Spanish Undergraduate

SPAN 1010 and 1020 are courses reserved exclusively for true beginners, students who have never studied Spanish before entering UVA. Students who have studied Spanish prior to coming to UVA and who wish to continue in Spanish will be placed according to scores obtained on the College Entrance Examination Board SAT II tests, the AP Exam, the IB (high level) exam, or the U.Va. Spanish placement exam.

SPAN 1010 and SPAN 1020 will be offered during Summer Session only.

For more information on placement, add/drop policies, and guidelines on grading and participation in SPAN 1010-2020, please visit this page.

On the second day of class, students will be asked to provide proof of placement by showing their instructor a copy of their AP Exam score, SAT II Exam score, IB (high level) or U.Va. Spanish placement exam score. Students who have previously taken Spanish courses and who did not take the SAT II, AP Exam or the IB (high level) Exam must take the online Spanish Placement exam. For more information, please go to Foreign Language Placement.

Students may not enroll in a course different from the one into which they have placed. Students who place themselves incorrectly will not receive credit for the courses in which they enroll without permission.

It is the student’s responsibility to familiarize him/herself with College of Arts & Sciences and departmental policies on placement and enrollment in language courses. Students who place themselves incorrectly will not receive credit for the courses in which they enroll without permission.

For additional information about placement in Spanish courses, please visit the placement page.

Students considering courses in Spanish, should consult the departmental Course Descriptions. In addition to the information provided by the department, students are encouraged to consult the Student Information System (SIS) and the Undergraduate Record.

Please note: Course enrollment in SPAN 1010-2020 closes earlier than the College of Arts & Sciences ADD Deadline

ADD Deadline for SPAN 1010, 1060, 2010 and 2020 Classes:  2:00PM on Thursday, September 6, 2018

The Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese does not accept course action forms. All course enrollment is handled through the Student Information System (SIS).

The Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese uses wait lists and permission lists, through the Student Information System (SIS), for course enrollment. The department does not accept course action forms. For guidance with getting on a wait list or permission list, please visit the SIS Help Center.

If a course is full, please use the wait list or permission list through SIS. Please do no contact the professor.

Please note: Course enrollment in SPAN 1010-2020 closes earlier than the College of Arts & Sciences ADD Deadline

ADD Deadline for SPAN 1010, 1060, 2010 and 2020 Classes:  2:00PM on Thursday, September 6, 2018

We do not course action students into SPAN 1010-2020 courses. Adding into these courses is done through the online wait list system. It is the student’s responsibility to understand how the wait list system works.

Please note that the wait list system will not add you into a course if:

• You have a block on your registration.
• You are currently enrolled in another class at the same meeting time.
• Adding the class carries you over the credit maximum.

Placement

• Students who self-place without departmental permission will receive a final grade of F for the course. Students must enroll according to their placement through the UVA Spanish placement exams, AP Exams, SAT II Exams, or IB (high level) Exam.
• All students with prior experience in Spanish must take the placement exam. SPAN 1010 and SPAN 1020 are reserved for students who have never studied the language before.
• Students are permitted to take the Spanish placement exam only once. Taking the exam multiple times without departmental permission is an honor offense. The Spanish placement exam is available online for you to take at any time.
• For more information on placement, please consult the placement page.

Attendance

• Attendance is obligatory for SPAN 1010-2020. In order for students to progress in their understanding and speaking of the language, they must be exposed to hearing and speaking it on a regular basis.
• Students are allowed three (3) unexcused absences. Beyond that, for each additional absence, one percentage point will be deducted from your final grade.)
• Students are expected to arrive to class on time. Being late to class (1-10 min.) counts as half an absence.
• Total Absences:
  • SPAN 1010/1020:  An excess of eight (8) absences, for any reason, excused or unexcused, will result in a withdrawal from or failure in the course.
  • Classes meeting MWF:  An excess of six (6) absences, for any reason, excused or unexcused, will result in a withdrawal from or failure in the course.
  • Classes meeting TR:  An excess of four (4) absences, for any reason, excused or unexcused, will result in a withdrawal from or failure in the course.

Honor

SPAN 1010-2020 students are expected to comply with the UVA Honor Code. Any violations of the Code in or outside class will be brought to the attention of the Honor Council. All work is to be pledged and completed by the student without assistance from classmates, advanced Italian or Spanish students, native speakers, online translators or any online resource, unless otherwise indicated by the instructor. If you have doubts about what resources are permissible, you must contact your instructor. Tutors may help only after the student has completed his/her work independently. Tutors may not revise student work. Events for the Cultural Project and topics for the Video Project cannot be repeated from prior language courses.

Placement

• Students must provide written proof of placement no later than the second class meeting in all SPAN 3010/3020 sections. Failure to do so will result in a final grade of F for the course.
• Students can take the UVA placement test only once. Taking the test more than once without Departmental permission is considered a serious violation of UVA’s Honor Code.
• To place into SPAN 3010 one must present written proof of the following:
  • Successful completion, with a grade of C or better, of SPAN 2020 (or equivalent); or UVA placement test score of 536-650; or AP score of 4; or SAT II score of 641-700; or IB Spanish (High) score of 7.
• To place into SPAN 3020 one must present written proof of the following:
  • Successful completion, with a grade of C or btter, of SPAN 3010 (or equivalent); or UVA placement test score of 651+; an AP score of 5; an SAT II score of 701-800; an IB Spanish A1 or A2 score of 5, 6 or 7.

Attendance

Students enrolled in SPAN 3010 or SPAN 3020 who fail to attend the first day of classes will be dropped from the course.

• In SPAN 3010/3020, attendance is mandatory.
  • For M,W,F sections, students who have more than three (3) unexcused absences will receive a final course grade of F.
  • For T,R and M,W sections, students who have more than two (2) unexcused absences will receive a final course grade of F.
• Tardiness, defined as being 10 minutes—or beyond—late for class, counts as half an absence.

Honor

• The work submitted by students must be of personal authorship. Ideas that are not the student's own must be properly cited. Plagiarism will result in a final grade of F for the course and possilbe refferal to U.Va.'s Honor Council.
• Students are allowed to translate isolated words using paper or online dictionaries. However, translating whole sentences, paragraphs, or essays (from whatever language to Spanish) using online dictionaries or online translators will be considered a serious Honor Code violation. This other type of plagiarism will result in a final grade of F for the course and possible referral to UVA’s Honor Council.
• Students cannot write papers using the help of native Spanish speakers.
• Unless otherwise indicated by the Instructor (i.e., for essays’ 2nd version peer-reviews), students must write papers on an individual basis (i.e., without the help of a classmate).
• Turning in the same paper multiple times either in the same or in different courses is considered a serious Honor Code violation.

There are currently about 200 students majoring in Spanish. Many Spanish majors go on to graduate or professional school to become lawyers, doctors and educators. Others go directly into the working world, finding their Spanish major useful for careers in business, the government, and international agencies.

Spanish majors have access to a nationally-ranked group of faculty members whose expertise ranges across a wide range of areas: Peninsular literature from the medieval to the modern periods; Latin American literature from colonial times to the present; Portuguese and Brazilian literature; Spanish and Latin American cinema; Spanish, Latin American and US Latina women’s writing; Spanish and Latin American culture; and Spanish linguistics.

In addition to these specialists, the department regularly invites visiting scholars and Hispanic authors for a semester.  Past authors have included Isabel Allende, Pía Barros, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Antonio  Cisneros, Diamela Eltit, Laura Freixas, Mempo Giardinelli, Liliana Heker, Carmen Martín Gaite, Rosa Montero, Antonio Muñoz Molina, Antonio Skármeta and Ana Maria Shua.

As part of the 10-course, 30-credit sequence of the B.A. in Spanish, students will build competencies in the Spanish language, and better understand the literatures, histories, and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. For more information about the undergraduate major and the three concentrations offered for the B.A. -- General, Literature, and Linguistics -- please visit the page for Spanish majors.

There are currently about 65 students minoring in Spanish. A minor in Spanish consists of 21 credits (3 prerequisite and 18 required) of Spanish study at the 3000 level or above. The department offers two minors: a general minor in Spanish, and, as part of the UVa Valencia program, a minor in business Spanish. Please click here for more information about the minor.

The Summer Language Institute (SLI) at the University of Virginia offers a unique intensive program in which students can complete beginning and intermediate levels of Spanish in nine weeks, earn 12 credits, and fulfill the College of Arts and Sciences foreign language requirement.

For more information on our students and their work, please visit our student spotlights page.

For a list of all of the forms housed on this site, please visit the forms page.