Re: Summer MA in Spanish Program

Randy Kirkpatrick

Posted on 10/15/10

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I looked for a program that didn't require becoming a genre
specialist,since most seem to, and ultimately decided on the
UNNISIST program. It takes three 6-week sessions to get the
requisite 30 hours of coursework, plus time for the 25-page
critique of a literary work. I have been both to Spain and
Mexico under this program, and while I don't object to the
reading, which is broadly based, I do lament that it is a
program whose purpose can only be viewed as preparation for a
Ph.D., since it has dropped the 'teaching emphasis option'.
Universities are missing the opportunity to fill the real need
for secondary teachers, which is more information which can be
readily used in the classroom. The current literary approach is
mostly irrelevant to that purpose. Although the culture and
history of Spain and Mexico are available, it would be better
to have evem more exposure and to include the other Spanish-
speaking countries, as well, and much more emphasis on culture,
grammer, and techniques applicable to the vast majority of
teachers who enroll in this program whose only goal is better
preparation for the classroom.

On 4/25/05, Sarah Dorsch wrote:
> I've been looking for the same, but can't find anything
> satisfactory. I had thought to do UCSB's program, but a
> colleague suggested U. of Northern Iowa. They have programs
> in other countries and they are quite cheap ($2800-3500. The
> best part for me is that the Mexico program has two sessions,
> allowing me to start after chaperoning summer travel for my
> students. I believe the program is called UNISSIST. It's at
> www.uni.edu. The program is pretty bereft of linguistics and
> heavy on lit. If you find a better program, please let me
> know.

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