Please check with the Registrar Office for up-to-date information on course meeting times and course availability
Spanish 10: Writing and Reading: A Critical and Cultural Approach. This course serves as transition between the Spanish LSA (or equivalent preparation) and all upper-division courses (30 and above). Through the study of critical and theoretical vocabulary, and the reading of short stories, poems, films, theatrical plays and journalistic articles, students will acquire analytic tools to comprehend and analyze several types of texts. This course is also designed to familiarize students with different textual genres and a wide array of literary and interpretative key concepts. Prerequisite: Participation in one of the Spanish LSA programs; Spanish 8 or 9; exemption from Spanish 9 based on test scores (see Department web site); or permission of instructor. It serves as a prerequisite for all Spanish courses 30 and higher.
Spanish 20: The Spanish Language: Advanced Training through Contemporary Spanish Culture. FINAL OFFERING (09S) Further training in speech and writing based on a study of contemporary Spanish cultural patterns contrasted with those of the United States. This course is designed especially, but not exclusively, for participants in the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program in Spain. Prerequisite: Spanish 3, or equivalent preparation. (First-year students must have special permission from the Chair of the Department.) Sample Syllabus. (Pdf file)
Spanish 21: The Spanish Language: Advanced Training through Contemporary Argentine Culture. FINAL OFFERING (09W) Further training in speech and writing based on a study of Argentine cultural patterns contrasted with those of the United States. This course is designed especially, but not exclusively, for participants in the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program in Argentina. Prerequisite: Spanish 3, or equivalent preparation. (First-year students must have special permission from the Chair of the Department.) Sample Syllabus. (Pdf file)
Spanish 23: Argentine Culture: Contemporary Issues. FINAL OFFERING (09S) The main purpose of this course is to deepen the student's knowledge of the Spanish language through writing, reading, and discussion of the reading material. The texts will serve as a basis for discussion in class and also for the weekly essay, on problems being examined, to be handed in by the students. The reading materials will be selected in such a way as to expose the students to the main problems of contemporary Argentine culture and society. This course will complement Spanish 33 and 35 by dealing with particular problems of the cultural framework within which contemporary Argentine art and literature are produced. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Argentina.
Spanish 23: Argentine Cultural Heritage. NEW (10S) This course deepens the student’s knowledge of the Argentine art and cultures through the study and discussion of the visual, architectural and plastic arts, as well as music and performance. The materials will expose the students to the main trends and topics of contemporary Argentine art, cultures and society. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Argentina. Dist: ART; WCult: NW.
Spanish 24: Spanish Culture: Contemporary Issues. FINAL OFFERING (08F) The main purpose of this course is to deepen the student's knowledge of the Spanish language through writing, reading, and discussion of the reading material. The texts will serve as a basis for the discussion in class and also for the weekly essay on problems being examined to be handed in by the students. The reading materials will be selected in such a way as to expose the students to the main problems of contemporary Spanish culture and society. This course will complement Spanish 34 and 36 by dealing with the particular problems of the cultural framework within which contemporary Spanish art and literature are produced. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Spain.
Spanish 24: Spanish Cultural Heritage. NEW (09F) This course deepens the student’s knowledge of the Spanish art and cultures through the study and discussion of the visual, architectural and plastic arts, as well as music and performance. The materials will expose the students to the main trends and topics of contemporary Spanish art, cultures and society. Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Spain. Dist: ART; WCult: W.
Spanish 30: Introduction to Hispanic Literature I: Middle Ages to 1700. FINAL OFFERING (08F) This survey course will present a chronological study of literary material, both Peninsular and Spanish-American. It is designed to prepare the students for more specialized work in major level courses. Readings may include selections from the Romancero, Berceo, Don Juan Manuel, Jorge Manrique, the chronicles of discovery, Lazarillo de Termes and poetry by some sixteenth and seventeenth century authors. Prerequisite: Spanish 9, or equivalent preparation. Sample Syllabus. (Pdf file)
Spanish 30: Introduction to Hispanic Studies I: Middle Ages to 17th Century. NEW (09F) This course presents an overview of major literary trends and cultural productions from the Middle Ages to the 17th century in both their Spanish and Spanish American contexts. Students will read a representative selection of major literary works from that period, both Peninsular and Spanish-American, and discuss theoretical, aesthetic, and critical issues pertinent to the Renaissance, the Baroque, colonialism, syncretism, etc. Texts may also be cultural, visual, and/or filmic. Prerequisite: Spanish 10. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
Spanish 31: Introduction to Hispanic Literature II: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. FINAL OFFERING (09W) This survey course will present a chronological study of literary material, both peninsular and Spanish-American. It is designed to prepare the students for more specialized work in major level courses. Readings will be drawn from such authors as Jovellanos, Larra, Espronceda, Galdós, Sarmiento, José Hermández, Rubén Darío. Prerequisite: Spanish 9, or equivalent preparation. Sample Syllabus. (Pdf file)
Spanish 31: Introduction to Hispanic Studies II: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. NEW (10W) This course presents a chronological study of major trans-Atlantic literary trends and cultural productions, corresponding to the cultural and aesthetic movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Students will read a representative selection of major literary works, both Peninsular and Spanish-American, from that period and discuss theoretical, aesthetic, and critical issues pertinent to modernity, empire, enlightenment, nationalism, gender, democracy, etc. Texts may also be, cultural, visual, and/or filmic. Prerequisite: Spanish 10. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
Spanish 32: Introduction to Hispanic Literature III: The Twentieth Century. FINAL OFFERING (09S) This survey course will present a chronological study of literary material, both Peninsular and Spanish-American. It is designed to prepare the students for more specialized work in major level courses. Readings will be drawn from García Lorca, Valle-Inclán, Neruda, Vallejo, García Márquez, and others. Prerequisite: Spanish 9, or equivalent preparation Sample Syllabus. (Pdf file)
Spanish 32: Introduction to Hispanic Studies III: 20th - 21st Centuries. NEW (10S) This course presents a chronological study of trans-Atlantic major literary trends and cultural productions, corresponding to the cultural and aesthetic movements from the 1880s to the present. Students will read a representative selection of major literary works from that period, both Peninsular and Spanish-American, and discuss theoretical, aesthetic, and critical issues pertinent to modernismo, the avant-garde, revolution, post-modernism, etc. Texts may also be cultural, visual, and/or filmic. Prerequisite: Spanish 10. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
Spanish 33: Argentine Civilization: The Cultural Heritage. FINAL OFFERING (09S) Studies in such aspects of the Argentine cultural heritage as art, music, and folklore with an emphasis on historical and ethnographic approaches. Credit for this course is awarded to students who have successfully completed the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program at its University Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program.
Spanish 33: Argentine Civilization: Society, Culture, and Politics in Argentina. NEW (10S) This course studies socio-political events in the Southern Cone that have shaped the contemporary configuration of society in Argentina. Emphasis will be placed on key political figures, social movements, oppositional tensions, dictatorship and democracy, and their articulation in the cultural field. Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program. Dist: SOC; WCult: NW.
Spanish 34: Spanish Civilization. FINAL OFFERING (08F) Studies in such aspects of the Spanish cultural heritage as art, music, and folklore, with an emphasis on a historical approach. Credit for this course is awarded to students who have successfully completed the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program at its University Center in Madrid, Spain. Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Spain.
Spanish 34: Society, Culture and Politics in Spain – NEW (09F). This courses studies socio-political events in the Iberian Peninsula that have shaped the contemporary configuration of society in Spain. Emphasis will be placed on key political figures, social movements, oppositional tensions, dictatorship and democracy, and their articulation in the cultural field. Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Spain. Dist: SOC; WCult: W.
Spanish 35: Studies in Spanish-American Literature: Contemporary Argentine Literature. FINAL OFFERING (09S) Analytical reading of poetry, drama, and fiction representative of the period from 1910 to the present. Credit for this course is awarded to students who have successfully completed the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program at its University Center in Spanish America. Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Argentina.
Spanish 35: Studies in Spanish-American Literature and Culture. NEW (10S) This course is designed to offer students an opportunity to study a topic of interest in Spanish American literature and culture through the reading of a wide variety of literary and cultural texts. Emphasis will be placed on Argentina and the Southern Cone. Topics may vary. Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Argentina. Dist: LIT; WCult: NW.
Spanish 36: Studies in Modern and Contemporary Spanish Literature. FINAL OFFERING (08F) Analytical reading of poetry, drama, and fiction representative of the period from 1898 to the present. Credit for this course is awarded to students who have successfully completed the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program at its University Center in Spain. Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Spain.
Spanish 36: Studies in Modern and Contemporary Spanish Literature. NEW (09F) This course is designed to offer students an opportunity to study a topic of interest in the literatures and cultures of Spain through the reading of a wide variety of literary and cultural texts. Topics may vary. Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program, Spain. Dist: LIT; WCult: W
Spanish 37: Texts and Contexts. This course is designed to help students develop excellence in writing as they prepare for upper level literature and culture courses in Spanish. Topics will vary according to term and faculty as well as the "texts" studied in the course (literary, filmic, cultural, and visual). Given that thinking, reading, and writing are interdependent activities, Spanish 37 is designed to offer students an opportunity to study a topic of interest in Hispanic literature or culture while simultaneously emphasizing the advanced writing skills required of a research paper. Frequent exercises in writing and close textual study are basic to this course. Prerequisite: Spanish 9 (prior to 09X), Spanish 10 (09X forward) or permission of instructor. Sample Syllabus. (Pdf file). Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
Spanish 40: Hispanic Literature and Culture by Period. This course will focus on the study of the significant historical periods and cultural movements of the Hispanic world. It is organized according to chronological eras that are marked by distinct cultural and literary movements. Areas covered will be the Middle Ages, the culture of the Renaissance and the Baroque, the Colonial Period, Enlightenment and Modernity, Nineteenth-Century Romanticism and Realism, the Avant-Gardes, Post-modernism, and new developments in the contemporary period. One or more periods will be selected for study. Prerequisite: Spanish 37. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies
Spanish 43: Hispanic Literature and Culture by Genre. A literary genre is defined as an established category of written work employing a set of recognizable common conventions, such as technique, style, structure or subject matter. This course will focus on the study of Hispanic literatures and cultures and is organized around one or more basic genres like poetry, drama, novel, and essay. Other articulating categories for the course may include epic poetry, tragic drama, short-fiction narrative, the picaresque novel, and melodrama, among others. The course will provide students with the appropriate critical vocabulary to understand the specificity of the genre or sub-genre examined in the course. Prerequisite: Spanish 37. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies
In 09F, The Poetics and Politics of Love in Contemporary Spanish Verse. This course examines the expression of distinct forms of love and love as trope in contemporary poetry from Spain. In the ideological tug-of-war that spanned the twentieth-century, love is political. The triad of form, content, and context communicate the (im)possibility of these forms of love in the work of poets such as Salinas, García Lorca, Cernuda, Fuertes, Atencia, Villena, Rossetti, García Montero, and Janés. Sprague.
In 10W, Genealogy of the Narrative Discourse. This course will examine the “protonovel” as an aesthetic category crucial to the history of the novel. The course will focus on the generic transformations from epic to novel, as well as the historical contexts from which they emerged. The changing concepts of the hero in types that range from the warrior to the rogue or pilgrim of the baroque novel will be explored. Readings will Spanish from the Middle Ages through the 17th century. Lozano.
Spanish 45: Special Topics in Spanish and Latin American Cultural Production. FINAL OFFERING (08F) This course presents a wide range of topics pertinent to the study of Spanish and Latin American cultures in all of their diverse intellectual production. Each course will emphasize a different combination of historical, theoretical, and textual practices (literary, filmic, theatrical, graphic, etc.). The course may be offered any term and its content will depend on the interests of the instructor.
In 08F, This course will deal with human bondage. It will try to address a fundamental question: Under what circumstances and through what strategies does a human being strip another human being of his/her humanity? Taking Hegel’s theorization of the master-slave dialectics as point of departure, we will focus on modern theories of human domination/bondage as we explore and analyze slavery and human bondage in philosophy, literature, film and the visual arts.
This is an inter-campus course. It will be taught simultaneously at Brown University by Professor Julio Ortega and at Dartmouth by Professor Beatriz Pastor. Students on both campuses will get together periodically in video conferences for joint presentations, debates and mini-symposia.
Materials for the course will include readings from Hegel, Nietzsche, Fanon, Cesaire, Martí, Guillén, Villaverde, García Márquez and Borges, as well as films by Pontecorvo, Almodóvar, Bollaín, Armiñán, Taberna and Sauper.
Spanish 45: Regional/National/Trans-Atlantic Approaches to Hispanic Studies – NEW (09F) This course studies the complex intersections between literatures, languages, cultures and their national, regional, and trans-Atlantic contexts in Spain, Latin America, and the US. In this course, literary and cultural expressions are studied in relation to place in a wide array of historical contexts. Issues may include literature and colonialism, “indigenismo,” the city/country dialectic, regional and national languages and cultural interdependence, the arts as buffers of political/nationalistic violence, national borders and cultural identity, and the formation of national literatures. Prerequisite: Spanish 37. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
In 09F, From The Inca Garcilaso to Max: Approaches to the Hispanic World through its Narrative Graphic Dimension. This course is a transatlantic approach to the study of the long history of sequential art in the Hispanic culture. It will also include key precedents from Pre-Columbian codices and the Colonial graphic discourses developed by Inca Garcilaso, to the contemporary political cartooning by Quezada, Rius or El Roto and comic strips by Quino, Maitena or Rep. Merino.
Spanish 46: Creative Writing in Spanish. FINAL OFFERING (09S) This course offers a workshop in creative writing to be taught by prominent writers in residence in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. It is designed for native speakers of Spanish, heritage speakers, and Spanish majors in their junior or senior years. Seminar-sized class meets twice a week, with individual conferences when necessary. The class will consist of group workshops on student writing (fiction, poetry and/or theatre) and individual conferences with the instructor. Students will be admitted on a competitive basis and should submit a short writing sample of poetry, fiction, and/or a play to the Department’s Administrator by the last day of classes of the term preceding the term in which they wish to enroll. The limit for this course is 14. Dist. ART.
Spanish 50: Gender and Sexuality in Hispanic Studies. This course will explore how the study of gender and sexuality is integral to understanding the complexities of Hispanic societies and cultures. In addition to analyzing literary texts and cultural and artistic productions, students will also examine theoretical and critical approaches to the study of gender and sexuality. Topics may include feminist movements, the construction and performance of gender, the theory and practice of women’s writing, sexual identities, and queer theories as they relate to Hispanic embodiments and representations in literature and culture. Prerequisite: Spanish 37. Dist: LIT; WCult: CI.
In 10W, Hollywood Revisited: The Films of Pedro Almodóvar. Pedro Almodóvar, Spain’s most internationally acclaimed filmmaker, will be studied in this course as the most visible representative of the New Spanish Cinema Movement. This course pays special attention to the ways Almodóvar’s lens is a gendered one, one that repeatedly depicts the importance given to “el sentimiento” in the formation of socio-emotional ties among women that speak to particular social tensions in Spanish society. Martín.
Spanish 53: Topics in Spanish Linguistics, Rhetoric, and Poetics. Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S. The focus of study for this course will be the evolution of the Spanish language from its old and early modern manifestations to contemporary uses. Specific geographical contexts will be given special attention. Topics may include the constitution of Castilian as a national language and its relation to other peninsular languages; the history of linguistic change on all levels (phonetic/phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic); the influence of Arabic, indigenous languages of the Americas, English, and dialectal variants. Fundamental notions of rhetoric and poetics will be central to this course as well. Prerequisite: Spanish 37. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
Spanish 55: Hispanic Literature, Culture, and Politics. This is an interdisciplinary course that studies through diverse representations in literature and the arts major sociopolitical realities that have shaken and transformed the Hispanic world such as the Conquest, colonialism, the rise of the modern nation states, the Mexican and Cuban revolutions, the Spanish Civil War, Latin America’s “dirty” wars, etc. The course will explore the interconnection between culture and politics allowing the student to read culture as a political text and political events as texts. Prerequisite: Spanish 37. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
In 10W, Humor and Politics in Latin American Literature, Film, and Culture. Comedy and humor often serve to undermine cultural elitism and denounce social injustice. Many Latin American authors, filmmakers, and artists have used comedy and humor in politically subversive ways, but also as a way to legitimize the cultures and communities of the marginal and disenfranchised. This course will explore several theories of humor as well as Latin American traditions of humor. Reyes.
Spanish 56: Don Quijote. FINAL OFFERING (08F). From the time of its publication in 1605 (Part I) and 1615 (Part II), Don Quijote has continually fascinated its readers and provoked radically different interpretations. Taking as his point of departure the tradition of chivalric romance, Cervantes begins by writing a critique of imaginative literature that evolves into a critique of reality itself - the first modern European novel. This course seeks to understand the Quijote both per se - as an autonomous work of literature - and as a highly creative response to the literary and cultural forces from which it was forged. Prerequisite: Spanish 9, and one of 30, 31, 32 or 37; or permission of the instructor.
Spanish 60: Exile, Repression and Writing in Post-Civil War Spain. FINAL OFFERING (08F). What was the effect of mass exile on Spanish culture after the Civil War? How was the inner exile of the intellectuals and writers who stayed expressed in the literature of the period? How do ideological repression and systematic censorship shape Spanish culture during this period? These are some of the fundamental questions that will be addressed in an attempt to study the relationship between cultural production and historical process. Readings will include works by R. Sender, R. Chacel, C. Cela, Buero Vallejo, M. Rodoreda, J. L. Martín Santos, M. Delibes, J. Marsé, and others. Films by Buñuel, Berlanga and Saura. Prerequisite: Spanish 9, and one of 30, 31, 32 or 37; or permission of the instructor.
Spanish 60: Race and Ethnicity in Hispanic Studies – NEW. Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S. A common misperception about race and ethnicity is that they are uniformly defined and that one region’s understanding of these terms is identical to any other. How are race and ethnicity conceptualized and represented in Spain, Latin America, and U.S. Latino communities? This course will examine the particular historical, regional, and cultural factors that give rise to different notions of race and ethnicity in the Hispanic world. Individual offerings of this course may focus on one or more of the following: Moorish Spain and the Reconquista; the Jewish Diaspora in Spain and Latin America; indigenous societies in Latin America; racial and cultural “mestizaje”; whiteness, racial purity, and “blanqueamiento”; slavery, the African Diaspora, and “afro-latinidades.” Prerequisite: Spanish 37. Dist: LIT; WCult: C
Spanish 62: Women Writers in Twentieth Century Spain. FINAL OFFERING (09W). This course explores a variety of issues related to constructions of gender in contemporary Spanish literature: the representation of men and women as subjects, the traditional gender roles and their subversion, the emergence of women writers following the Spanish Civil War. What role does sexual orientation play in their writing practices? How have the representations of women changed in Post-Franco Spain? What role does feminist thought play in the discourse of contemporary authors? Readings will be selected from plays, autobiographies, novels and poetry by E. Tusquets, R. Montero, M. Mayoral, J. Aldecoa, C. Riera, C. Martín Gaite, A. Urrietabizcaia, T. Pàmies and M. Roig. Prerequisite: Spanish 9, and one of 30, 31, 32 or 37; or permission of the instructor.
Spanish 63: Hispanic Film Studies. Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S. Film and the visual arts in Spain, Latin America, and/or the US will be studied under different approaches in order to: understand the historical evolution of film making within these contexts; examine the different film genres (surrealism, neorealism, melodrama, film noir, Hollywood realism, animation, documentary, etc.) in their Hispanic contexts; study the body of work of renowned Latino, Spanish, and Latin American filmmakers and visual artists; analyze important cultural or historical events through their visual representations (the Mexican Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, the Cuban Revolution, end of Francoism, etc.); etc. Students will become familiar with relevant concepts in film analysis, film theory, and cultural studies and learn how issues of representation in the visual arts are linked to their literary counterparts. Prerequisite: Spanish 37. Dist: ART; WCult: Varie
Spanish 64: Recent Spanish Poetry: The Reconquest of Subjectivity. FINAL OFFERING (09S). Spanish poetry since 1960 has shifted its interest from the collective to the subjective, from social issues to problematizing identity; furthermore, as a reaction to post-Civil War poetry, it attempts to reconstruct the subject. The course will focus on the different attempts to recreate this ‘self’: the ‘poetry of experience’ which initiated the recovery of a poetic identity, leaving behind the collective thematics of postwar poetry (Barral, Gil de Biedma); the poets associated with the novisimos group of the late 1960’s, whose poetic subject seeks its frame of reference in a cultural, intertextual collective mythology (Carnero, Gimferrer, Montalbán); and the development of a new dichotomy of subjective and objective positions in the 1980s and 1990s (Juaristi, Alas). In this class, we will trace the limits and configuration of this renaissance, with particular emphasis placed on the questions and problems of representing poetic subjectivity. Prerequisite: Spanish 9, and one of 30, 31, 32 or 37; or permission of the instructor.
Spanish 65: Hispanic Performance, Media, and the Arts. In our increasingly globalized society, what impact have transnationalism and new technologies had on the formation and articulation of local cultures in the Hispanic world? How do subjects remember and represent themselves as embodied actors in the spaces where conflicting and contestatory identities meet? How have television, the visual and graphic arts, and music redefined national space and identity in Spanish, Latin American, and U.S. Latino communities? Individual offerings of this course may focus on one or more of the following: theater, performance, and performativity; comics and the graphic arts; literature and the marketplace; the politics of mass media; sports and national identity; and popular culture’s strategies of resistance. Prerequisite: Spanish 37. Dist: ART; WCult: Varies.
In 09X, Exploding the Stereotype: U.S. Latino Theatre and Performance. What are cultural stereotypes? How do they get constructed? How can they be made visible, critiqued, and contested? In this class we will study the development of Latino theatre in the U.S. from the Civil Rights era to the present. Our focus will be on how Latino playwrights and performers have used the stage to challenge negative stereotypes and create alternative views of what it means to be Latino/a in the U.S. A’ness.
In 10S, Gallery of Treasures and Horrors: A Century of Images in Spain. This course will analyze the dynamic relation between a group of still and moving images, and the constitution of a national imaginary. The course will explore how iconic and paradigmatic images have helped to conform our understanding of Spain’s recent history. It offers a historical and cultural approach to modern and contemporary Spain, as well as an introduction to visual cultures. Gómez.
Spanish 70: Great Works of Hispanic Literature: Don Quixote and One Hundred Years of Solitude. Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S. Few novels of the Hispanic world have had greater resonance than Cervantes’ Don Quijote (published between 1605 and 1615) and Gabriel García Márquez’ Cien años de soledad (1969). Both have continually fascinated their readers and provoked myriad interpretations and reinterpretations. This course seeks to understand each text as an autonomous work of literature and as a highly creative response to the literary and cultural forces in which it was forged. Individual offerings of this course will focus on one of these literary masterpieces. Prerequisite: Spanish 37. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
Spanish 73: Special Topics in Hispanic Literary and Cultural Production. Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S . This course is offered periodically with varying content so that writers, genres, historical contexts, or theoretical approaches not otherwise provided in the curriculum may be studied. The course can be offered any term and its distinct content, theoretical, or methodological approach will depend on the area of specialization of the instructor. Prerequisite: Spanish 37. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
Spanish 75: Creative Writing in Spanish. This course offers a workshop in creative writing to be taught by prominent writers in residence in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. It is designed for native speakers of Spanish, heritage speakers, and Spanish majors in their junior or senior years. Seminar-sized class meets twice or three times a week plus individual conferences when necessary. The class will consist of group workshops on student writing (fiction, poetry, and/or theater) and individual conferences with the instructor. Students will be admitted on a competitive basis and should submit a short writing sample of poetry, fiction, and/or a play to the Department’s Administrator prior to obtaining permission to enroll. The limit for this class is 14. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
Spanish 77: Hispanic Literature in the USA. FINAL OFFERING (09W) The Hispanic experience in the USA offers a wide variety of artistic expressions, ranging from the traditional ‘corrido’ to the poetic experiments of, for instance, Pedro Pietri. One element remains, nevertheless, constant: either by rejection or by assimilation, Hispanic culture is the result of an interaction between the ‘Anglo’ and the Hispanic worlds. This course will examine the terms of that interaction, giving special attention to such problems as marginality, bilingual/bi-cultural expression, and nationalism. Primary emphasis will be on contemporary works of such authors as Alurista, Anaya, Hinojosa-Smith, Luis Valdés and Pedro Pietri. Prerequisite: Spanish 9, and one of 30, 31, 32 or 37; or permission of the instructor.
Spanish 80: Seminar: Latin American Literature. FINAL OFFERING (09W) The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers a seminar on Latin American literature twice during every three-year period. The topic will vary each time the course is taught. Prerequisite: Spanish 9, and one of 30, 31, 32 or 32; or permission of the instructor. Sample Syllabus. (Pdf file)
Spanish 80: Senior Seminar in Hispanic Studies. NEW (09F) The senior seminar in Hispanic Studies is designed to provide Spanish majors with a small group setting that facilitates in-depth discussion of key concepts of critical theory, literary studies, and the discipline. The seminar will encourage students to research and explore relevant topics related to Hispanic literature and the arts and experiment with the application of the different concepts under discussion in creative ways (essay writing, visual arts projects, performance pieces, etc). Prerequisite: Senior standing. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
In 09F, Politics and Performance in Latin America. In this class we study the intersection of theatre, politics, and performance in Latin America. Specifically, we look at how theatre and performance were used during the “dirty” wars of the 1970s and 1980s for propaganda and denunciation, and, subsequently, as a means to remember or heal in the post-war periods of truth and reconciliation. As part of this class, the students will create their own original performance piece and present it to an audience. A’ness.
In 10W, Literature on the Verge of a Political Breakthrough. This course studies literary texts whose primary goal is to advocate for the transformation of society by attempting to redefine ethnic, cultural, political, and gender identities through aesthetic means. We will explore new definitions for articulating a civil society seen as more heterogeneous and less haunted by the values inherited from the Franco dictatorship. Authors include Goytisolo, Semprún, Vázquez Montalbán, Riera, and Lucía Etxebarria. Aguado.
In 10S, Twentieth Century Re-Discovery of Latin America’s Cultural Heritages. This course will explore the process of rediscovery of national heritages and how the search for non European cultural identities highlights the African and Amerindian components in the different Latin American regions. How do these identities relate to Western social systems and philosophical currents? This and other relevant questions will be explored in the writings of Gallegos, Guillén, Palés Matos, Carpentier, Arguedas, Castellanos, Reyes, Borges and others. Pastor.
Spanish 83: Independent Study. A program of individual study directed by a member of the Spanish and Portuguese faculty. Spanish 83 will normally consist of a program of reading and research that is not covered in regularly scheduled course offerings. After consultation with the faculty advisor of the project, all Independent Study proposals must be submitted for approval to the Department. Only open to majors in Spanish or Romance Languages. Under normal circumstances, no student may receive credit for this course more than once.
Students interested in pursuing an Independent Study must identify their topic and faculty advisor, and present a proposal to their faculty advisor and to the Department for approval by the last week of the term prior to registering for Spanish 83. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
Spanish 90: Honors Course. Supervised independent research under the direction of a designated advisor. Honors majors will normally elect this course as the first in the required sequence (90 and 91) for completion of the Honors Program. Spanish 90 is intended to prepare the student for writing the Honors thesis, through readings in primary and secondary texts, theory and methodology. The course will include periodic written assignments and culminate in a final paper. Prerequisite: Admission to the Honors Program.
Spanish 91: Honors Seminar. A prearranged program of study and research during any term of the senior year, on a tutorial basis, with individual faculty members (normally the thesis advisor). A thesis and public presentation are the expected culmination of the course. Prerequisite: Prior admission to the Department's Honors Program; clear evidence of capability to perform honors level work, normally indicated by completion of Spanish 90 with a grade of B+ or higher.
