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2026-2027 Undergraduate Catalog
Spanish - Major
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 Return to: College of Liberal Arts, Sciences, Business, and Education
The purpose of the Spanish Major Program is to prepare students to think in an informed manner and critically about the Spanish language, its evolutions, and its cultural uses in contemporary Spanish-speaking societies, including the United States. It is now documented that the languages that human beings speak impact the ways in which they think. An important focus of our program is the multilayered connections between Spanish-speaking countries and the United States, which might illuminate the reasons behind the presence of Latinx people in the United States. By critically analyzing texts, movies, songs, websites, paintings, art, and different cultural artifacts, students will learn the language while gaining a better understanding of these neighboring Spanish-speaking societies, in order to become inspiring change-makers who will strive for making a difference in our world. Through our program, students are given opportunities to participate in various community engagement projects with migrants, providing experiences that have been described by students as “life-changing” and “incredibly fulfilling.” Our program also encourages students to establish connections between our class discussion and what they are learning in other disciplines, in a true cross-disciplinary manner. We have evidence of increased student success negotiating the job market when the Spanish major is combined with Education certification, Communication Sciences and Disorders, or a major or minor in Marketing, one of the health professions, or International and Global Studies (in addition to other major/minor options).
Course options include: Conversational Spanish; Spanish for the Health Professions; Business Spanish; Short Stories; Culture of Spanish-Speaking societies (with a focus in the relationship between Latin America and the U.S., which explains the presence of Latinos in the United States); Towards Proficiency in Spanish; Foundational Stories of Latin America; Women, Film, and Literature; Testimonial Narratives; Migrants’ Voices; Exploring the Latin American City; and Intercultural Cyber-Pals (which provides the opportunity to work bilingually, in English and Spanish, with students from Universidad de Concepción in Chile). Furthermore, students will find internship opportunities in Spanish both abroad and locally.
Study Abroad, Language Houses, and Language Lab
Nazareth University offers different options for study abroad programs in Valencia, Spain, as well as in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Chile, and Peru, through the Center for International Education (CIE). Internship opportunities are available abroad, and they vary from health services experiences to community engagement and marketing. We highly encourage students to spend a semester abroad to make a more in-depth experience of their education.
Through the Emerson Language Laboratory, students use technology and media at all language levels to communicate effectively in the target language by using the most updated software for language acquisition, an experience that includes interactions with native speakers both locally and abroad.
Student Learning outcomes:
- Students will be able to understand and foster intercultural competence across languages and cultures, including religious, class, ethnic, and gender diversity in the geographical areas of their study. (Intermediate, and Advanced, accomplished especially in the senior seminar)
- Students will be able to communicate increasingly and effectively in the target language through speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. (Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced levels)
- Students will be able to analyze, interpret, and discuss different narrative genres in the target language -texts, movies, music, paintings, political cartoons, graphic novels, food origins, and other cultural practices/artifacts. (Intermediate, and Advanced levels)
- Students will be able to develop a position (a thesis statement) when confronted with specific cultural practices/artifacts produced in the societies that they study and argue to defend their position, providing evidence to support their views -in writing and orally, in the target language. (Intermediate, and Advanced levels)
- Students will be able to function successfully in today’s world using vocabulary in the target language pertinent to the needs of their future careers -a language and culture proficiency that will allow them to adapt to the mobility of the job market. (Advanced levels)
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Core Curriculum Requirements
All Nazareth students complete Core Curriculum coursework as part of their degree requirements. The Core provides a foundation in the liberal arts and sciences while guiding students to pose and explore their own intellectual questions. See Academic Policies and Procedures for specific core curriculum requirements. Spanish Major Requirements
Spanish Courses (30 credits) - Spanish majors complete 30 credits in Spanish starting at the 102 level or higher, plus a 3-credit Senior Seminar (detailed below), for a total of 33 credits.
- Credits earned in Language Labs count toward the 30.
Senior Seminar (3 credits) The Senior Experience for the Spanish major culminates with a senior seminar that encourages students to develop further scholarly and critical thinking, including current theoretical discussions in the academy. English language courses and courses taken abroad: - Classes taught in English do not count toward NYSED certification in teaching the target language. Teacher candidates must make sure they have 30 credits in the target language. (Note: If a student adds teacher certification in a language after graduation via a master’s degree, they will still need to have 30 credits in the target language. Therefore, anyone thinking about teaching in the future should consider earning the 30 credits in the target language prior to completing their undergraduate degree).
- Senior Seminar does not count toward the 30 credits in the target language required by NYSED.
- Any course taken abroad in the target language will transfer back as part of the major, regardless of content area: e.g. 3 credits of Psychology taken in Italy in the Spanish language will come back as 3 credits toward the Spanish major.
- Courses in English taken abroad will count towards the major only if the content deals with cultural competency, literature, history, politics, arts, etc. (e.g. 3 credits of Spanish Art History, taught in Valencia, will transfer back as 3 credits toward the Spanish major). There is a maximum total of 6 credits of courses taught in English that can count toward a language major, whether taken abroad or domestically. A list of commonly taken culture courses will be provided when choosing classes from our international partner universities. Note: Courses taken abroad are approved by Program Directors for transfer credit back to Nazareth to fulfill both core and major requirements.
- For English-language courses at Nazareth or transferred in from U.S. institutions, specific courses are allowed toward the major in the target language. These are limited to 6 credits toward the 33 credits of the major, whether taken abroad or domestically.
These courses taught in English at Nazareth are listed here: Sample Program for Spanish Majors
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Return to: College of Liberal Arts, Sciences, Business, and Education
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