Course Descriptions

Spanish

SPAN 101: , SPAN 102, SPAN 103 Elementary Spanish (1)
Development of language skills: listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Essentials of grammar with emphasis on culture through language. Open to students with no previous language study or by permission of instructor. JMiner

SPAN 101A: , SPAN 103A Intensive Elementary Spanish (1)
Elementary Spanish, but designed for students with previous language study and/or experience; aural comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing.JMiner

SPAN 101Q: Quick Start Spanish I (1 1/2)
Intensive study of language culminating in a trip to a Spanish-speaking locale. The instruction is motivated by the scheduled trip: grammar and vocabulary are structured around situations students encounter while traveling. Target language instruction includes intensive drill sessions; additional instruction (in English and outside regular class meeting times) focuses attention on the history, economy, and the geography of the region visited, and includes practical exercises and keeping a journal of activities. This gives students hands-on experience with the Spanish language that cannot be replicated in the classroom. TFoster

SPAN 103Q: Quick Start Spanish II (1)
Further intensive study of the Spanish language and culture. Student journals from SPAN 101Q serve as prime sources for discussion and exercises. The course tackles some of the more difficult aspects of Spanish grammar such as passive voice, adjective endings and relative clauses. It also includes a series of lectures about Latin American and Spanish political institutions, economic policy and contemporary culture. The latter in particular is enhanced by viewing Latin American and Spanish films and television shows from our library collection and taped from direct satellite feed. TFoster

SPAN 201: Intermediate Spanish (1)
Review of grammar. Literary readings with emphasis on culture.JMiner

SPAN 210: Conversation and Composition (1)
Practice in understanding, speaking, and writing Spanish through the use of cultural and literary texts, oral presentations, films, and music. Review of fundamental Spanish grammar. Staff

SPAN 230: A-E Culture of the Spanish-Speaking World (1)
This series of courses introduces the student to both high and popular culture of the Spanish-speaking world as well as critical concepts in understanding social structures and historical events that have shaped the region. A wide array of course materials will be used (literary, non-fiction, film, newspapers, etc.). Students may repeat different sections for credit. A) Spain; B) Mexico and Central America; C) The Caribbean; D) Southern Cone (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay); E) Andean region (Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador).JMiner

SPAN 235: Introduction to Spanish Literature (1)
This course is designed to introduce students to the diverse literature from the Spanish-speaking world as well as to the different ways scholars approach it. Through close readings of literature, including short story, drama, film novellas, poetry and essays, students acquire analytical and interpretive skills as they study how and why a work is constructed and what its social and cultural implications are. Students explore themes unique to Hispanic literature as well as what connects it to world literature. Taught in Spanish.HUMTFoster

SPAN 248: Teaching Assistant (1/2 or 1)
Staff

SPAN 295: Special Topics (1/2 or 1)
Courses offered occasionally to students in special areas of Spanish language or literature not covered in the usual curriculum.Staff

SPAN 301: Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Spanish Drama (1)
Romanticism, social protest, experimentation, and alienation in nineteenth and twentieth century Spanish dramatic literature. Readings of works by Benavente, Valle Inclan, Garcia Lorca, Alberti, Sastre, Buero-Vallejo and others. Alternate years. Staff

SPAN 302: Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Spanish Fiction and Poetry (1)
A study of the literary movements in the novel and in poetry. Representative works of Zorilla, Galdos, Pardo Bazan, Unamuno, Garcia Lorca, Rodoreda, and others. Alternate years.RRagan

SPAN 304: Spanish Phonetics and Phonology (1)
In this course, students will be introduced to the sounds of the Spanish language, how they are produced (phonetics), and what rules they follow in speech (phonology). Students will have opportunities to practice their own Spanish pronunciation, and will be introduced to the phonetic dialectal variation of the Spanish-speaking world. Taught in Spanish.CFernandez

SPAN 305: Spanish American Literature Through Modernismo (1)
The development of Spanish-American literature from pre-Columbian times to the twentieth century; Popol Vuh, Columbus, Cortes, Las Casas, Inca Garcilaso, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Bolivar, Sarmiento, Isaacs, Hernandez, Marti, Dario. Alternate years. TFoster

SPAN 306: Twentieth Century Spanish-American Literature (1)
The development of the contemporary Spanish-American narrative: Gallegos, Asturias, Carpentier, Rulfo, Garcia Marquez, Vargas Llosa, Fuentes, Borges, Cortazar. Representative works in poetry: Vallejo, Mistral, Neruda, Paz, Guillen, Pales Matos. Alternate years. JDixon

SPAN 307: or SPAN 307E Identity and Alterity in Latino Literature and Culture (1)
(In Spanish or English) This course examines the question of identity and alterity as experienced by American-raised Hispanics from the 1940s to the present. This course considers among other things the way they define their cultural, racial and national heritage in relation to that of their parents, and how they conceptualize their identity through the Other. The course also focuses on the bicultural/bilingual experiences of Latinos through the analysis of literary and cinematographic works by Americans of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban and Dominican origin who have resided primarily in the continental United States. JDixon

SPAN 307E: Identity and Alterity in Latino Literature and Culture (1)
English language version of SPAN 307. HUMJDixon

SPAN 308: or SPAN 308E Cervantes (1)
(In Spanish or English) Reading of Don Quixote with emphasis on the analysis of narrative techniques and on Cervantes' thematic use of literary theory. This approach aims at exploring the reasons why Don Quixote is considered to be the first modern novel, and at placing it in the context of the development of fiction in Western culture. FGomez

SPAN 309: Contemporary Latin American Cinema (1)
A survey of contemporary cinema of Spanish speaking countries of Latin America. We follow a trend starting with the avant-garde cinema of the political revolutionary turbulence of the 1960's, the "New Latin American Cinema", which continues today with a series of films that originated as a reaction to the neo-liberal and globalized capitalism of the 1990's. The films are treated as visual texts, studying the film as a genre with particular stylistic forms and techniques to represent social reality ideologically and in the context of social and cinematic history.APrado del Santo

SPAN 310: Spanish Youth Through Literature, Film and Music (1)
This course looks at contemporary representations of and expressions by Spanish youth, beginning in 1975 with Franco's death through today. The course addresses social topics such as drugs, affordable housing, jobs, political activism, poverty and gender struggles. Some of the questions we will address are: What motivates Spanish youth today? Are Spanish youth politically active or apatehtic? How has this fluctuated over time? What evidence do we have of each? What issues motivate the youth on the margins? What issues are young Spanish women today facing? Are the fictional representations of Spanish youth in compliance with the data? Students analyze films and song lyrics as well as academic articles on major social issues regarding Spanish youth. We will also read one novel, several plays, and one work of non-fiction addressing the difficulties facing Spanish youth today. Class discussion will be held in Spanish. Films have English subtitles.RRagan

SPAN 320: Written and Oral Spanish (1)
Advanced practice in oral and written expression.Staff

SPAN 322: Golden Age Theatre of Spain (1)
This course surveys examples of the theatrical masterpieces written by the most renowned playwrights of Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries in Spain, including Lope de Vega, Miguel de Cervantes, Tirso de Molina, and Pedro Calderon de la Barca. Much attention is given to the historical context of the plays and to some of the most polemic issues of the time concerning the Counter Reformation, the code of honor, purity of blood, the representation of women, the uses and abuses of power, as well as the (im)morality of the theatre itself. FGomez

SPAN 325: or SPAN 325E Hispanic Culture (1)
(In Spanish or English) Survey of Hispanic culture from Iberian and pre-Columbian times to the present: fine arts, cultural anthropology, economics, politics. Staff

SPAN 330: or SPAN 330E Great Themes of Spanish or Spanish American Literature (1)
(In Spanish or English) A study of the development of major topics and their adaptation and transformation in non-Hispanic literatures. Some topics have been ethnicity and marginality in Latin American literature, twentieth century Puerto Rican literature, the epic (El Cid), the picaresque (Lazarillo de Tormes), and myths (Don Juan in Spanish Literature). Course may be repeated for credit under different topics.Staff

SPAN 332: The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939): History, Memory, and Culture (1)
A study of the Spanish Civil War from a rich variety of written and visual texts representing the multiple sides of a nation torn by war, trauma, and radicalism. Stress is put not only on the historical information these texts provide but in how that information is shaped by cultural representations. We will look at how the main ideologies of the 20th century played out in this conflict: socialism, anarchism, communism (Stalinism and anti-Stalinism), feminism, liberal democracy, catholic traditionalism, fascism, and nationalism. The course also responds to the historical memory debate occurring in Spain since the late 90's: from blogs, public discussions and publications, to new laws and even grave exhumations.APrado del Santo

SPAN 335: "Afridentity" and "Hispanity" in Caribbean Literature from the 19th Century to the Present (1)
This course examines the representation of race, class and color in the literatures of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic from the 19th century to the present. The course emphasizes the relationship between literary texts and the socio-historical context with special attention given to political ideologies in these post-colonial societies. The images of blacks and mulattoes and also the conceptualization of identity in these countries are explored. JDixon

SPAN 348: Teaching Assistant (1/2 or 1)
Staff

SPAN 395: Special Topics (1/2 or 1)
Courses offered occasionally to students in special areas of Spanish and Latin American language or literature not covered in the usual curriculum. Staff

SPAN 395A: (1)
This course will explore the spaces, both figurative and concrete, inhabited by female characters in Spanish film from the transition to democracy until today. The course will trace the evolution of these representations in the context of the historical time represented in the films as well as the time in which each film was released. To help organize and bring focus to our study, we will examine the two major categories of representation - women in war and women and the body - as well as the particular style of representations of women in three films by Pedro Almodovar, and finally we will consider the portrayal of young women on the screen. Prerequisites: SPAN 235 or equivalent or permission of the instructor (which could be granted to heritage speakers of Spanish).

SPAN 399: Advanced Seminar (1)
Studies in Spanish and Spanish-American literatures; emphasis on critical analysis and theory. The topic varies from year to year; recent topics have been: Cervantes and literary theory; generation of '98; structuralist analysis of Cien anos de soledad; Don Juan in Spanish literature. Required of all Spanish majors. TFoster

SPAN 400: Advanced Studies (1/2 or 1)
See College Honors Program. Staff