Master of Arts in Spanish

The Master of Arts degree in Spanish offers students the opportunity for in-depth understanding of Hispanic literatures, cultures and language and underscores the unity of the Hispanic world. Courses are offered in Hispanic cultures, Hispanic literatures and Spanish language. In addition, students may take electives in linguistics or foreign language studies to gain expertise in language analysis and approaches to foreign language instruction and testing. The degree is appropriate as preparation for further advanced study in Spanish or for a wide range of careers, for example: teaching, journalism, tourism, and diplomatic service to name a few.

Admission

University-wide graduate admission requirements include the completion of an undergraduate degree with a minimum overall grade point average of 3.0. In addition, applicants should have a bachelor’s degree with at least 12 upper-division hours in Hispanic cultures, literatures or linguistics and a mastery of oral and written skills in Spanish in an academic register. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is not a requirement for admission to the program. Students are expected to have an advanced command of written and spoken Spanish as it is the primary language of course lectures, readings, and student work. Applications can be obtained from the Office of Graduate Studies and are also available online.

Teaching Certification in Spanish

Students who want to earn state certification for teaching Spanish at the secondary level may apply graduate courses as substitutes for undergraduate, upper-division Spanish courses they have not already taken. The certification program also requires certain professional education courses which can be taken in addition to the courses required for the Master’s degree in Spanish. Certification is administered by the College of Education and Human Development, through which advising for this option is available.

Teaching Assistantships and Scholarships

A limited number of teaching assistantships are available. To apply to teach one or two courses each semester, students must have completed a minimum of 18 graduate hours in Spanish or related courses. Competitive scholarships are available to incoming and current students in good standing. Competition deadlines are announced near the end of each semester. The Office of Financial Aid may also offer assistance to students.

Location

The University of Texas at San Antonio is located in a bilingual city that is proud of its Hispanic heritage. The city’s population is more than 50 percent Hispanic, and Spanish is as prevalent as English in some neighborhoods. The area is a prime focus of Hispanic cultural activities in South Texas.

The UTSA Downtown Campus gives students a new venue for interaction with guest speakers, performers, faculty and the community. Other centers of Hispanic culture in or near downtown include the historic Teatro Alameda, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and the Instituto Cultural Mexicano in HemisFair Park, the Teatro Guadalupe and the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Latin American Art. Students from other cities will welcome opportunities to use their Spanish outside the classroom.

Faculty

Santiago Daydí-Tolson, Professor

Ph.D., University of Kansas; Contemporary poetry in Spain, Latin America and the United States; Latin American literature and culture; comparative literature.

MaryEllen Garcia, Associate Professor

Ph.D., Georgetown University ; Spanish of the Southwest, Spanish linguistics, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, Chicano English, Spanish grammar for Heritage Speakers.

Jack J. Himelblau, Professor

Ph.D., University of Michigan; Contemporary Latin American literature, history of ideas in the Hispanic world, Latin American culture and civilization, the Spaniard and the Indian in Spanish America.

Francisco A. Marcos-Marín, Professor

Ph.D., Complutense University of Madrid; Hispanic Linguistics, applied linguistics, computers and textual analysis; Old Spanish, Romance philology, description and typology, comparative medieval Romance and Arabic literature.

Nancy J. Membrez, Associate Professor

Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara; Contemporary Spanish literature

and culture, Spanish and Latin American film, digital video production, Hispanic women’s literature.

Malgorzata Oleszkiewicz-Peralba, Associate Professor

Ph.D., New York University; Latin American literature and culture, popular culture, gender studies, cultural studies, Afro-Latin American studies, theater, religion and ritual.

Frank Pino, Jr., Professor

Ph.D., Northwestern University; Late nineteenth-and twentieth-century Spanish Peninsular literature, Mexican American literature and culture, Hispanic cultures, history of ideas.

Further Information:

E-mail address Graduate Advisor of Record: maryellen.garcia@utsa.edu

Graduate School Web site: www.utsa.edu/graduate

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

UTSA, College of Liberal and Fine Arts

Phone: (210) 458-4373 Fax: (210) 458-5672

Application Deadlines:

July 1 - Fall semester, November 1 - Spring semester, May 1 - Summer semester.