Spanish and PortugueseSpanish 091-401 Sustainable Development and Culture in Latin America
Prof. Giménez
See Timetable for time(s)
Latin America is the most biodiverse area in the world and one of the richest terrains of cultural and linguistic diversity, with over 600 indigenous peoples and over 500 languages. However, unsustainable economic development, climate change, and deforestation are threatening this area’s biodiversity and cultural heritage.
This interdisciplinary course exposes students to the three dimensions of sustainable development -environmental, economic, and social- through an examination of threeproducts -peyote, coca, and coffee- that are crucial in shaping modern identity in areas of Latin America. The course integrates this analysis of sustainable development in relation to cultural sustainability and cultural practices associated with peyote, coca, and coffee and their rich, traditional heritage and place in literature, film, and the arts.
SPAN 091-401 will be conducted in ENGLISH. Students who are seeking credit for the HSPN major or minor should not apply to this course, but should instead apply to SPAN 391-401.
Spanish 092-401 Corona Capitalism: Crisis and Inequality Across the Americas
Prof. Brownstone
See Timetable for time(s)
The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated existing social inequalities. It has also accelerated the pace of history so sharply that the course of events has become nearly impossible to predict. This CWiC critical speaking seminar takes as its starting point our shared participation in the experience of uncertainty. At the same time, in looking to Latin America and the US, it articulates the fact that COVID-19 is anything but a “great equalizer”: its impact varies widely and decisively across race, class, and gender. As the world confronts multiple layers of wreckage, not only biological but also ecological and economic, how can we frame and communicate both uncertainty and truth in a thoughtful way? We will examine social problems that have been laid bare by the pandemic and have since become sites of ethical and political reevaluation, namely health disparities, ecological racism, the distribution of labor, and criminal justice. This seminar’s aim is to collaboratively assess one fundamental question: How can we understand COVID-19 not as an exceptional moment in history, but as a crisis of racial capitalism? By studying media, activism, policy, and scholarship produced during the pandemic alongside foundational critical theory, students will gain the analytical tools to contextualize its disproportionate global impact on poor communities and people of color, and to envision a just post-pandemic recovery. We will engage Marxist, feminist, and anti-racist theoretical approaches, and while familiarity with these methods is not necessary, an openness to them is. Self-examination is crucial to the success of the course, which requires students reflect on their own political, intellectual, and emotional investments in racialized inequality. This is a speaking intensive seminar intended to improve students’ oral communication and listening skills through class discussions, prepared presentations, and mixed-media communication projects.
This course will be conducted in ENGLISH and may not be applied to the Hispanic Studies major, Hispanic Studies minor, or the Certificate in Spanish.
Spanish 110 Elementary Spanish I
Staff
See Timetable for time(s)
Course Description
Spanish 110 is a first-semester language course that emphasizes the development of foundational listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills while exploring the rich cultural mosaic of the Spanish-speaking world. Through listening activities and videotaped interviews with native speakers, your aural and oral abilities will improve at the same time that you will become familiarized with different varieties of standard spoken Spanish. You will be given ample opportunities to practice orally and in writing so that you can reinforce newly acquired vocabulary and grammatical structures. Reading strategies will facilitate your comprehension of the texts included in the course syllabus. Readings focused on a specific country or region, visual items (such as maps, photos, films) and a class project will advance your knowledge of Hispanic cultural practices and products while increasing your intercultural competence.
Conducted entirely in Spanish, this class will provide you with guided practice before moving to more independent and spontaneous language production. Working in small groups and in pairs, you will participate in class activities that simulate real-life situations that will help you gain confidence communicating in Spanish.
Goals
By the end of this course you can expect to handle a variety of day-to-day situations in a Spanish-speaking setting:
- Greet and introduce people, invite people to events, accept or reject invitations, ask for directions, tell time, shop and order meals in a restaurant
- Talk about yourself, family, and friends regarding physical and emotional states, daily routines, leisure, preferences and plans
- Use the information learned in class about the Hispanic world as an icebreaker to find common ground with people from the countries that we have studied
Prerequisites & Credit Regulation Form
The prerequisites for registering for this course are clearly detailed in the Credit Regulation Form.
Students will have to complete and submit this form during the first week of classes so their instructors can verify that they are enrolled in the appropriate course.
Spanish 112 Elementary Spanish I and II: Accelerated
Staff
See Timetable for time(s)
Course Description
Spanish 112 is an intensive course designed for students who have already satisfied the language requirement in another language and have not previously studied Spanish. By combining the curriculum of Spanish 110 and 120, Spanish 112 seeks to develop students’ foundational listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills while exploring the rich cultural mosaic of the Spanish-speaking world. Through listening activities and mini documentaries shown in class, students will develop their aural and oral skills at the same time that they will become familiarized with different varieties of standard spoken Spanish. Students will be given ample opportunities to practice orally and in writing so that they can reinforce newly acquired vocabulary and linguistic structures. Readings focused on a specific country or region, visual items (such as maps, photos, and films) and a class project will advance students’ knowledge of Hispanic cultural practices and products while increasing their intercultural competence.
Goals
By the end of this course students can expect to handle a variety of day-to-day situations in a Spanish-speaking setting such as:
- Introduce themselves, use greetings, describe people, places and things, give instructions, tell time, go shopping, order meals in a restaurant, and make travel plans
- Talk about themselves, families, and friends regarding academic life, daily routines, health, work, leisure, and preferences (using the present and past tenses)
- Use the cultural information learned in class as an icebreaker to find common ground with a wide a variety of Spanish speakers
Prerequisites & Credit Regulation Form
The prerequisites for registering for this course are clearly detailed in the Credit Regulation Form.
Students will have to complete and submit this form during the first week of classes so their instructors can verify that they are enrolled in the appropriate course.
Spanish 115 Spanish for the Medical Professions, Elementary I
Staff
See Timetable for time(s)
Course Description
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 already taken Spanish 110 will not receive credit for Spanish 115. Although these courses have different numbers, they are at the same level. Students who have already fulfilled the language requirement (AP, SAT II, etc.) or have taken courses at the 200- and 300-level may not take basic level language courses (100-level courses) in the same language. They will not receive credit for this course (Spanish 115).
Prerequisites & Credit Regulation Form
The prerequisites for registering for this course are clearly detailed in the Credit Regulation Form.
Students will have to complete and submit this form during the first week of classes so their instructors can verify that they are enrolled in the appropriate course.
Spanish 121 Elementary Spanish
Staff
See Timetable for time(s)
Course Description
Spanish 121 is designed for students who have some prior experience in Spanish. It is an intensive elementary-level language course that in one semester covers the material studied over two semesters in our 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 listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills while exploring the rich cultural mosaic of the Spanish-speaking world. Through listening activities and mini documentaries shown in class, students will develop their aural and oral skills at the same time that they will become familiarized with different varieties of standard spoken Spanish. Students will be given ample opportunities to practice orally and in writing so that they can reinforce newly acquired vocabulary and linguistic structures. Readings focused on a specific country or region, visual items (such as maps, photos, and films) and a class project will advance students’ knowledge of Hispanic cultural practices and products while increasing their intercultural competence.
Conducted entirely in Spanish, this class will provide you with guided practice before moving to more independent and spontaneous language production. You will participate in paired, small-group and whole-class activities that simulate real-life situations that will help you gain confidence communicating in Spanish.
Goals
By the end of this course students can expect to handle a variety of day-to-day situations in a Spanish-speaking setting such as:
- Introduce themselves, use greetings, describe people, places and things, give instructions, tell time, go shopping, order meals in a restaurant, and make travel plans
- Talk about themselves, families, and friends regarding academic life, daily routines, health, work, leisure, and preferences (using the present and past tenses)
- Use the cultural information learned in class as an icebreaker to find common ground with a wide a variety of Spanish speakers
Prerequisites & Credit Regulation Form
The prerequisites for registering for this course are clearly detailed in the Credit Regulation Form.
Students will have to complete and submit this form during the first week of classes so their instructors can verify that they are enrolled in the appropriate course.
Spanish 125 Spanish for the Medical Professions, Elementary II
Staff
See Timetable for times
Course Description
Spanish 125 is a second-semester elementary Medical Spanish Language that continues to develop the fundamentals of practical Spanish, with a special focus 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. Students will be expected to participate in classroom activities such as role-plays based on typical office and emergency procedures in order to develop meaningful and accurate communication skills in the target language. The class will be conducted entirely in Spanish.
Prerequisites & Credit Regulation Form
The prerequisites for registering for this course are clearly detailed in the Credit Regulation Form.
Students will have to complete and submit this form during the first week of classes so their instructors can verify that they are enrolled in the appropriate course.
Spanish 130 Intermediate Spanish I
Staff
See Timetable for time(s)
Course Description
Spanish 130, a first-semester intermediate-level course, emphasizes students’ acquisition of new vocabulary and linguistic structures in a cultural and communicative context while building on their previous speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills. A substantial amount of the course is devoted to learning and using the past tenses. As in other Spanish courses, students will take part in a wide range of activities including video blogging, role-plays, film viewings, listening to music, and class discussions of current social and cultural topics. Unique to this course is the creation of a “cultural journal” throughout the semester in which students pursue their own interests in the Spanish-speaking world while taking advantage of some of the rich resources within Philadelphia’s own Hispanic community.
Goals
By the end of this course students can expect to handle a variety of common situations in a Spanish-speaking setting such as:
- Narrate past actions, ranging from personal anecdotes to historical events
- Give advice, recommendations, and commands to people
- Express their feelings and doubts when reacting to what others have said
- Talk about their future expectations and wishes
- Demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of Hispanic cultural practices and products
Prerequisites & Credit Regulation Form
The prerequisites for registering for this course are clearly detailed in the Credit Regulation Form.
Students will have to complete and submit this form during the first week of classes so their instructors can verify that they are enrolled in the appropriate course.
Spanish 135 Spanish for the Medical Professions, Intermediate I
Staff
See Timetable for time(s)
Course Description
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-plays based on everyday situations that they may encounter at work settings such as doctors’ offices, clinics, hospitals, and emergency rooms in order to develop meaningful and accurate communication skills in the target language. Students will also review and acquire other essential tools of communication in the target language applicable both within and outside the medical field. 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.
Students who have already taken Spanish 130 will not receive credit for Spanish 135. Although these courses have different numbers, they are at the same level. Students who have already fulfilled the language requirement (AP, SAT II, etc.) or have taken courses at the 200- and 300-level may not take basic level language courses (100-level courses) in the same language. They will not receive credit for this course (Spanish 135).
Prerequisites & Credit Regulation Form
The prerequisites for registering for this course are clearly detailed in the Credit Regulation Form.
Students will have to complete and submit this form during the first week of classes so their instructors can verify that they are enrolled in the appropriate course.
Spanish 140 Intermediate Spanish II
Staff
See Timetable for time(s)
Course Description
Spanish 140 is a fourth-semester language course that both reinforces and enhances the communicative skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) previously acquired while exploring the rich cultural mosaic of the Spanish-speaking world. Class activities are designed so that students can build up these four skills in order to function at an intermediate language level. Readings focused on contemporary social and political issues of the Hispanic world will advance your knowledge of Hispanic cultural practices while increasing your intercultural competence. Unique to this course is the preparation of an oral presentation on a topic related to the Hispanic world throughout the semester and presented during the last days of classes. The purpose of this task is to help students develop their presentational competence in Spanish.
Conducted entirely in Spanish, this class will provide students with ample opportunities to work in small groups and in pairs while gaining confidence communicating in Spanish. This course satisfies the language requirement at Penn.
Goals
By the end of this course students can expect to handle a variety of situations in a Spanish-speaking setting such as:
- Express their opinions on a variety of contemporary events and issues
- Defend their position when presented with a hypothetical situation
- Deliver short presentations on a chosen subject after thorough preparation
- Demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of Hispanic cultural practices and products
Prerequisites & Credit Regulation Form
The prerequisites for registering for this course are clearly detailed in the Credit Regulation Form.
Students will have to complete and submit this form during the first week of classes so their instructors can verify that they are enrolled in the appropriate course.
Spanish 145 Spanish for the Medical Professions, Intermediate II
Staff
See Timetable for time(s)
Course Description
Spanish 145, the continuation of Spanish 135, is an intermediate-level integrated skills language course. It emphasizes the development of reading, writing, listening, and speaking abilities. Students will be expected to participate actively in classroom activities such as communicative activities, role-playing based on typical doctor/patient interactions as well as other medical situations. Students will also review and learn other essential tools of communication applicable both inside and outside the medical field. Students who have already taken Spanish 140 will not receive credit for Spanish 145. Although these courses have different numbers, they are at the same level.
Students who have already fulfilled the language requirement (AP, SAT II, etc.) or have taken courses at the 200- and 300-level may not take basic level language courses (100-level courses) in the same language. They will not receive credit for this course (Spanish 145).
Prerequisites & Credit Regulation Form
The prerequisites for registering for this course are clearly detailed in the Credit Regulation Form.
Students will have to complete and submit this form during the first week of classes so their instructors can verify that they are enrolled in the appropriate course.
Spanish 180 Spanish Conversation
Staff
La Casa Hispánica residents only.
Spanish 202 Advanced Spanish
Staff
See Timetable for time(s)
Prerequisite(s): Successful completion of Spanish 140 or equivalent.
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 César Aira’s La villa. 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 the USA, etc.).
Questions about placement should be addressed to the Director of the Spanish Language Program.
Spanish 208 Business Spanish I
Prof. Lebaudy
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Prerequisite(s): Successful completion of Spanish 140 or equivalent.
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, videos, and class discussions, we will analyze the current business environment in the region taking into consideration local economies and markets in light of their recent history, politics, resources, and relevant current events.
Questions about placement should be directed to the Director of the Spanish Language Program or the Instructor.
Spanish 209 Business Spanish II (Advanced Spanish in the Business World)
Prof. Lebaudy
See Timetable for time(s)
Pre-requisite(s): Departmental permission required.
This course is specifically designed for advanced speakers of Spanish (i.e., native speakers, high-level heritage speakers, and students who have studied in a Spanish-speaking country for at least one semester). Through the study of entrepreneurship cases in Latin America, students will take an in-depth look at the business dynamics and practices of a number of countries in the region. Students will also enhance their business and language skills through the creation of an entrepreneurial project that culminates in a final pitch.
Questions about placement should be addressed to the Director of the Spanish Language Program or the Instructor.
Spanish 212 Advanced Spanish II: Grammar and Composition
Staff
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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 202 or equivalent
Spanish 212 is an advanced-level language course that emphasizes the acquisition of the tools necessary for successful written expression in Spanish. These tools include a solid knowledge of the major points of Spanish grammar, an ample vocabulary, control of the mechanics of the language (spelling, punctuation, etc.), and a thorough understanding of the writing process. Throughout the semester students will use these tools to analyze authentic texts and to produce a variety of written assignments. By the end of the course students will have developed their awareness of the norms of standard Spanish and learned to incorporate these features into their own writing. The class will be conducted in Spanish and students are expected to speak in Spanish at all times.
Questions about placement should be addressed to the Director of the Spanish Language Program.
Spanish 219 Hispanic Texts and Contexts
Staff
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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 202 or Spanish 212.
The primary aim of this course is to develop students' knowledge of the geographical, historical and cultural contexts in those regions where Spanish is used. At the same time that they are introduced to research techniques and materials available in Spanish, students strengthen their language skills through readings, class discussions, and frequent writing assignments. This course is designed to give students a broad understanding of Hispanic culture that will prepare them for upper-level course work and study abroad.
Spanish 223 Introduction to Literary Analysis
Staff
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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 202 or Spanish 212.
Literature from Spain and Latin America contains a wealth of information about language, history and culture. The goal of this course is to help students develop skills to carefully read Spanish literary works while preparing them for upper-level courses and study abroad. We begin reviewing the main characteristics of various literary movements and of the four genres (narrative, poetry, theater and essay). During the second part of the semester students become familiarized with a wide variety of theoretical approaches to the study of literature with the purpose of applying them to their own analytical writing. In the last part of the course students produce their own essays on a text chosen by them and based on research. Sample essays written by other students and included in the textbook will serve as models. Throughout the course students will have ample opportunities to hone their skills through the close reading and class discussion of varied and stimulating works by Miguel de Cervantes, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Roberto Bolaño, etc. This class will be conducted in Spanish.
Spanish 348-301 Don Quixote Then and Now
Prof. Solomon
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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.
As a foundation work of world literature and Hispanic culture, every student of Spanish will benefit from reading Miguel de Cervantes’ novel El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha. This course is designed to shepherd students through the novel, highlighting its major characters, plot points, themes, historical contexts, and literary techniques, while reinforcing an understanding of the work through 400 years of audiovisual representation—illustrations, cinematographic adaptations, animated versions, and musical scores. Course requirements include weekly worksheets and a short final project. This class will be conducted in Spanish.
Spanish 386-301 The Evolution of the Don Juan Myth in the Western Literary Tradition
Prof. Fernandez
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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.
This class starts by analyzing the origin of the Don Juan in Tirso de Molina’s El burlador de Sevilla. From there, we move through the Baroque and Romantic periods to today’s depictions of not only a male Don Juan, but also the introduction of a female Don Juan. Moreover, we study how modern filmmakers have interpreted and deviated from the original myth. In addition to studying the myth in its social and historical contexts, we also look at the different dramatic and literary strategies used by poets and playwrights from different nationalities in their construction of Don Juan.
Spanish 386-302 Culture and Conflict in 21st-Century Spain
Prof. Moreno Caballud
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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.
This course will explore several crucial social conflicts and cultural expressions that are defining the Spanish present. We will study mainly Spanish contemporary films, combining them with essays, media, activism and literary fiction. We will explore a wide range of social phenomena, such as the resurgence of a strong feminist movement during the last decade, the growing presence of environmental problems and desires for a complete change in the ecological paradigm, class conflicts fueled by growing economic disparities, questionings of traditional gender identities, and the proliferation of aesthetic and political experiments that attempt to open possibilities for a non-capitalist existence.
Spanish 388-401 Cyborgs, Robots, and Gadgets: Technologies in Hispanic Cinema
Prof. Caballo-Márquez
See Timetable for time(s)
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.
Our aim in this course will be to explore the topic of technology in Latin American and Spanish films in the present and in the past, as well as to study film narratives that place technologies at their center. In this course we will trace a history of technology in the context of Latin American and Spanish cinema, with a particular focus on the study of an emerging corpus of Hispanic films that is engaging with the discourse around technology that we see in internationally acclaimed series such as Black Mirroror Westworld. This film corpus clearly shows the important role that technologies have in our societies in the digital era and testifies our anxieties about how technologies are shaping our lives in the 21st century. Besides the thematic focus, another main objective of this course will be to gain a general understanding of film theory, cinematographic language, and film criticism.
Spanish 388-402 Contemporary Spanish Cinema
Prof. Moreno Caballud
See Timetable for time(s)
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.
A survey of Spanish cinema from the 1940’s to the present. Special attention will be paid to the political, cultural, and social discourses that the films reproduce, adapt or question. This will allow an understanding of the implicit or explicit social dialogues that shaped cinematographic production in Spain from the post-war years to the crisis of the dictatorship and the advent of the democratic state. At the same time, films will be analyzed from the standpoint of their rhetoric construction, examining the specificity of cinematic language and its particular uses in each case.
Spanish 391-401 Sustainable Development and Culture in Latin America
Prof. Giménez
See Timetable for time(s)
Latin America is the most biodiverse area in the world and one of the richest terrains of cultural and linguistic diversity, with over 600 indigenous peoples and over 500 languages. However, unsustainable economic development, climate change, and deforestation are threatening this area’s biodiversity and cultural heritage.
This interdisciplinary course exposes students to the three dimensions of sustainable development -environmental, economic, and social- through an examination of threeproducts -peyote, coca, and coffee- that are crucial in shaping modern identity in areas of Latin America. The course integrates this analysis of sustainable development in relation to cultural sustainability and cultural practices associated with peyote, coca, and coffee and their rich, traditional heritage and place in literature, film, and the arts.
SPAN 391-401 will be conducted in SPANISH.
Spanish 394-401 Gabriel García Márquez and Contemporary Latin American Literature
Prof. Montoya
See Timetable for time(s)
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.
The publication of Cien años de soledad in 1967 was one of the highest moments in 20th century Latin American literature. Behind this masterpiece was the arduous and tireless work of a writer that had been searching for a personal style during almost a decade. This search also has a continental dimension. In García Marquez’s work, readers find the main topics, aesthetic quests, and political conflicts that hold the Latin American imagination, from the “crónicas de conquista” to the artistic vanguard adventures of the middle of the century. His narrative brings together early discussions about magical realism and the literary boom, anthropological inquiries rooted in transculturation and critical regionalism, as well as questions on class, race, and gender.
In this course we will read different moments of his work, from his early short stories to some of his major novels. In addition, we will compare his writing to some of his contemporaries, in order to have a comprehensive idea about the formation of the Latin American contemporary canon.
This class will be conducted in Spanish.
Spanish 394-402 Birthing Themselves: Latin American and Caribbean Black Women Writers
Prof. Casamayor
See Timetable for time(s)
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.
What is to be Black? What is to be a woman? What is to be a Latin American or a Caribbean?
Students will explore these questions by analyzing self-identification processes enacted by contemporary black Latin America and Caribbean female writers. Works by preeminent novelists and poets such as Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe, 1937), Edwidge Danticat (Haiti/USA, 1969), Conceição Evaristo (Brazil, 1946), Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua/USA, 1949), Nancy Morejón (Cuba, 1944), Mayra Santos Febres (Puerto Rico, 1966), Victoria Santa Cruz (Perú, 1922-2014), Yolanda Pizarro Arroyo (Puerto Rico, 1970) will be examined, in conversation with critical accounts from Afro-diasporic, feminist, decolonial and queer studies.
Spanish 394-403 The Picaresque Novel
Prof. Tellez
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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.
This course will study the development of the mischievous, adventurous, roguish figure of the picaro. Although originated in 16th century-Spain, the satiric and realistic picaresque style continues to influence contemporary fiction. By following the figure of the picaro throughout time in Spanish and Latin American literature, films, TV series, and other media, this course aims to present the key elements that conform this fictional genre as well as to reflect on its cultural significance: the depiction of displaced and precarious individuals within a hostile world.
This class will be conducted in Spanish.
Spanish 396-401 Latin American Non-Fiction
Prof. Tellez
See Timetable for time(s)
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.
Non-fiction is a narrative mode that presents an account of a subject as fact, but it is a label that began to be used to describe narratives dealing with real events and real people fairly recently. This course studies the boundaries and tensions between facts and fiction in Latin America from a historical perspective. We start by analyzing early modern writing by the Spanish conquistadors: cannibals, human sacrifices, sirens, sea monsters, and El Dorado are just a few subjects that 16th-century “non-fiction” presents as facts. We move then to discuss 19th-century journalism about cosmopolitanism and urban modernization. Technological innovations blur the boundaries between fact and fiction, something that film, narrative journalism, and literary chronicles would exploit thought-out the 20th century. Finally, we study non-fictional narratives in contemporary literature and audiovisual media.
Spanish 397-401 Body and Soul: Hispanic Perspectives on Health, Illness, and Healthcare
Prof. Grabner Travis
See Timetable for time(s)
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.
This course is designed for students interested in health care and the medical professions, especially from a cross-cultural perspective. You do not need to be in the medical professions and it is not a healthcare class per se; an interest in different health-related topics is all that is required. We will explore cultural perspectives and attitudes towards different topics relating to conceptions of health and illness, health care, and medical practice throughout the Hispanic and Anglo-American worlds, as represented through movies, literature, news items, and current health research. The overarching themes of the class will include public health, mental health, health and gender, health and ethnicity, and the nexus of traditional medicine and biomedicine (Western medicine). Students will have the opportunity to draw on their own knowledge, experiences, and opinions in making cross-cultural comparisons. While not all readings will be in Spanish, class will be conducted in Spanish.