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2023-2024 Graduate Catalog
Spanish Major, MA
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 Return to: College of Arts and Sciences
The Spanish MA degree is a two-year program that offers two concentrations. One is a concentration in Literary and Cultural Studies that focuses on the literatures and cultures of Spain, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Students receive training in cultural studies, literary analysis, and basic techniques of criticism, and are exposed to a wide variety of works and authors from different cultural areas, periods, and genres. The second is a concentration in Applied Linguistics & Second Language Studies, which provides students with foundational coursework in Spanish and Applied Linguistics, especially Second Language Studies, as well as offering options for cultural studies relevant to the Hispanic world and other linguistics coursework.
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Campus Code
Knoxville Campus
Admissions Standards/Procedures
- Submit an online application to the Office of Graduate Admissions.
- A student should have already completed a major or the equivalent of a major (usually 30 hours) in their main discipline (French, German, or Spanish).
- Although the Graduate Council requires a minimum grade point average of 2.70 (on a scale of 4.00) for admission to the UT Graduate School, prospective students should note that the grade point average of 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) in all coursework of their major (French, German, Spanish, or a related field) in order to be admitted to the MA programs in French, German, or Spanish.
- When evaluating a student’s application dossier, the Graduate Admissions Committee looks for high-quality, committed students who could complete the program successfully, and who will add diversity, and intellectual liveliness and energy to the program.
Academic Standards
- After entering the graduate program, students in any of the MA Programs offered by the Department of World Languages and Cultures are expected to maintain a graduate GPA of at least 3.00 in order to remain in good standing. Note, students in the Ph.D. Program in Modern Foreign Languages are expected to maintain a graduate GPA of at least 3.50 in order to remain in good standing.
- The Department of World Languages and Cultures specifies that a student will not be allowed to continue in any of its graduate program if any of the following occurs:
- The student cheats or engages in any other act of dishonesty with respect to the university community. Such acts include but are not limited to getting or giving help that is considered inappropriate in an academic setting as well as any form of plagiarism. (for details on Academic Honesty, please see the respective passages in Hilltopics and in the Graduate Catalog).
- The student earns two or more grades of C or below in courses taken for graduate credit.
- The student receives a grade of D or F in a graduate course that is identified as a core or mandatory course in the student’s graduate program.
- The student’s cumulative graduate GPA falls below 3.00 for two consecutive semesters, excluding the summer semester if no courses are taken. (UT Graduate Policy).
Applied Linguistics & Second Language Studies Concentration (Coursework Only with Comprehensive Exam)
The Coursework Only with Comprehensive Exam option requires more coursework than the Thesis option.
Credit Hours Required
Minimum of 30 graduate credit hours
Required Courses
- Completion of at least 30 credit hours of graduate course work with
- A maximum of 9 credit hours at the 400-level (taken for graduate credit)
- The remaining 21 credit hours at the 500-level
- Under certain conditions, the student may take 600-level seminars.
- At least 12 credit hours must be in courses taught in Spanish.
- At least 18 credit hours must be Linguistics-related courses.
Non-Course Requirements
A written examination covering the coursework and selected items from a reading list.
Comprehensive exams
Students in the non-thesis option will be required to take comprehensive exams during their final semester based on the core courses below (i.e., course materials, articles, etc. from each course).
Applied Linguistics & Second Language Studies (Thesis Option)
The thesis option provides more focus on in-depth research.
Credit Hours Required
Minimum of 30 graduate credit hours
Non-Course Requirements
- A thesis with a minimum of 6 credit hours of SPAN 500 - Thesis
- A written examination covering the coursework and selected items from a master reading list.
- A final oral examination covering the thesis.
Thesis
- The thesis committee should consist of a faculty mentor (from WLAC) with two additional committee members (from WLAC or outside of the department).
- Students will take 6 hours of thesis preparation, preferably 3 hours in the fall and 3 hours in the spring of the final year.
- Thesis topics may include areas such as linguistics, applied linguistics, second language acquisition or teaching of language and/or culture.
- The thesis may be an experimental research proposal with pilot data or a state-of-the-art literature review.
- The thesis should be approximately 50 pages in length (excluding bibliography) written in APA style.
Thesis defense:
- Consists of a presentation to committee members and an oral defense of the thesis.
- The thesis will be sent to committee members at least 2 weeks in advance of the defense.
Literary and Cultural Studies Concentration (Coursework Only with Comprehensive Exam)
The Coursework Only with Comprehensive Exam option requires more coursework than the Thesis option.
Credit Hours Required
Minimum of 30 graduate credit hours
Required Courses
Completion of at least 30 credit hours of graduate coursework with
- A maximum of 6 credit hours may be taken at the 400-level (only those 400-level courses that appear in the Graduate Catalog may be applied)
- The remaining 24 credit hours at the 500-level
- Under certain conditions, the student may take 600-level seminars
- MFLL 512 - Teaching a Foreign Language is required for all students and may be taken only once
Non-Course Requirements
A written examination covering the coursework and selected items from a master reading list.
Literary and Cultural Studies Concentration (Thesis Option)
The thesis option provides more focus on in-depth research.
Credit Hours Required
Minimum of 30 graduate credit hours
Non-Course Requirements
- A thesis with a minimum of 6 credit hours of SPAN 500 - Thesis
- A written examination covering the coursework and selected items from a master reading list
- A final oral examination covering the thesis
Five-Year BA/MA Program - Spanish Major, MA
For qualified students, the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures offers a five-year BA-MA program with a BA major in Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures with a concentration in Hispanic Studies and a Spanish major, MA (course only option with comp exam). The primary component of the program is that a qualified student may take up to 9 credit hours of approved graduate courses for their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both the BA degree and the MA degree. Qualifications for admission to the program are:
The student must have an overall cumulative GPA of 3.00 and a cumulative GPA of 3.50 in undergraduate Spanish courses to be considered for admission to the program. Conditional and full admission of a student into this program must be approved by the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures and by the Graduate School. Conditional admission may be granted after completing 64 credit hours of the requirements for the BA in Spanish and Hispanic Studies, as specified by any Undergraduate Catalog in effect during that student’s attendance at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, provided that the Catalog has been in effect within six years of the date of graduation.
Conditional admission must be obtained before taking a graduate course that is to be used to satisfy the requirements of both the BA degree and the MA degree.
Full admission may be granted after completing 96 credit hours of the requirements for the BA in Spanish and Hispanic Studies, as specified by any Undergraduate Catalog in effect during that student’s attendance at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, provided that the Catalog has been in effect within six years of the date of graduation. A cumulative GPA of 3.50 in undergraduate Spanish courses is required for full admission.
Any course taken for graduate credit prior to satisfying all requirements for the BA degree must be approved by the department head (or designee) and by the Graduate School.
A student will not be eligible for a graduate assistantship until the student has satisfied all of the requirements for the BA degree.
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Return to: College of Arts and Sciences
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