Bachelor of Arts in Spanish

Purpose Statement Ongoing rapid local and national demographic fluctuations have created intensive demands upon academic programs offered in the Lowcountry. The increasing Hispanic population in the community has necessitated a program centered on acquiring Spanish-speaking skills. The combination of an intensive liberal arts background with language proficiency skills and practical experience will help students investigate and integrate knowledge and perspectives in today’s technologically-changing world. The purpose of the Bachelor of Arts with a major in Spanish degree program is to enhance and continually improve a university curriculum responsive to the region’s higher education needs. The program has two tracks: 1.) Spanish for Heritage Speakers and 2.) General Spanish. Both have been designed to address specific regional, national and global demands in education, business, health, social, professional and human services sectors, among others. The study of the Spanish language and Hispanic culture, history and literature is an integral part of a liberal arts college education, fostering in students an awareness of their global and local responsibilities and rights. Students will learn to examine and analyze their sociological, political, historical, philosophical, ethical and ideological responses to current situations and circumstances within society. These skills will place students in a primary position to respond to the comprehensive demands of the region. Additionally, the program will provide a field of study vital to a traditional university education. The program centers on the constitution and emergence of modern American and international society and its increasing cultural, political, economic and ecological interdependence.

Program Goals The BA in Spanish Program objectives include the following: • • • • • • • • •

Provide students with Spanish language and Hispanic cultural skills that result in their becoming more articulate and analytical, as well as historically and socially informed. Foster in students a multicultural perspective and a sense of social responsibility. Prepare students to be aware of and respond to, escalating multicultural and global societal changes. Additionally, prepare students to be aware of and respond to, newly arrived Hispanic residents of the locality and state. Provide the educational foundation to foster community building and avert possible friction and conflict among various cultures living together—some of them, for the first time. Bridge the gap between area local high schools and higher education by providing a Spanish curriculum that is not redundant, but continuous and more in-depth. Provide an educational means to integrate the rapidly growing Hispanic population within the community. Alleviate the need for the regional and state educational community to look abroad in order to fill Spanish and Hispanic related jobs. Mold students as citizens of the world, enabling them to demand their global rights as well as face their global responsibilities. Establish a learning environment in the Spanish and Hispanic culture that contributes to cooperation and collaboration with the statewide educational community.

USCB seeks to ensure that all students who complete the Bachelor of Arts in Spanish are able to… • •

Attain appropriate levels of proficiency in each of the following areas: speaking, reading, writing, listening comprehension and culture based on the ACTFL rating guidelines. Achieve the sufficient level of language and cultural proficiency required for beginning graduate studies and to compete effectively for jobs in fields requiring a proficient knowledge of spoken and written Spanish (i.e. education, human services, government, law, banking, public relations,

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business, etc.). Demonstrate a broad cultural and historical understanding of the similarities/differences in Spanish and Spanish American cultures and literatures in the Spanish-speaking world as it relates to the United States and the rest of the world. Enhance cultural knowledge through activities and resources available outside of class (i.e. research, movies/audiovisual materials in the target language, club activities, international festivals and other events, or volunteer work where the target language is used). Reinforce knowledge gained from other disciplines and connect it with the study of a second language. Develop a sense of multilingual international community of which they form an integral part.