Spanish (M.A.)

The Program in Spanish in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures offers a Master of Arts degree in Spanish with courses in the following areas: Second Language Acquisition, Pedagogy and Methodology; Hispanic Literature and Cultural Studies; and Hispanic Linguistics and Cultural Studies. The program also supports work in interdisciplinary Hispanic studies.

Degree Requirements

To obtain the degree, the candidate must complete a minimum of 30 credits. To satisfy the course requirements, the candidate must successfully complete ten graduate courses, eight of which should be from the offerings below. Two of the ten courses can be taken in allied fields approved by the department. 

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The MA in Spanish offers two options to fulfill the concluding experience of the program:

1) Non-thesis option (30 credits, ten classes). Students who select this option will present a seminar paper or project at a local, regional, or national conference. Presentation at the UNH Graduate Research Conference is acceptable to fulfill this requirement.

2) Thesis option (30 credits, eight classes plus thesis). Enrollment in SPAN #899 Master's Thesis (6 credits) counts for two of the ten required courses for the M.A. The thesis option involves the preparation of a Master's Thesis directed by a faculty advisor. This research track is specifically designed for those students interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in Spanish or in a related field.  Students must follow the format requirements and submission procedures as noted in the Graduate School's Thesis Manual.

Examples of Past Seminar Titles: 

• Econovels of Central America
• Contemporary Spanish Literature
• Second Language Acquisition: Technology
• El Camino de Santiago
• Cultures of Spain: Basque, Catalan, and Galician
• Baroque Literature: Sor Juana
• Latin American Lit. & the Border
• Spanish Phonetics & Dialectology
• Latin American Afro Caribbean Lit.
• The Baroque: Siglo de Oro
• Structure & Applied Linguistics
• Baroque to Surrealism & Beyond
• Spanish Sociolinguistics
• Literatura comparada
• Literatura y cultura argentinas
• La nueva mirada del cine femenino español
• Mood, Tense & Pronouns: Structure, Meanings, & Variation in Spanish Syntax
• Literary & Cultural Trends of Contemporary Central America
• Digital Media in Second Language Acquisition
• The World of Salvador Dalí
• Hispanic Literature and Culture in the Digital Age

• Linguistic proficiency Students will be able to demonstrate a minimum of an Advanced-Mid level of proficiency (as defined in ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines) in the target language in speaking, writing, listening and reading.
• Students can express themselves fully on a variety of topics related to home/family; social/community life; school/academic life; current events/issues of public interest; and employment/professional life.
• Students can deliver organized and detailed oral presentations and produce well-organized and coherent written papers on a wide variety of topics, but particularly around linguistics, literary, and cultural studies.
• Students have well-developed interpretive skills, both in listening and reading. They are able to understand narrative, descriptive, and argumentative texts, identify main points and supporting details, and understand variations of register, dialect, tone and style.
• Intercultural and transcultural competence In addition to being able to communicate in the language, students will be able to interact with an awareness of and sensitivity to the perspectives of others.
• Students will have knowledge of and be able to think critically about cultural differences, and the uniqueness of other cultures and peoples.
• By the time they complete the M.A., students will be able to: Recognize and describe the major historical, social, economic, and political forces that shape society in the various target cultures that they have directly studies, with a broader base of knowledge in one or more area that was the focus of their thesis.
• Analyze and critique cultural and social products of the target culture(s), such as film, literature, art, popular culture, media, etc. within their context, including determining appropriate theoretical approach or critical lens.
• Articulate the value of cultural diversity and locate the place of the self as an individual culturally situated within the global context of the twenty-first century.
• Interrogate the validity of their own cultural beliefs, behaviors and norms, by contrasting and comparing them with those of the target culture.