BA Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies

Programme overview

Entry requirements

Entry Requirements are available on the Course Search entry

Programme specification

The information on this page is accurate for students entering the programme in 2023/2024 or before. For students entering the programme from September 2024 or after, you can find the details of your programme:

BA Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies(For students entering from September 2024 onwards)

On this course, you will become highly competent in Spanish and Portuguese, and gain a detailed understanding of the cultures and histories of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Each year, language modules will help you develop and consolidate your spoken and written languages, while optional modules will allow you to explore music, literature, sport, cinema and history, as well as topics like race, ethnicity, and feminism. You will also be able to gain practical skills such as translation or specialised language for business purposes, and develop your personal and intellectual independence.

You will take a compulsory year abroad that will allow you to practise your language skills and get first-hand experience of local culture(s) while gaining skills that make you highly attractive to employers.

Studying at Leeds means you will learn from world-leading experts in fields as diverse as Spanish popular music, translation, Brazilian cinema, gender in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds, electronic art, Angolan dance, and nationalism and empire. Our teaching across modules is a unique blend of language and content, and many of your modules will contain classes and/or assessment in Spanish or Portuguese. The programme is mainly assessed through coursework, offering students a wide range of creative assessments. Your Final Year Project will be an opportunity for you to work on a topic of your choice, under the close guidance of one of our expert lecturers

By the end of your course, you will use Spanish and Portuguese at a professional level of language competence (up to C2 level in the CEFR) and you will have the knowledge, skills and intercultural awareness necessary to achieve your true potential and pursue a wide range of exciting global careers.

Year 1

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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Compulsory Modules

Students are required to study the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO1010	Practical Language Skills in Spanish 1	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
SPPO1035	Introduction to Brazil, Portugal and Portuguese Speaking Africa	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO1420	Researching Spanish and Latin American Studies	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Optional Modules

Students with prior language competence in Portuguese (at least B1 level of the CEFR) will be required to study the following optional module:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO1087	Portuguese Language Skills in Context	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Students with no prior knowledge of Portuguese will be required to study the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO1080	Portuguese Language for Beginners 1A	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
SPPO1081	Portuguese for Beginners 1B	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP

Students with prior language competence of Portuguese (taking SPPO1087) are required to study a minimum of 20 and may study up to 40 credits from the following optional modules:
Students with no prior knowledge of Portuguese (taking SPPO1080 and SPPO1081) are required to study 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO1045	The Historical Development of Spain and Hispanic America	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO1160	Introduction to the Cultural Production of Spain and Spanish America	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Discovery Modules

Students with prior language competence in Portuguese taking SPPO1087) may study up to 20 credits of discovery modules.

Year 2

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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Compulsory Modules

Students are required to study the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO2010	Practical Language Skills in Spanish 2	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
SPPO2090	Portuguese Language Skills	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Optional Modules

Students will be required to study 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO2100	Issues in Hispanic Cinema	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO2110	Literature and the Arts in the Spanish-speaking World	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO2510	Latin America since Independence (c1800 - c1930)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO2680	Modern Spain (1868-1975)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Students may study up to 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO2580	Translation Theory and Practice in a Spanish - English Context	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO2650	The Spanish regional Melting Pot: the old same History?	20	Not running in 202526

Students will be required to study a minimum of 20 and may study up to 40 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO2020	Film and Literature in the Portuguese-speaking World	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO2412	Culture and Society in the Portuguese-Speaking World	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Students may study up to 40 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL2001	Linguists into Schools	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2015	Black Europe	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2070	Reception, Transmission and Translation: The Global Circulation of Literature	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2075	Global Environmental Humanities	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL2250	Digital Communications Across Cultures	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Discovery Modules

Students may study up to 20 credits of discovery modules.

Year 3

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Compulsory Modules

All students will be required to study the following compulsory module

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL9500	LCS Year Abroad	120	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Year 4

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL3050	Final Year Project	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
SPPO3010	Practical Language Skills in Spanish 3	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
SPPO3110	Advanced Portuguese Language	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Optional Modules

Students who do not take their FYP in Portuguese will be required to study 20 credits from the following optional modules: 

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO3701	Urban Realities and Representations in the Portuguese Speaking World	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Students who do not take their FYP in Spanish will be required to study 20 credits and may study 40 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SPPO3062	Spanish in an Economic and Business Context	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO3071	Contemporary Spain: Politics, Culture and Society After Franco	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO3420	Spanish-English Translation	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO3800	Icons and Stars: Celebrity and Revolution in Spain and Latin America	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SPPO3900	Race and Representation in the Spanish-speaking world	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Students may study up to 20 credits of the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL3200	Representing the Holocaust: Transgression and the Taboo	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL3410	Contemporary World Literature	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL3600	Material Cultures and Cultures of Consumption	20	Not running in 202526
MODL3610	Adventures of the Imagination: Crime and the Fantastic Across Continents	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL3620	Decolonial Approaches	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL3650	Minoritised Languages, Dialects and Cultures from Past to Present	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL3800	Linguists into Schools	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Portuguese & Brazilian Options
- Students will be required to study 20 credits from the following selection:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL3200	Representing the Holocaust: Transgression and the Taboo	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL3600	Material Cultures and Cultures of Consumption	20	Not running in 202526
MODL3610	Adventures of the Imagination: Crime and the Fantastic Across Continents	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL3620	Decolonial Approaches	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL3630	Social Movements across Cultures	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
SPPO3701	Urban Realities and Representations in the Portuguese Speaking World	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

-Students are required to complete assessed work on Spanish or Portuguese topics.
- Students may not take the same module twice, even if it appears twice in the above lists of modules.
- Not all modules will be available every year.

Students may choose to study the below optional module instead of 20 credits from the above list of Spanish/Spanish-American and Portuguese/Brazilian options.

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL3800	Linguists into Schools	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

- MODL3800 can be studied either as part of the credit requirements in Spanish or as part of the credit requirements in Portuguese. Correspondingly, students are required to complete assessed work on Spanish or Portuguese topics.

Discovery Modules

Students may study 20 credits of discovery modules.

Last updated: 02/05/2025 16:51:41

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