Spring 2019 Course Descriptions

Spanish 120 Elementary Spanish II

Staff
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Course Description
Spanish 120 is a second-semester language course designed for students who have some prior experience in Spanish. As in other Spanish courses, Spanish 120 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 linguistic 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. 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 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 Spanish-speaking people around the globe

Prerequisites & Credit Regulation Form
The prerequisites for registering for this course are clearly detailed in the Credit Regulation Form (available December 2018). 

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 (available December 2018). 

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 (available December 2018). 

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
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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 (available December 2018). 

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 134 Intermediate Spanish I and II: Accelerated

Staff 
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Course Description
During the spring semester, Spanish 134 is limited to those students who have satisfied the language requirement in another language. During the summer (at the Penn campus and the Penn-in-Buenos Aires Summer Abroad Program), Spanish 134 is open to all students. 

Spanish 134 is an intensive intermediate-level language course that covers the material presented in Spanish 130 and Spanish 140. The course emphasizes the development of the four canonical 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 a meaningful context. Major course goals include: the acquisition of intermediate-level vocabulary, the controlled use of the past tense and major uses of the subjunctive, and the development of writing skills. 

Students who have previously studied Spanish must take the online placement examination. 

Students who have already fulfilled the language requirement in Spanish may not take basic level language courses (110-145) in the same language. Any questions about placement should be addressed to the Director of the Spanish Language Program.

Prerequisites & Credit Regulation Form 

The prerequisites for registering for this course are clearly detailed in the Credit Regulation Form (available December 2018). 

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
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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 (available December 2018). 

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.  The class will be conducted entirely in Spanish.

Prerequisite & Credit Regulation Form 

The prerequisites for registering for this course are clearly detailed in the Credit Regulation Form (available December 2018). 

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
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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.).

Any questions about placement should be addressed to the Director of the Spanish Language Program.

Spanish 205 Advanced Spanish for the Medical Professions

Staff
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Prerequisite(s): Successful completion of Spanish 140 or 145 or equivalent. 

The goal of this course is to provide advanced practice in Spanish to those students who are interested in pursuing careers in the medical and healthcare fields. Through readings and authentic materials on contemporary health issues—for example, H1N1 influenza, comparative healthcare systems, malnutrition, Chagas disease, etc.—students will acquire the vocabulary and grammatical structures needed to discuss a wide array of topics pertaining to the health-related professions. Students will also gain awareness of those healthcare issues affecting the Hispanic/Latino patient. Short oral presentations and a poster session at semester’s end will complement topics covered in class.

Spanish 208 Business Spanish I

Staff
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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.

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.

Any questions about placement should be addressed to the Director of the Spanish Language Program.

Spanish 215 Spanish for the Professions I

Prof. Carlo
See Timetable for times 

Prerequisite(s): Spanish 202 or equivalent. 

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. 

Any 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.

By helping students develop skills to carefully read and analyze Spanish literary works, Spanish 223 prepares them for upper-level courses and study abroad. After reviewing the main elements and conventions of the most popular genres (narrative, poetry, theater and essay), students become familiarized with current theoretical approaches to the study of literature with the purpose of applying them to their own analytical writing. The last weeks of the semester are devoted to the reading of a well-crafted detective novel and the examination of both its formal features and its ideological underpinnings. Throughout the course, students will have ample opportunities to hone their skills through the close reading and class discussion of varied and stimulating literary works produced by canonical and non-canonical Hispanic authors.

Spanish 330 Textos y techos: Medieval Iberian Literature and Architecture

Prof. Esposito

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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.

In the Iberian Middle Ages, the act of writing is intimately tied to the space in which it occurs, and then subsequently performed.  This course seeks to explore major works of early Iberian literature (11th-14th Century) and the spaces and places associated with both their production and performance. Among the texts we will read are Arabic and Mozarabic moaxajas and jarchas, the religious poetry of Gonzalo de Berceo, the Poema de Mio Cid, courtly poetry from Catalonia and Galicia, and Don Juan Manuel’s El Conde Lucanor.  We will read these texts as they relate to different architectural stlyes: Visigothic, Mozarabic, Romanesque, Gothic, and Mudéjar.  We will also explore how these texts and spaces reflect stylistic and political notions of nationalism, internationalism, and hybridity. Students will have the opportunity to read these texts in both original and modernized versions. Methods of evaluation will include active participation, objective reading quizzes and exams, periodic writing assignments, and a final project.

Spanish 348 Don Quijote Now and Then

Prof. Solomon

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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.

As a foundational 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 12 weekly worksheets/short writing assignments and a final project.

Spanish 386-401 The Image-Thought: An Exploration of Philosophical Concepts through Spanish Cinema

Prof. Moreno Caballud

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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.

 This course will analyze several contemporary Spanish films from the point of view of their capacity to generate philosophical thought. We will understand philosophy not as a corpus of established knowledge, but as a desire to think that always needs to challenge conventional assumptions. We will read philosophical texts by Spanish authors in parallel to the study of Spanish films, using this double approach to work on crucial concepts such as “identity”, “subjectivity”, “reality”, “language”, “power”, “life”, “body” and “interdependence”, among others.

Spanish 388-401 Spanish Non-Fictional Film

Prof. Moreno Caballud

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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.

 This course will explore the flourishing of the genre of documentary and non-fiction film in the last decades in Spain. We will study poetic, experimental, and social documentaries in their socio-historical context. For this we will need to engage not only films and film theory texts, but also historical recounts of contemporary Spain. We will also analyze the limits between non-fiction and fiction film, focusing on some recent works that have critically blurred the distinction between both genres.

Spanish 394-401 Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Contemporary Latin American Literature

Prof. Montoya

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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 their contemporaries’, in order to have a comprehensive idea about the formation of the Latin American contemporary canon. 

Spanish 395-401 Staging Gender in Latin America

Prof. Feliciano Arroyo

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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.

This course is based on an understanding of theater as a social space and a cultural practice that allows a collectivity--in its most concrete sense, the audience--to think in public about itself and about the fundamental forces facing and shaping it. In this course, we will mainly read contemporary Latin American and Latinx theatrical texts produced by women and queer authors. Our focus will be to discuss how, in the last approximately four decades, the stage as space and performance as practice have been used in Latin America as vehicles to represent and discuss issues related to gender and sexuality, to reconfigure the parameters of these debates, to examine and question existing social structures and attitudes, to propose and rehearse alternative solutions to the problems faced by marginalized subjects, and overall to explore the transformative capabilities of theater. We will also examine how conceptions and representations of gender and sexuality intersect with other identitarian coordinates, such as race, class, and nationality. In addition to plays, we will engage with recordings of live stagings, with performances in other media (for example, music videos), and with performative cultural and political strategies (for example, campaigns to end street harassment). We will approach our corpus through a lens informed by both performance studies on the one hand and feminist and queer theory on the other.

Spanish 396-401 Literature and Everyday Life in Colonial Spanish America

Prof. Tellez

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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.

 This course aims to answer the question of what it meant to write during 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries in Latin America by focusing on the relations between literature and everyday life in Colonial Spanish America. We will explore the different practices of writing in both the public and the private realms such as the convent, the public plaza, the household, the church, and the royal court. The readings include social and critical theory on the concept of everyday life, as well as early modern letters, diaries, poems, sermons, playwriting, and fiction.

Spanish 396-402 Narratives of la selva

Prof. Knight

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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.

Spanish 396-403 The New Latin American Literary Boom?: Women Writers in the 21st Century

Prof. Garcia Serrano

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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223. 

Something unprecedented has been happening lately in the Latin American literary market and scene. Women writers in great numbers have been publishing without encountering major constraints or pressures, and their fictional work has been receiving more awards and critical accolades than ever before. Hence, the assertion made by a critic in El País that “the other Latin American Boom is female” (“El otro ‘boom’ latinoamericano es femenino”) merits to be considered and unpacked. For example, compared to their literary precursors, have the 21st-century female authors presented the customary topics of family, motherhood, sexuality, illness, etc. in a radical new way? Which are the social, political, economic, and aesthetic conditions that have given raise to this proliferation of female authors and the wide acceptance of their fictional worlds? How do these conditions differ from the Latin American literary Boom of the 20th century? These are some of the questions that we will attempt to answer throughout the course of the semester while scrutinizing the narrative written by Samanta Schweblin (Argentina), Mariana Enríquez (Argentina), Mónica Ojeda (Ecuador), Lina Meruane (Chile), and Rita Indiana (Dominican Republic).

Spanish 397-401 Literature and Ethnography

Prof. Brock

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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.

This course turns to Latin American literature and film of the last half-century to address questions that have long plagued ethnography: To what degree can an outsider understand another culture and what degree of cultural immersion is necessary or possible for the ethnographer? How does one avoid the pitfalls of ethnocentrism, primitivism, and stereotyping? How much control do ethnographic subjects have over how they are portrayed? How might self-reflexivity about the challenges of representation help make stories about cultural others more honest and ethical? We will work through these questions by way of close analysis of a wide range of texts, including testimonio, experimental fiction, and hybrid documentaries.

Spanish 397-402 Latin American Marxisms

Prof. Beckman

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Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219 or Spanish 223.

This course examines Marxist thought in Latin America, from the early twentieth century to the present.  We will study a range of materials from across Spanish America, including essays, novels, films and speeches.  We will ask after the specificities of Latin American Marxist thought (on the land and indigenous questions, dependency, guerrilla warfare, etc), at the same time as we contextualize those specificities within a wider Marxist tradition.  We will also inquire into the waning and resurgence of Marxism in recent decades in the region. This course is conducted entirely in Spanish.