two options for completion of their Master’s degree: either they complete their coursework and take a comprehensive written and oral exam in their last semester, or they complete a six credit thesis under the direction of Spanish faculty. 

These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their Spanish faculty advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.

Graduate Education Policies and Procedures apply to this program.

Program Delivery

This is a hybrid program, with courses offered on-campus and online.

Program Requirements

1. Students must complete 33 credit hours, with a minimum of 21 SPAN credit hours.
2. Students must complete a minimum of 30 graduate level (5000 or above) credit hours.
3. Students must earn a minimum grade of B- (2.7) in all courses taken at CU Denver and must achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0. Students cannot complete course requirements as P+/P/F or S/U.
4. A minimum of 24 credit hours must be earned at the University of Colorado Denver.

Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

1. Candidates in Spanish must satisfy the graduate education policies and procedures and will be required to complete 33 hours of course work distributed with respect to the Thesis or Non-Thesis Options outlined below.
2. No more than one undergraduate course (three semester hours) may be applied toward the MA degree, and that course must have been taken at the 4000 level or above and in an ancillary field outside the Department of Modern Languages.
3. Failure to maintain a 3.00 Program GPA will result in the student being placed on academic probation. Courses completed with grades below the letter grade of B- (GPA 2.7) may not be applied toward fulfillment of the requirements for any graduate (doctoral or master’s) degree.
4. Students may elect to take three courses (nine semester hours) outside the department.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete the following required course:		3
SPAN 5000	Introduction to Graduate Studies in Spanish
Complete a minimum of six credit hours from approved literature and culture courses.		6
Literature and Culture
Complete a minimum of six credit hours from approved linguistics courses.		6
Linguistics
Complete a minimum of four graduate-level Spanish elective courses in literature, linguistics, culture, methodologies of teaching. 1		12
Complete additional coursework or a thesis.		6
Additional Coursework
Master's Thesis
Total Hours		33

Literature and Culture

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete two of the following courses:		6
SPAN 5030	The Learning and Teaching of Heritage Speakers
SPAN 5110	Contemporary Spanish Literature
SPAN 5330	Modern Culture of Spain through Film and Narrative
SPAN 5350	Don Quijote
SPAN 5360	Women and the Spanish Civil War
SPAN 5399	Special Topics: Spanish Peninsular Literature
SPAN 5411	Contemporary Spanish-American Novel
SPAN 5450	Masterpieces of Spanish-American Literature
SPAN 5521	Mexican Literature I: pre-Columbian and Colonial
SPAN 5522	Mexican Literature II: 19th to 21st Centuries
SPAN 5525	Orientalisms In The Hispanic Traditions
SPAN 5590	Ibero-American Thought
SPAN 5970	Special Topics in Literature

Linguistics

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete two of the following courses:		6
SPAN 5020	Spanish Sociolinguistics
SPAN 5040	Spanish Classroom Methods and Practice
SPAN 5060	Dialects of the Spanish-Speaking World
SPAN 5070	Spanish Second Language Acquisition
SPAN 5076	Spanish in Colorado
SPAN 5080	Spanish in the United States
SPAN/MLNG 5690	Methods of Teaching Modern Languages
Total Hours		6

Thesis Option

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete a Master's Thesis, according to graduate education policies and procedures and under guidance of the graduate program director.		6
SPAN 5950	Master's Thesis (preparation and writing)

Non-Thesis Option

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete a minimum of two additional graduate-level Spanish electives in literature, linguistics, culture, methodologies of teaching.		6

To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.