Columbia SPPO

Study Abroad

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese recommends strongly that all all majors and concentrators in Hispanic or Portuguese Studies engage in study abroad if their other academic commitments allow it.

Studying abroad represents an unique opportunity to provide substance and linguistic depth to the department's academic program. Most courses taken abroad can be used to fulfill the requirements for the major and concentration in the department, and with adequate planning, even some of the requirements for a second major or concentration in another department or program. Students interested in studying abroad should seek information as early as possible so that they may plan their course of study to accommodate the experience.

All students are strongly advised to take either Spanish 3349 ("Hispanic Cultures I: From Islamic Spain to the Age of Empire") or Spanish 3350 ("Hispanic Cultures II: From the Enlightenment to the Present") before studying abroad. Actual or potential majors and concentrators in Hispanic or Portuguese Studies should seek tentative approval of their program of study from the Director of Undergraduate Studies before their departure.

The department requires that the following materials be provided to the department's DUS upon returning to campus when applying for credit for the majors or concentrations for work done abroad:

  • a course description from a catalogue or web site
  • the actual course syllabus followed
  • a list of assigned readings and texts used
  • corrected and graded tests, examinations, and papers used for evaluating the student's work

A maximum of four (4) courses taken abroad may be applied to the major, and a maximum of three (3) to the concentration in Hispanic or Portuguese Studies. Credit will be generally awarded only for courses that have contact hour and workload scales equivalent to Columbia University courses (semester and summer sessions).

The Columbia College Office of Study Abroad has a comprehensive web site devoted to all aspects of the experience abroad. See in particular the requirements for receiving departmental credit or credit toward a major or concentration. We would like to emphasize the following, taken directly from that document:

Approval of credit towards your undergraduate degree does not automatically imply that courses will fulfill requirements for your major. If you wish to receive credit towards your major for courses taken abroad, you should discuss the program in general terms with your major departmental representative as soon as you have descriptive information about it prior to going abroad. You will want to find out:

  • The total number of credits from abroad that your department may be prepared to allow towards the major.
  • Whether there are any specific courses which you must take at Columbia and which you therefore should not attempt to duplicate elsewhere.
  • Whether they have any general suggestions about appropriate course work abroad.

It can be useful to fill out a course approval form in consultation with your departmental representative and file a copy of it both with your major advisor and your class dean. A review of your work when you return will be required. Be sure to bring back course descriptions as well as papers written while abroad for all courses you wish to have approved for your major. Course-by-course approval by your department will be reviewed upon your return from your stay abroad.