Spanish and Portuguese Spanish 110
Elementary Spanish
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
Spanish 110 is a first-semester elementary language course designed for students who have not previously studied Spanish. This course emphasizes the development of foundational reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills while exploring the rich cultural mosaic of the Spanish-speaking world. Students will participate in pair, small-group and whole-class activities that focus on meaningful and accurate communication skills in the target language.
Students who have previously studied Spanish must take the online placement examination.
Prerequisites: A score below 380 on the SAT II or below 285 on the online placement examination.
Spanish 112
Elementary Spanish: Accelerated
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
Permission needed from department
This is an accelerated course designed for the student who has already achieved intermediate proficiency in a second language and wants to study Spanish as a third language. The course covers two semesters of the regular Spanish course in one semester. Students wishing to enroll must have prior approval from the Coordinator.
Spanish 115
Spanish for the Medical Professions I
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
Spanish 115 is a first-semester elementary Medical Spanish Language course and the first in the Spanish for Medical Professions sequence. It is designed for students with no prior coursework in Spanish. This course teaches beginning students the fundamentals of practical Spanish with an emphasis on medical situations and basic medical terminology. In this course, particular attention will be given to developing speaking and listening skills, as well as cultural awareness. It incorporates activities, vocabulary, and readings of particular interest to healthcare practitioners, while adhering to the goals and scope of Spanish 110, the first-semester Spanish language course.
Students who have previously studied Spanish must take the online placement examination.
Prerequisites: A score below 380 on the SAT II or below 285 on the online placement examination .
Spanish 121
Elementary Spanish
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
Spanish 121 is designed for students who have some prior experience in Spanish. It is an intensive elementary-level language course which in one semester covers the material studied over two semesters in Spanish 110 and Spanish 120. The course provides a quick-paced review of material normally covered in a first semester Spanish course and then proceeds to introduce new material so students will be prepared to take Spanish 130 during the subsequent semester.
As in other Spanish courses, Spanish 121 emphasizes the development of foundational reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills while exploring the rich cultural mosaic of the Spanish-speaking world. Students will participate in pair, small-group and whole-class activities that focus on meaningful and accurate communication skills in the target language.
By the end of this course, students will be able to engage in simple conversation on familiar topics, talk about the past and the future, make comparisons, give commands, describe people and things in increasing detail, etc. Students will also develop reading and listening skills that will allow them to understand simple articles in Spanish as well as pick out pertinent information when listening to a native speaker.
Prerequisites: A score of 380-440 on the SAT II or 285-383 on the online placement examination
Spanish 130
Intermediate Spanish I
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
Spanish 130 is a first-semester intermediate-level language course that emphasizes the development of the four basic skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) within a culturally based context. Class time will focus on communicative activities that combine grammatical concepts, relevant vocabulary, and cultural themes. Students will participate in pair, small group and whole-class activities to practice linguistics skills in meaningful contexts. Major course goals include: the acquisition of intermediate-level vocabulary, the controlled use of the past tense, and the development of writing skills at a paragraph level with transitions.
Prerequisites: Successful completion of Spanish 112, 120, 121 or 125 or a score of 450-540 on the SAT II or 384-453 on the online placement examination
Spanish 135
Spanish for the Medical Professions, Intermediate I
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
Spanish 135 is a first-semester intermediate-level language course that emphasizes the development of the four basic skills, reading, writing, listening, and speaking, and the acquisition of medical terminology. Students will be expected to participate in classroom activities such as role-playing based on typical doctor/patient interactions as well as other medical situations. Students will also review and acquire other essential tools of communication in the target language applicable both inside and outside the medical field.
Prerequisites: Successful completion of Spanish 112, 120, 121 or 125 or a score of 450-540 on the SAT II or 384-453 on the online placement examination
Spanish 140
Intermediate Spanish II
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
Spanish 140, the continuation of Spanish 130, is a fourth-semester language course that offers students an opportunity to acquire communicative skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) while developing their awareness and appreciation of the Spanish-speaking world. Topics studied may include the environment, the arts, social relations, and conflict and violence.
Prerequisites: Successful completion of Spanish 130 or 135 or a score of 550-640 on the SAT II or 454-546 on the online placement examination
Spanish 145
Spanish for the Medical Professions, Intermediate II
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
Spanish 145 is a second-semester intermediate level language course that emphasizes the development of reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills within a medical context. Throughout the semester, students will learn about those healthcare issues affecting the Hispanic world. Students will be expected to participate in classroom activities such as communicative activities, role-plays based on typical doctor-patient interactions as well as other medical situations. Students will also review and acquire forms and structures useful both inside and outside the medical field. This course satisfies the language requirement in Spanish.
Prerequisites: Successful completion of Spanish 130 or 135 or a score of 550-640 on the SAT II or 454-546 on the online placement examination
Spanish 180
Spanish Conversation
Staff
La casa hispanica residents only.
Spanish 202
Advanced Spanish
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
The purpose of this course is twofold: (a) to develop students’ communicative abilities in Spanish, that is, speaking, listening, reading and writing, and (b) to increase their awareness and understanding of Hispanic cultures and societies. Homework and classroom activities are designed to help students build their oral proficiency, expand and perfect their knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical structures, improve their reading and writing skills, and develop their critical thinking abilities. The material for this class includes short stories, newspaper articles, poems, songs, cartoons, video clips and a novel, such as Gabriel García Márquez’s Crónica de una muerte anunciada. At the completion of this course students will feel confident discussing and debating a variety of contemporary issues (cultural and religious practices, family relationships, gender stereotypes, political events, immigration to USA, etc.).
Prerequisites: Successful completion of Spanish 140 or equivalent
Spanish 208
Business Spanish I
Prof. Lebaudy
(See Timetables for times)
Spanish for Business I provides advanced-level language students with technical vocabulary and communicative skills covering business concepts as they apply to the corporate dynamics of the Spanish-speaking world, with a special emphasis on Latin America. Through readings, presentations, discussions, and video materials, we shall analyze those cultural aspects that characterize the business environment in the region as well as focus on economies and markets in light of their history, politics, resources and pressing international concerns.
Prerequisites: Successful completion of Spanish 140 or equivalent
Spanish 209
Business Spanish II
Prof. Lebaudy
(See Timetables for times)
Business Spanish II, Advanced Spanish for Business, is specifically designed for advanced speakers of Spanish (e.g., native speakers, fluent heritage speakers, students who have studied in a Spanish speaking country for at least one semester, and/or those who have attained an equivalent level of linguistic competency). Students will take an in-depth look at the corporate dynamics of a number of countries in Latin America, focusing on their economies and markets, as well as on the cultural and business protocols of each region. Through the creation of an entrepreneurial project and the writing of a business plan, students will enhance their business and language skills. Please write to Prof. Lebaudy for permission to take this course.
Prerequisites: See description above
Spanish 212
Advanced Spanish Grammar
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
Spanish 212 is a sixth-semester advanced grammar course that emphasizes the acquisition of a solid knowledge of those major points of Spanish grammar. Through discussion and correction of assigned exercises, analysis of authentic readings, and contrastive study of Spanish and English syntax and lexicon, students will develop an awareness of the norms of standard Spanish with the aim of incorporating these features into their own oral and written linguistic production.
Prerequisites: Spanish 202 or equivalent
Spanish 215
Spanish for the Professions I
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
Spanish for the Professions is designed to provide advanced-level language students with a wide-ranging technical vocabulary and the enhancement of solid communicative skills within the cultural context of several developing Latin American countries. Focusing on topics such as politics, economy, society, health, environment, education, science and technology, the class will explore the realities and underlying challenges facing Latin America. Through essays, papers, articles, research, discussions, case studies, and videotapes we shall take an in-depth look at the dynamics of Latin American societies. The course will focus on --but not be restricted to-- Mexico, Cuba and Argentina.
Spanish 219
Hispanic Texts and Contexts
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
The primary aim of this course is to develop students' knowledge of the geographical, historical and cultural contexts of the Spanish-speaking world. At the same time that they are introduced to research techniques and materials available in Spanish, students strengthen their language skills through reading, oral presentations, video viewing, and regular writing assignments. The course is designed to give students a broad understanding of Hispanic culture that will prepare them for upper-level course work.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 212.
Spanish 250-601
Major Works in Spanish and Latin American Literature
Prof. Regueiro
(See Timetables for times)
From the rise of the novel with Cervantes' Don Quixote in early-modern Spain to the Latin American "boom" with García Márquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude, this course will examine these and other major works in Hispanic literature within the cultural, political, and social context of each period.
Spanish 287
Introduction to Mexican Film
Prof. Solomon
(See Timetables for times)
An introduction and overview of Mexican cinema from the first Lumière screening in Mexico City (1896) to the recent wave of creative filmmakers such a Alfonso Cuarón, Carlos Raygades, and Guillermo del Toro. Topics include: the role of film in the Mexican revolution; popular genres during the Mexican Golden Ages of cinema (1930-1950); Luis Buñuel’s contribution to Mexican Cinema; the New Mexican Cinema movement that rose up following the massacre at Tlatelolco; Mexican B cinema, including El Santo and horror cinema; Border Cinema and Narcocinema”; the innovating developments during the 1990’s; and recent trends in Mexican Cinema including the revival of short films and electronically disseminated visual media.
Screenings of major films include: La mujer del puerto (Arcady Boytler 1934), Vámanos con Pancho Villa (Fernando de Fuentes 1936), Allí está el detalle (Juan Bustillo Oro 1940), Cuando los Hijos se Van (Juan Bustillo Oro 1941, Río Escondido (Emilio Fernández 1948), Aventurera (Alberto Gout 1950), Los Olvidados (Luis Buñuel 1950), El (Luis Buñuel 1953), Canoa (Felipe Cazals 1976), Un lugar sin límites (Arturo Ripstein 1978), Rojo amanecer (Jorge Fons 1989), Novia que te vea (Guita Schyfter 1994), La ley de Herodes (Luis Estrada 1999), Temporada de patos (Fernando Eimbcke 2004), Batalla en el cielo (Carlos Reygadas 2005), and Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón 2006).
Important: The course is open to students with no prior language skills as a Cinema Studies course: CINE 287 601. All class lectures, discussions, and required work, readings, and screenings will be in English or presented with English subtitles and translations.
Students who desire Spanish credit for the course may register for SPAN 287. These students will complete all their written assignments in Spanish and prepare a final oral exam in Spanish in addition to participating in the regular lectures and class discussion.
Spanish 319-301
History of the Spanish Language
Prof. Espòsito
(See Timetables for times)
This course will explore two main issues:
(1) The external history of the Spanish language: How do linguists read history? What cultural and historical events are important for the development of the Spanish language? As linguistic historians, we shall follow a canonical chronology that will examine such topics as: pre-Roman influences; Iberian Latinity; the linguistic fragmentation of the Peninsula; medieval attempts at standardization; the rise of the Academy; and the renaissance of the languages of the Autonomías. As critical readers, we shall interpret these linguistic cultures in light of their foundational ideologies.
(2) The internal history of the Spanish language: How did Latin become Spanish? Is a sound change innocent and free of cultural meaning? What features make Spanish unique in comparison to the other Iberian languages? To what end do we make such analyses.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 355-301
Topics in Spanish Drama
Prof. Regueiro
(See Timetables for times)
A comparative study of Golden Age classical drama and contemporary Latin American theater within the cultural context of each period. In this course, we will read plays by Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Ruiz de Alarcón, Calderón, Rodolfo Usigli, José Triana, Osvaldo Dragún, Griselda Gambaro, Egon Wolff, René Marqués, and others.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 380-301
Women’s Narrative and Drama in Contemporary Spain
Prof. Fernandez
(See Timetables for times)
The focus of this course is the narrative and drama of women writers whose names are already part of the Spanish literary canon. We will study the works of Cristina Fernández Cubas, Carmen Riera, Marina Mayoral, Lidia Falcón, and Paloma Pedrero, among others. Students will learn to analyze the different dramatic and literary strategies used by these authors and playwrights, and, at the same time, they will become more aware of their role as readers in the texts.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 380-302
The Portrayal of Youth in Spanish Literature and Film
Prof. Fernández
(See Timetables for times)
This course examines how different Spanish authors and filmmakers portray children and young adults in their narratives. We will study works by Ana María Matute, Miguel Delibes, Carlos Saura, and Victor Erice among others. Our analysis will focus on both the way children and young adults are presented in relation to their social and family environment, and the different dramatic and literary strategies used by these authors and filmmakers in the construction of their characters.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 380-303
Contemporary Spain
Prof. Lόpez
(See Timetables for times)
Spanish 380 is an advanced course designed to give students a basic knowledge of the history, politics, and culture of contemporary Spain. Reading materials and explanations during class meetings will cover the period 1868-2004; that is to say, from the liberal revolution in the second half of the nineteenth century to the Socialist victory in the elections following the Madrid terrorist attacks on March 11, 2004. In the first half of the course we will study the historical conditions, including a review of the constitutional monarchy (1875-1923) and its dissolution in Primo’s dictatorship (1923-1931), followed by the second Republic and the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). We will pay special attention to the international pressures that resulted in the defeat of the Republic followed by the advent of Franco’s dictatorship. The second part of the course concentrates on the study of Franco’s regime (1939-1975) and the transition to democracy (1979) as well as the consolidation of the monarchy and Spain’s integration into Europe.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 381-301
“Depicting Ghosts”: The Spanish Civil War in Literature, Art, Music, and Cinema
Prof. León-Blázquez
(See Timetables for times)
From its very eruption, the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) gained the attention of artists and writers, who saw it both as a national conflict and as the crossroad where the new geopolitics of the 20th century would be defined. Today, seventy years later, it continues being an unsolved trauma in Spanish society, producing images that reveal an ongoing need for collective catharsis.
Over the course of time, these representations have changed considerably. We will examine them in their specific contexts, studying those which appeared during the conflict itself, after the advent of the Francoist dictatorship and the massive exile of dissidents, and with the latter return to constitutional monarchy. We will consider the impact that the situation of emergency during war, the subsequent Francoist and Cold War censorships, and the later “pact of silence” undertaken by Spanish democracy had on these representations. Our discussions will cover narrative works, memoirs, fragments, theatre plays, songs, works of art, documentaries and movies.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 390-401
Latin American Literature of the 20th Century
Prof. Salessi
(See Timetables for times)
Through the study of major works of twentieth century Latin American fiction, the course will explore Latin America’s geographical and natural landscape, its literature, history, art, music, popular culture, and their imaginary constructions. Critical concepts and historical accounts of distinct manifestations of culture will inform the reading of the specific trajectory in literature and cultural production proposed by the class. Students will thus become familiar with a cluster of critical concepts that will help them to engage reflectively Latin American writers, cultures and historical periods. Author include Gabriel García Márquez, Juan Rulfo, Alejo Carpentier and Manuel Puig.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 390-402
Mapping Contemporary Latin American Literature: from the Boom to the Continent’s New Narratives
Prof. Montoya
(See Timetables for times)
The 1960s and 70s “Boom” constituted the moment of greatest world-wide recognition of Latin American literature, in which aesthetic and political projects were thought to be reconciled with commercial success. The latter decades showed the progressive dismantling of these expectations. Latin American writers have faced the disappearance of their previous referents –such as the Nation-State, the revolutionary projects, and the convergence of social transformation and artistic experimentation. This process has made them search for new narrative models that would allow, on the one hand, maintaining a critical dialogue with the continent’s cultural traditions, and, on the other, in a difficult balance, to participate in the conditions of a transnational market of cultural goods. Through the comparison of texts from both literary crossroads, we will analyze how some of the tendencies have radically evolved (from magical realism to dirty realism, from the urban novel to the apocalyptical vision of contemporary cities, from the fantastic genre to the new experimentalism, from the historical novel to the ironic vision of the national or continental past), to the point of questioning the idea of one Latin American literature itself.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 390-404
Objects of Desire: Embodying the Caribbean
Prof. Lahr-Vivaz
(See Timetables for times)
What is desire all about? How is it embodied, and how does it function? In this course, we will attempt to theorize desire through a consideration of recent literature and cinema from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. We will read novels and short stories by authors including Reinaldo Arenas, Zoé Valdés, Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, and Mayra Santos-Febres, and will view films such as Fresa y chocolate (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío, 1994) and Suite Habana (Fernando Pérez, 2003), placing each work in its cultural and historical context. We will also read a selection of theoretical texts on desire.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 394-401
“Made in Mexico”: Local Identities Go Global
Prof. Lahr-Vivaz
(See Timetables for times)
Over the past decade, numerous “international blockbusters” have emerged from Mexico: often provocative and at times overtly political, these include the well-known Y tu mamá también, Amores perros, and El crimen del Padre Amaro, among others. While these films are associated with Mexico, do they communicate “local” voices, or offer more “global” visions? If Mexico was once characterized as “solitary,” has its identity changed in recent years with new patterns of cultural distribution and production? In this course, we will begin to investigate these questions of identity through a consideration of Mexican films, novels, short stories, and essays. Beginning with excerpts from Octavio Paz’s El laberinto de la soledad (1950) and Carlos Fuentes’s La muerte de Artemio Cruz (1962), we will view films such as Rojo amanecer (Jorge Fons, 1989), Sólo con tu pareja (Alfonso Cuarón, 1991), and Babel (Alejandro González Iñarritu, 2006), as well as short clips and videos from YouTube. We will also read works by authors including Ana García Bergua, Carlos Monsiváis, and Sara Sefchovich.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 396-401
Detective and Crime Novel in Contemporary Latin American Fiction
Prof. Montoya
(See Timetables for times)
Born as a sub-genre, crime fiction (a denomination which encompasses a wide number of texts: classical detective stories, hard-boiled, true-crimes and the non investigative crime novel) has become one of the most attractive literary forms for the writers, and one of the favorites for the readers. Because it is built around topics like the crime and the law, the search of the truth and the unstable identity of the subject in mass societies, it has become an ideal vehicle for the expression of the anxieties and fears that dominate the contemporary culture. Its versatility has been used by many Latin-American authors to express the social and political conflicts of the continent, as well as to explore its literary possibilities through formal searches, characterized by parody, meta-literary and auto referential games. The aims of this course are, on the one hand, to offer a panoramic vision of the crime fiction in Latin America through the reading of some representative authors: Jorge Luis Borges, , Ricardo Piglia, Rubem Fonseca, Leonardo Padura Fuentes, Fernando Vallejo; and, on the other, to explore how they can be can be read from different theoretical approaches: post-structuralism, Marxism, post-colonialism and feminism.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 396-402
From Paper to Screen: Literature and Film in Latin America and the Caribbean
Prof. Pagan-Teitelbaum
(See Timetables for times)
This course explores film adaptations of Latin American literary texts (including texts from Brazil and the Caribbean). We will approach the film adaptations of texts pertaining to different genres and literary movements, including colonial chronicles, romantic novels, modern short stories, vanguard poetry, satirical manifestos, political essays, indigenist novels, and magical realist novels by Boom authors such as Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa. The course aims to discuss the narrative strategies used in literary and filmic texts; examine the technical, artistic and ethical problems of adapting literary texts to film; and study the influence of film in Latin American literature. The course may include movies from Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. Conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 397-401
Jungle Journeys: Representations of the Selva in Latin American Fiction
Prof. Knight
(See Timetables for times)
The Amazon evokes opposing images. It has been described alternately as paradise lost and green hell, a place to retreat from the restraints of civilization or to be devoured by savage men and beasts, a land of natural abundance and environmental degradation. Our objective in this course is not to determine which of these descriptions is most accurate, but to understand how these opposing visions were created and what they aim to communicate. As we explore the Amazon through works of fiction we will gain an appreciation of the problems and promise of the region as well as greater knowledge of important authors, themes, and techniques of Latin American literature.
Fictional texts for the course include short stories by Horacio Quiroga and the novels Cumandá by Juan León Mera, La vorágine by José Eustasio Rivera, Los pasos perdidos by Alejo Carpentier, El hablador by Mario Vargas Llosa, and the film At Fields of the Lord by Héctor Babenco. We will also study non-fiction articles and documentaries about the Amazonian region.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 400-301
Women’s Narrative in Avant-Garde Spain
Prof. León-Blázquez
(See Timetables for times)
Graduating senior majors only
In many senses, the avant-garde was the first moment in Spanish literary history when women managed to gain a modest access to the lettered sphere. What did these women have to give up in order to entering the fundamentally masculine world of intelligentsia? What does it take to be regarded as a vanguard intellectual, when all you have been taught at nuns’ school is to embroider and be decent? This course will explore the reiterative textile-textual trope found in the work of female writers and artists, who bordered avant-garde circles without ever achieving full acceptance into them. We will focus on the recurring topics of the strange girl and the labyrinth –obsessed with books, rejecting needlework, labeled as perverse, submerged in the entangled narratives of her own creation. Readings will include novels, short stories and autobiographic excerpts by authors such as María Teresa León, Rosa Chacel, Mercè Rodoreda, and Concha Méndez –also analyzing paintings by artists such as Remedios Varo. Our analysis will encompass their works in pre-Civil War Spain, as well as in post-war exile. Secondarily, we will observe their influence on Spanish women writers of a later generation, such as Carmen Laforet or Carmen Martín Gaite, and in movies such as “Cría cuervos” (Carlos Saura, 1976) and “El laberinto del fauno” (Guillermo del Toro, 2006).
Spanish 400-302
Latin American Fiction of the 21 st Century
Prof. García-Serrano
(See Timetables for times)
Graduating senior majors only
This course explores recent developments in Latin America narrative by closely examining works by César Aira ( Argentina), Roberto Bolaño ( Chile), Santiago Rocangliolo ( Peru), and Fernando Iwasaki ( Peru). The texts selected, whether dialoging with the colonial past or depicting contemporary events, challenge traditional genres (historical, autobiographical, detective novel, etc.), undermine readers’ expectations at every turn, and, more importantly, evidence a deep understanding of human nature. Throughout the course students will attempt to establish connections between these writers and their literary predecessors, such as Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, and Julio Cortázar. Readings include Aira's Un episodio en la vida del pintor viajero, Las noches de Flores, and Cómo me hice monja; Bolaño's Llamadas telefónicas and El gaucho insufrible; Rocangliolo's Abril rojo; and Iwasaki's Ajuar funerario.
Spanish 400-303
Spanish Screenwriting
Prof. Solomon
(See Timetables for times)
Graduating senior majors only
This senior capstone course explores recent screenwriting in Spain and Latin America while introducing students to the craft of writing original screenplays in Spanish for feature-length and short films. Class sessions include discussions and exercises on building characters, developing stories and plots, creating powerful dialogs and descriptions, and organizing scenes and sequences. We will also compare the differences between screenwriting for short films and developing a script for a feature-length film. Over the course of the semester students will view and analyze recent screenplays written by young Spaniards and Latin Americans such as Santi Amodeo ( Astronautas, Spain 2003), Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo ( La noche de los girasoles, Spain 2006), and Fernando Eimbcke ( Temporada de patos Mexico 2004). As a final project all students are required to write fifty pages of a feature-length screenplay or two screenplays for short films (approximately twenty pages each). Students who desire to participate in this senior seminar should have excellent Spanish writing skills.