Mar 28, 2024  
2012-2013 Graduate Catalog 
    
2012-2013 Graduate Catalog [Not Current Academic Year. Consult with Your Academic Advisor for Your Catalog Year]

Spanish M.A.


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Admission Requirements

For unconditional admission to the M.A. program in Spanish, applicants must have earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish from an accredited institution, with an overall grade point average of at least 3.00 (A=4.00) for the last 60 hours of course credit. Students who have a Bachelor’s Degree in a field other than Spanish must take SPAN 3304, two courses in Spanish Literature at the 4000-level, and one course in Spanish Linguistics before entering the M.A. (equivalent courses taken in other institutions are accepted).

Applicants must have acceptable scores on the General Aptitude section of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). A score of at least 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is required for international graduate students. Two confidential letters of recommendation from professors detailing the potentials of the candidate as a student are also required.

Conditional admission may be granted a student who has a grade point average of at least 2.67 and whose scores on the Graduate Record Examination are high enough to indicate probable success in the graduate program.

Once admitted to the program, no course in which a grade below B- (2.67) is received may be applied toward the Master’s degree. Comprehensive written and oral examinations are required to obtain the degree; these are scheduled during the last semester of course work. A minimum of 27 semester hours must be earned in residence at the University of Houston.

At the end of each student’s first year of course work at the graduate level, a screening procedure will be conducted by all faculty members with whom the student has studied in order to determine whether the individual is progressing satisfactorily toward the degree objective.

For further information, please write:

Spanish Graduate Programs
Department of Modern and Classical Languages
University of Houston
Houston, Texas 77204-3006

Degree Requirements

There is a five-year limit on M.A. work from the time of the first course counted toward M.A. credit. A total of 36 hours is required for the M.A. in Spanish, all at the 6000-level or above. Students may elect to write a thesis; if they do so, a maximum of 6 hours of thesis credit may count as part of the 36. A maximum of 6 hours, as well, may be taken in a complementary field outside the department if students obtain written permission in advance from the Graduate Advisor. Before entering the M.A. Program, students should decide on the concentration they wish their M.A. in Spanish to reflect.

Possible concentrations include:

  1. Spanish literature
  2. Spanish literature and linguistics
  3. Spanish linguistics

Students must take the following required hours in accord with their selected concentration:

Concentration in Literature:


  • Peninsular Literature Cr. 12.
  • Latin American Literature Cr. 12.
  • Hispanic Literature of the US Cr. 6.
  • Spanish Linguistics Cr. 3.
  • Research Methods Cr. 3.

Concentration in Literature/Linguistics:


  • Literature Cr. 15-18.
  • Linguistics Cr. 15-18.
  • Research Methods Cr. 3.

Concentration in Linguistics:


  • Spanish Linguistics Cr. 24.
  • Literature Cr. 9.
  • Research Methods Cr. 3.

Thesis option:


A master’s thesis may be substituted for 6 hours in any of these concentrations.

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