Foreign Study
The Department of Spanish and Portuguese encourages all of its students to pursue study abroad, whether in the programs in Spain approved by Northwestern University, the COPA Programs in Argentina, Chile, or Cuba, the summer program at the Universidad de Guanajuato in Mexico, or other programs approved by the University's Study Abroad Office.
For more information on specific programs, please consult the Study Abroad Office website.
For information on obtaining a language evaluation/recommendation from faculty in the department, please see below.
It is strongly recommended that students planning to seek credit in Spanish for their study abroad meet with the departmental Study Abroad Adviser before departing, preferably at the time of their application. This initial meeting with the Study Abroad Adviser helps students plan reliably their program of study abroad and facilitates departmental accreditation for Spanish courses upon their return.
When seeking departmental credit students must submit the following documents:
- Official grade transcript from Study Abroad Program
- Study Abroad Program catalog course descriptions
- Courses' syllabi, papers and/or exams
- Current NU transcript
- Spanish & Portuguese department's Petition for Major or Minor Credit for Courses Taken Abroad
- WCAS students: WCAS Petition for Abroad Credit
A year-long program is preferable to a one-quarter or summer program, but the Department accepts credit from courses taken abroad for any length of time as long as they meet the following criteria:
1. All courses abroad must meet for a minimum of 30 class hours in any given subject.
2. The Department of Spanish and Portuguese will accept for credit only courses taken at a foreign host University for the complete length of the course (Europe: 1st "cuatrimestre": October-January; 2nd "cuatrimestre": February-June).
3. Foreign transcripts must specify individual courses and grades.
4. Credit in Spanish for study abroad courses is determined by their content (and not by language or place in which the course was taught). Course content must be similar to the content of courses offered by the department, i.e., Spanish language, Spanish and Latin American literature, and Spanish and Latin American culture and civilization. Regardless of content, one (1) course taken completely in Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country may be credited as Spanish 201-1 or 201-2, as long as no credit is sought for it in another NU department. For courses taken in other departments, students should contact the appropriate NU department to determine the equivalent NU course prior to meeting with the study abroad adviser. Please note that majors are allowed to receive elective credit for two (2) courses related to the historical, literary, and/or cultural existence of Hispanic countries. Courses such as History of Chile, Contemporary Politics in Argentina, Spanish Baroque Art, etc., may receive credit toward the major, as long as the appropriate NU department approves them as equivalent to their own courses and no credit is sought for them in another NU department.
5. The Department of Spanish and Portuguese will accept up to four (4) credits towards departmental minor requirements, and up to seven (7) credits towards departmental major requirements, but in no case more than four (4) credits per single quarter/semester abroad.
The Department's faculty are happy to provide language evaluations/recommendations for students wishing to study abroad. Students should make sure they're aware of the Study Abroad Office's deadlines for applications (January 30-February 3-deadline for those studying in following Fall or Academic Year programs (staggered according to last name; March 3-Summer program deadline; May 3-Winter/Spring program deadline).
Language Evaluations-Procedures for students
A. Steps for obtaining a language evaluation
- Students should seek the language evaluation from their current Spanish language instructor, as s/he has the opportunity to most accurately assess the student's skills-even for the Fall/Academic Year program deadline (which usually falls around February 1st), winter quarter instructors should have evaluated students on enough in- and outside-class assignments to be able to evaluate language skills; indeed, in many courses, students will have already taken a midterm exam by February 3rd.
- In the absence of a current language instructor, students should consult their most recent instructor. If a significant amount of time (ie, more than one quarter) has passed since a student was in a class, instructors may want to briefly interview the student and/or give him/her a written assessment to have a more current assessment of his/her skills; however, this step is up to the instructor's discretion. Indeed, instructors may remark on the language evaluation that their assessment of a student is based on his/her performance in class several quarters prior to the completion of the form. Students should be aware of the the standard language requirements for various study abroad programs, available in PDF format at http://www.northwestern.edu/studyabroad/programs/compareregion/spainlatin.html.
- If a student is not currently enrolled in a Spanish language class, and/or if his/her former Spanish instructor(s) is no longer at NU, then s/he should contact the Chair of the Spanish Language Proficiency Evaluation Committee (in 2006-07, the chair is Darío Fernández-Morera). The chair will deal directly with the student, and will arrange for his/her language skills to be assessed according to the committee's procedures.
B. Deadlines Faculty will make every effort to complete the language skills evaluation/assessment by the deadline requested; however, students should approach instructors (with all necessary application materials, etc.) at least two weeks before the deadline. Students who wait until the last minute to request language evaluations should be aware that instructors will still need sufficient time (ie, two weeks) to complete the evaluation.
The Department will be happy to assist students. Please contact us at (847) 491-8249, or spanish-portuguese@northwestern.edu.
