2025-2026 Academic Catalog

Jun 27, 2025

2025-2026 Academic Catalog

Spanish Major

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Language, Literature and Culture Overview

The Language, Literature and Culture Department promotes students’ competency in learning other languages, and broadening and enriching their education through in-depth study of other cultures and cultural productions. Mastering a language includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing proficiency, as well as acquiring cultural awareness and intercultural competency. Students can major in one of our programs or easily apply these skills to other disciplines at Clark and to their future professions.

Students can study Arabic, ASL, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Latin and Spanish at Clark. Our department offers two majors, one in Spanish and one in Combined Languages which entails learning two or three of the languages taught at Clark. Students can also apply skills in Asian languages (Chinese, Japanese) to an Asian Studies major and skills in Hebrew to a concentration in Jewish Studies.

The Language, Literature and Culture Department is a partner of the Alice Coonley Higgins Institute for Arts and Humanities.

For more information, please visit the Language, Literature and Culture Department’s website.

Language Placement

Please use the chart on the department’s main web page to determine what course level to take, depending on how many previous years of the language you’ve had. The University reviews transcripts to ensure that students are not over-qualified for a particular course. Students with native or near-native fluency in a language should consult with the coordinator in that language to determine the appropriate level.

For more on language placement, please consult the Department’s Language Placement Guidelines page.

Study Abroad

Participation in a Study Abroad program gives you a chance to view the interests and issues you care about from the perspective of another culture. Students in LL&C are encouraged to study abroad in exciting cities in Chile, China, the Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Japan, Senegal, and Spain. The staff in Clark’s Office of Study Abroad can help you find an experience that fits your requirements.

Spanish Major Requirements

Students must choose between the Study Abroad Track and the Internship Track.

All courses in the major must be completed with a minimum grade of C or better and no pass grades (except SPAN 202)

Study Abroad Track

9 courses (including the ones taken abroad)

4 required courses

SPAN 131 - Social Change in Hispanic Literature or SPAN 132 - Analyzing Stories and Poems
SPAN 237 - Advanced Oral & Written Spanish
CMLT 130 - The National Imagination (taught only in the spring)
SPAN 296 - Capstone (Capstone seminar, taught only in the Fall)

1 or 2 semesters of Study Abroad courses (up to 4 courses)

3 units of elective courses (SPAN 127-299)

At least four of the nine Spanish courses must be taken in residence at Clark. In order to fulfill the Spanish Study Abroad Track, students must take a minimum of 2 courses in a Study Abroad program in a Spanish-speaking country. In order to count towards the Spanish major, courses taken abroad must be conducted in Spanish and be related to Hispanic cultural studies or literature. Topics accepted include: Spanish Creative writing, Hispanic culture (drama, music, art, cinema…), Hispanic history, politics or philosophy. In order to make sure that the courses taken abroad count towards the major, they should be selected with the guidance of the major adviser.

Internship Track

10 courses (4 requirements and 6 electives) and one-year internship. Must be completed through the course SPAN 205-Spanish Community Internship.

Required courses

SPAN 131 - Social Change in Hispanic Literature or SPAN 132 - Analyzing Stories and Poems
SPAN 237 - Advanced Oral & Written Spanish
CMLT 130 - The National Imagination (taught only in the spring)
SPAN 296 - Capstone (Capstone seminar, taught only in the Fall)

6 units of elective courses (SPAN 127-299)

One-year Internship

SPAN 205 - Spanish Community Internship

The internship, ideally in Worcester, enhances practical cultural and language skills beyond the classroom. It could be a community engagement experience with a local organization. This experience should be at least a year long to foster stability both for the organization and for our students. Individual students will discuss with their advisor the best option in order to complete the Internship track, depending on their talents and/or interests.

Honors

This honors program is for language, literature and culture majors only. By November 1 of the capstone semester, faculty will identify qualified senior majors (with a minimum GPA of 3.5) and invite them to submit a proposal for a semester-long honors thesis during the spring of their senior year. Other students who wish to take honors should identify an area of interest during the capstone semester, consult with the capstone professor and/or an appropriate honors adviser, and submit a proposal (by December 1) to the professor they would like to direct the project.*

Proposals will be approved at the discretion of the individual professor.
The Department Chair must also approve the project.
The honors candidate and adviser will decide on a work schedule, but a preliminary draft must be completed by the first week of April.
The final version is due one week before the last day of classes.
A second faculty reader will participate in the final evaluation of the honors project.
An honors project counts as one unit of credit.

*Students graduating early and wishing to do an honors project should see their adviser during the fall of their junior year and get approval for the project from the thesis director and the department chair.

Language, Literature and Culture Faculty

Program

María Acosta Cruz, Ph.D.
Eduard Arriaga-Arango, Ph.D.
Belén Atienza, Ph.D.
Odile Ferly, Ph.D.
Allison Fong, Ph.D.
Everett Fox, Ph.D.
Beth Gale, Ph.D.

Christina Gerhardt, Ph.D.
Dolores Juan-Moreno, Ph.D.
Alexander Murphy, Ph.D.
Juan Pablo Rivera, Ph.D.

Adjunct

Sawsan Berjawi, M.A., M.Ed.
John Dunn
Talia Mugg
Elizabeth O’Connell-Inman, M.A.
Marcela Otálora, M.A..
Chris Synodinos, Ph.D.
Yanna Zhang, Ph.D.

Emeriti

Carol D’Lugo, Ph.D.
Marvin D’Lugo, Ph.D.
Hartmut Kaiser, Ph.D.
Dorothy Kaufmann, Ph.D.
Constance Montross, Ph.D.
Walter Schatzberg, Ph.D.
Michael Spingler, Ph.D.

Languages, Literature and Culture Courses

Courses offered within the last 2 Academic Years

Listing by Fields of Specialization

Arabic

Chinese

Classics

Comparative Literature

French

Most advanced French courses listed as offered periodically are available once every three years.

German

Hebrew

Japanese

Spanish

Advanced courses listed as offered periodically are generally available at least once every three years.