Spanish, B.A.

Spanish, B.A. Program (120 units)

Program Description

The program offers students the ability to learn speaking, writing, and analytical skills in Spanish and has been designed to provide students with the cultural understanding and the academic knowledge necessary for future pursuits in various careers, especially in teaching Spanish and Spanish American literature and culture at multiple educational levels.

Recently Cal State East Bay was declared a Hispanic Serving Institution due to the demographic impact of the Latino/Hispanic population in California, particularly in the East Bay area. With the growing involvement of the United States in international business and the increasingly multicultural character of American society itself within the exponential growth of its Latino, Hispanic population, the importance of Spanish in nearly every kind of occupation is considerable. A major in Spanish, therefore, may lead to teaching careers and represent direct, practical assets in other fields such as business, industry and commerce, civil service, law, library science, media, science, health services, social work, travel, and tourism.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students graduating with a Spanish, B.A. from Cal State East Bay will be able to:

1. Oral Communication: Express themselves in Spanish with sufficient accuracy and clarity to carry on conversations with native speakers and to give oral presentations appropriate to the undergraduate level.  Students will be able to appreciate the various components of diverse cultures.  Through in-class discussions and group work, students will also learn how to work collaboratively an open-minded and respectful way.  This will prepare them for their future workplace.
2. Written Communication: Express themselves in Spanish with a fair amount of sophistication, integrating research information while giving adequate credit to the sources used.  They will also have the ability to convey critical ideas in both academic and social contexts in a respectful way.
3. Critical Thinking: Be familiar with major creative texts, and other cultural productions such as art, music, cinema, and history.  They will also learn critical thinking, critical and analytical methods that are reinforced by their language skills.  They should be able to relate a variety of cultural productions to the socio-cultural contexts in which they developed.
4. Multicultural Diversity: Demonstrate that they have acquired the knowledge of ethnic cultural diversity, and other forms of diversity such as gender, while developing an appreciation of contributions to the body of diverse cultural productions, such as art, music, cinema, and history.
5. Social Justice and Sustainability: Act responsibly and recognize the historical and individual perspectives vs. the global.  Students will demonstrate knowledge of global barriers to equality and social justice, identify and critically assess social, cultural, historical, political, national and/or global inequalities while acquiring the knowledge of multicultural diversity in more than one area.
6. Use multiple forms (essay, research, creative expression) and mediums of communication (on the ground, social media, television, radio) to investigate, participate in, and/or critique social justice movements in an open-minded and respectful manner.

Program Roadmaps

These program roadmaps represent recommended pathways through the program. Please see an advisor to create an education plan that is customized to meet your needs.

Degree Requirements Unit-Outline

• A baccalaureate of arts degree requires a total of 120 units:
  • The major requirements consists of 24-43 units;
  • General Education (GE) & Graduation Requirements (GR) consists of 57 units;
  • Free Electives may consists of 22-37 units (actual number of free elective units may depend on GE/GR units).

Note: It may be possible to double-count units within the graduation requirements or that a course may satisfy both a graduation requirement and a major requirement. Students should contact their program advisors for information.

Other Undergraduate Degree Requirements

In addition to major requirements, every student must also complete the University’s baccalaureate requirements for graduation, which are described in the Undergrad Baccalaureate & Program Requirements  chapter of this catalog. 

Department Courses Listed by Course Type

Course Type Modern Languages and Literatures