Spanish

Advising

General Advising

Students wishing to declare a Spanish major or are in need of general advising, should send an email to Dr. Gabriela Vokic (vokic@smu.edu) for an initial advising appointment.

Prospective and declared minors should make an appointment with Ms. Allison Berk (arberk@smu.edu).

Additional Mentoring

For additional mentoring (for example, what courses to take, information about study abroad programs, etc.), majors should see a specific adviser. See the list below to determine which adviser to consult.

Last name starting with:

A – D with Dr. Denise Dupont

E – H with Dr. Olga López-Valero Colbert

I – L with Dr. Luis Maldonado

M – P with Dr. Francisco Morán

Q – U with Dr. Alberto Pastor

V – Z with Dr. Elizabeth Russ

In addition, general questions regarding enrollment in courses and course selection should be addressed to Prof. Vokic. Questions related to enrollment in specific courses should be addressed directly to the professor teaching the course in question. Professors will keep their own waiting lists for full (closed) courses.

Information for Advising Spanish Students

Please keep the following things in mind while you advise students who are interested in taking Spanish. Only with your help we will be able to implement these rules uniformly and thus avoid misunderstandings and misplaced students. The Spanish Area thanks you in advance!

The Placement Exam

Please do not override the results of the placement test for any reason and enroll the students in levels higher or lower than indicated by the test results, without previously consulting with the Spanish advisors (Dr. Vokic and Ms. Berk).

All students who have taken a placement test must show the test results to the instructor the first day of class. If they haven't done so already, they should contact Ms. Berk to obtain them. The placement test results should also be shown to the student's academic advisor.

Students who wish to switch sections within a level must also show the instructor of the new section the test results. Thus having multiple copies of the results is highly recommended.

Transfer students must also take a placement test.

Heritage and Native Spanish-speakers

Heritage* speakers have a special "Advanced Spanish" course tailored to them, which is 4358. They should not enroll under any circumstance in 3358, as this course is for non-native Spanish speakers only.

Native* Spanish students who have started with 4395 cannot go back to 4358. They should proceed to take other 4000- and 5000-level courses.

Note: Categories such as native, non-native, and heritage refer to the students' linguistic proficiency level and are determined by the Spanish area.

Concurrent Enrollment

All 3000-level courses must be taken before registering for any 5000-level course. Exceptions will be made for Study Abroad courses. At home, the only exceptions allowed are 4395 that can be taken with 5000 Linguistics courses and 4357 that can be taken with 5000 Literature courses. 4352 and 4385 can also be taken simultaneously with or after completion of 5000 level courses.