Spanish Study Abroad
Spain
Argentina
Costa Rica
Peru
Getting Started
All students who wish to obtain SPAN credit for their study-abroad work are encouraged to speak with a departmental study-abroad advisor before they select a program. These advisors are:
For 3000+ level credit, The Director of the Hispanic Studies Program in Valencia. Currently Fernando Operé
For 3000+ level credit, The Director of Undergraduate Programs in Spanish. Currently Gustavo Pellón
For 1010-2020 level credit, The Director of the Spanish Language Program. Currently Emily Scida
Students are warned that if they participate in a study-abroad program without early consultation (i.e. before application to a program) with one of these departmental advisors, they run the risk of not receiving degree credit for their studies, or of not having their credit count toward their Spanish major or minor.
NB: The meeting with a departmental study-abroad advisor does not take the place of a General Information Session (GIS) or study abroad advising at the International Studies Office (ISO). All students will still be expected to attend one of these General Information Sessions and consult with and ISO study-abroad advisor.
Picking a Program
The Spanish program distinguishes between recommended and approved programs, and allows students to petition to study in other programs:
The recommended programs are those operated by the University of Virginia. Currently, there are three that are open to undergraduates, in Valencia, Peru, and Costa Rica. Information about these programs is available at the program websites referenced above and at the ISO Website.
The approved programs are those that have been reviewed and approved by the Spanish faculty, ISO, and the College of Arts and Sciences. A list of these programs can be obtained from the International Studies Office
Students who have a compelling reason to study in a program that is not on the recommended or approved lists may PETITION to be allowed to study in such a program.
Students must submit a petitions thirty days before the application to the program is due, through the International Studies Office website. Contact ISO for more information.
Students who attend such programs must provide an evaluation of their experience upon return.
If a petition is approved, the department will treat the program as an “approved program” for the student who initiates the petition. This will ease the transfer of credit for the degree and for the Spanish major or minor.
Petitions will be granted on an individual basis. The approval of one student’s petition does not indicate that another student will necessarily be allowed to study in that program.
Selecting Courses
Students are expected to register for courses appropriate to their level of language mastery, as demonstrated by the course work they have completed at UVA.
Students must select their courses in consultation with a departmental study-abroad advisor, particularly if they plan to major or minor in Spanish.
Transferring Credit
All courses from recommended programs transfer as degree credit, and most of those taught at the 3000 level or above count for major or minor credit in Spanish and/or Latin American studies. Peru requires study-abroad transfer of credit approval. Credits will transfer. Grades will not. Valencia and Costa Rica are direct-credit programs and require no such approval. Both grades and credits earned in Valencia and Costa Rica count in degree totals.
Courses taught in approved programs will transfer as degree credit upon approval by a departmental study-abroad advisor.
In order to gain such approval, a student must consult with the appropriate departmental study-abroad advisor (see above) before participating in the program. The student must provide this departmental study-abroad advisor with course descriptions, as well as with starting and ending dates for all coursework. If this information is not available, then the student may apply for transfer credit upon arrival in the program (via email) or upon completion of the program and return to UVA. In these cases, however, the student runs the risk of receiving only partial degree credit, or no credit at all.
3 UVA credits are granted for every 40 contact hours of study abroad. Wherever possible, students will be given credit for actual UVA-equivalent courses. When no such equivalent exists, the departmental study-abroad advisor will have the option of assigning any number of generic transfer credits (e.g. 2 credits of SPAN 300T or 6 credits of SPAN 400T, etc.), or of refusing to give UVA credit for the course. Such generic credit may or may not count for the major or minor, at the discretion of the departmental study-abroad advisor.
Internships and service experiences that are attached to academic coursework will be treated as academic courses. Those that have no attached coursework will transfer as one generic SPAN credit, at the appropriate level (100T, 200T, 300T, 400T). These single credit experiences will not count toward the major or minor.
Receiving Major or Minor Credit in Spanish
All three tracks of the Spanish major include three core courses, a grammar course (3010 or 4010, depending upon departmental placement), Literary Analysis (SPAN 3300), and at least one survey course (SPAN 3400-3430). In order to count for the major or minor, these courses must be taken at UVA or in a program recommended, not merely approved or endorsed (see above), by the Spanish Department.
Students who study in a recommended program may count up to 15 credits per semester of study abroad or 24 credits per year of study abroad toward their Spanish major.
Students who study in an approved program in Spain or Latin America may count up to 9 credits for a semester of study abroad or 15 credits for a year of study abroad toward their Spanish major.
Students may count up to 9 credits of study abroad toward their Spanish minor.
If a student wishes to appeal a decision made by a departmental study-abroad advisor, he or she should see the Chair of the Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, currently María-Inés Lagos (lagos@virginia.edu)
The Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese strongly encourages Majors to participate in the study abroad programs, whether for the summer, one semester, or a year.