Fall 2020 Class Schedule

• Fall 2020 Class Schedule
• Fall 2020 Course Descriptions

fall 2020 class Schedule

fall 2020 course descriptions

PORTUGUESE 101-1: Elementary Portuguese

PORTUGUESE 115-1: Portuguese for Spanish Speakers

For students proficient in Spanish. Comparative sociolinguistic and interactive approach to communicative competence emphasizing pronunciation, intonation, sentence structure, and patterns of spoken and written Portuguese. Prerequisite: AP 4 or equivalent on the Spanish Language Placement Exam.

PORTUGUESE 202-0: Reading and Writing Portuguese

Instruction in reading and writing expository and narrative prose. Emphasis on vocabulary, linguistic skills, and syntax appropriate to formal written Portuguese. Prerequisite: PORT 115-2, PORT 121-3, or sufficient score on placement examination.

SPANISH 101-1: Elementary Spanish

Communicative method. Development of speaking, listening, conversation, and grammar skills in a cultural context. 
Synchronous: Class meets remotely at scheduled time
Registration Requirements: For students who have never studied Spanish or studied Spanish less than two years in high school.

SPANISH 105-6-4 First-Year Seminar: Women at the Border: The Marginalization of Latina

Immigration has become one of the ‘hot' buttons of contemporary social and political dialogue. Through the prism of the Latina experience in the United States, this class will explore causes and consequences of global migration in the 21st century, analyze the marginalization of third-world immigrants in first-world society, and seek to develop an understanding of the evolving ‘face' of America. Students will further examine how their individual experiences and backgrounds help shape their perceptions of this new world order.

Latina immigrants to the U.S. often leave intolerable circumstances and brave life-threatening border crossings in pursuit of the American dream. Yet, those who succeed in crossing the geographic border almost inevitably find that the marginalized existence they hoped to leave behind takes on an equally powerful form in their new world as they face economic, political, racial, and cultural barriers north of the border. Issues to be explored include: Immigration: global attitudes and experiences in a post 9/11 world Dangers: physical and psychological dangers risked as Latinas cross both geographic and social borders Racism: the role race plays in creating barriers for Latinas Stereotypes: images and misconceptions of Latinas in American film, television, media, etc. Traditions: how attitudes and practices within the Hispanic community itself impact Latinas Challenges & Triumphs: women who have successfully ‘crossed' the border and what that means Personal Journey: students will research personal histories ("How did I get here?") in order to understand how cultural, social, and ethnic backgrounds impact the formation of attitudes and perspectives.

SPANISH 105-6-5: First-Year Seminar: Don Quixote's World

What do we do about a world that doesn't conform to our expectations? Do we set out to mold reality to our vision or accept it as it is? How do we forge ahead with our dreams if others do not share our values or goals? Cervantes' Don Quixote tackles these big questions in ways that are both moving and funny as it narrates the adventures of the bedraggled hero - a man driven mad by reading too many fantasy novels and his earthy sidekick Sancho Panza. The novel contains themes that resonate with our lives today, exploring not only what it means to write and read fiction but also asking us to evaluate what kind of person we want to be in the world.
In our class, we'll read the novel closely and debate how its essential questions can shape our personal choices moving forward.

SPANISH 121-1: Intermediate Spanish

Communicative method. Further development of grammar, vocabulary, speaking, and writing skills through emphasis on cultural content and functional use of Spanish language.

SPANISH 125-0: Accelerated Intermediate Spanish

Communicative method. Further development of vocabulary, grammar, speaking and writing skills through readings and short films. Offered in fall only.

SPANISH 127-0: Accelerated Intermediate Spanish for Heritage Language Learners

For heritage speakers. Communicative method. Further development of vocabulary, grammar, speaking and writing skills through readings and short films. Offered in fall only.

SPANISH 199-0: Language in Context: Contemporary Spain

An introduction to the culture and sociopolitical issues of contemporary Spain in the basis for review of some problematic grammatical patterns and for skill-building in Spanish.

SPANISH 201-0: Conversation on Human Rights: Latin America

First course of sequence designed to develop speaking strategies and structures through analysis of modern (20th- and 21st- century) Latin American culture. Emphasis on accurate informal conversation.

SPANISH 203-0: Individual and Society through Written Expression

First course of sequence that develops writing skills and structures through examination of the relationship between the individual and society. Emphasis on textual analysis and development of descriptive narrative and argumentative essays.

SPANISH 204-0: Reading and Writing the Art of Protest

Second course of a sequence designed to develop writing skills and structures through analysis of socially-committed art. Emphasis on cultural analysis and development of longer essays.

SPANISH 220-0-22: Introduction to Literary Analysis

"How to read?" In the most general terms, this course will explore possible responses to this fundamental question through the analysis of works of Latin American and Spanish literature (e.g., narrative, poetry) and a related form of cultural production (i.e., feature film). While our methods of analysis will be anchored in the close reading of both verbal and visual materials, we will also consider how, in some cases, attention to cultural and historical frameworks offer other ways of responding to questions about how we read. Class discussion and written assignments aim to strengthen students' analytical and written skills in preparation for more advanced courses focusing on the Latin American and Spanish traditions.

SPANISH 220-0-23: Introduction to Literary Analysis

This course offers students an introduction to both literary analysis and Spanish and Latin American literary traditions. While our primary object of study is literature—that is, different literary forms (e.g., narrative, poetry, drama) and individual literary texts—we will also consider other forms of cultural production (e.g., feature films and documentary films). When "reading" our primary sources, we will practice a range of methods so as to learn how to approach those sources from different historical, cultural, and critical perspectives. This course aims to strengthen students' analytical and written skills at the same time that it works to foster their interest in Spanish and Latin American literature and culture.

SPANISH 260-0: Literature in Latin America before 1888

This course provides an overview of Latin American literature and culture before the modernismo movement of the late nineteenth century. We will study a range of historical contexts and perspectives to consider how early literary texts and narratives shaped the formation of the so-called New World. Our readings will cover topics including colonization, class, gender, and race and will grapple with questions surrounding the meanings of discovery, conquest, and identity. Together, we will consider not only the history of knowledge production in Latin America but also how that history highlights the limits of representation. With these goals in mind, we will explore distinct narrative forms, including but not limited to chronicles, letters, poems, illustrations, and forms of record keeping.

SPANISH 261-0: Literature in Latin America since 1888

This course is an (incomplete) overview of some of the major trends and figures in Latin American literature and culture from 1888 until today. It is also an opportunity for students to improve and practice their Spanish language skills, while getting a better understanding of Latin American's history and cultural manifestations. Throughout the term, we will frame our discussions to consider the following questions: What is Latin American Literature and how has it been understood? Are there common characteristics in the cultural practices of the region that allow us to label them as belonging to a specific category? Is there more than geography in the unity of Latin America? Does Latin America even exist? What does it mean to produce art as a Latin American and why is it different? We will review a variety of literary styles, forms, and concerns, as well as different ideological constructions, to see how artists and thinkers have grappled with these questions since the late 19th century.

SPANISH 346-0: Testimonial Narrative in Latin America

Testimonial narrative is among the most prominent (and controversial) currents in Latin America since the 1960s-1970s Boom. How are we supposed to read such works? As historical documents? As literary texts? Or as both? And what about testimonial cinema? Does that rubric only refer to documentary films, or can fiction films also be read as testimony? Keeping in mind these questions about "how to read," we will first consider testimonial words and concepts, focusing especially on the figure of "the witness," and then analyze well-known testimonial works. Texts include: La aventura de Miguel Littín, clandestino en Chile (exiled filmmaker's secret return home); Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y así me nació la conciencia (indigenous human-rights activist's story); Preso sin nombre, celda sin número (newspaper editor's account of imprisonment during Argentina's military dictatorship). Films include: Acta General de Chile (documents Littín's clandestine "adventure"); Cautiva (daughter of desaparecidos discovers her real identity); Looking for Victoria (young woman recovers memories of disappeared parents); Nostalgia de la luz (astronomers search the skies for the origins of the universe & Chilean citizens search the earth for remains of family members). Secondary materials will offer historical, critical, and conceptual frameworks for analysis of primary materials.

SPANISH 395-0-1: Topics in Latin American, Latina and Latino, and/or Iberian Cultures: (Post)colonial Migrant Stories and Storytellers

The migration experience, with all the social, economic and, above all, emotional and psychological complexities that it involves, has become, especially in recent decades, a significant theme for literary and artistic creation. However, this does not immediately translate into what could be identifiable as a "migrant art." This course will survey the aesthetic production by and about Latin American migrants in Spain, to try to question, through a plurality of voices, whether there could be said to be either a Latin American migrant perspective. We will ask; how do lasting colonial dynamics shape the relationships between Latin Americans and Spaniards, almost 200 years out? Attempting to expand our methodological toolbox, we will also attempt to think in an ethnographic mode to approach the lifeways portrayed in narrative objects. Thus, we will discuss how writers, artists, and the figures they bring to life are embedded within larger social networks and sociopolitical phenomena. Language of the materials and in-class discussion will be Spanish.

SPANISH 395-0-2: Topics in Latin American, Latina and Latino, and/or Iberian Cultures: The Revolt of the Masses. Literature and Culture o

This course examines some cultural milestones of Spain's Second Republic and the Spanish Civil War to explore the debates around the construction of a mass democracy, the emergence of Fascism, and the intellectual commitment of Communist writers and artists. We will explore different textual genres (the philosophical treaty, social novel, political theatre), propaganda posters, photography and film, to examine how cultural production molded public life, and viceversa, how political polarization molded cultural production. The Spanish Civil War is studied as a preface of the Second World War, and consequently as one of the first instances of the ideological clash that marked the following decades. We will pay particular attention to the relation between culture and politics in a national and transnational context. Students will be assigned a mid-term and a final essay.

SPANISH 397-0: Topics in Latin American, Latina and Latino, and Iberian Literatures and Cultures: Decolonial Genealogies, Decolonial Horizons 

 This course surveys some of the most important ideas and arguments produced in Latin American Decolonization Theory and considering future possibilities. Decolonization Theory aims to understand how historical geopolitical conditions both reinforce and are reinforced by ongoing colonial legacies of thought. A substantial amount of writing has been produced around what exactly maintains the coloniality of power (per Quijano), which shapes infrastructure as much as academic inquiry. By identifying the intellectual genealogy of contemporary decolonial thought in Latin America, its critiques, and innovation in the field, we will push toward one crucial question: what is decolonization in the 21st century and what is its method? The development of a notional path for decolonization from Latin America will be discussed, in terms of possibilities and trappings (for example: is there a voice from "Latin America"?). We will consider canonical authors in Latin American literary theory such as Rama and Fernández Retamar alongside contemporary thinkers. Ultimately, the class will foster a commitment to thinking ways for pairing theory and praxis.

SPANPORT 415-0: Studies in 19th Century Literatures & Cultures:Adulterated Nation: Illicit Passions in Turn-of-th

This course will provide students with a nuanced understanding of topics of fin-de-siecle Latin American culture related to the market, aesthetics, and politics. We will explore the relationship between nineteenth century cultural productions and material objects, focusing on the circulation and textual description of these objects. The idea is to understand how certain objects-including but not limited to gloves, watches, umbrellas, books, magazines, newspapers, photographs, albums, cloth, brooms and irons-and parts of the body-including hands, feet, and anuses-revealed an urgent new sensibility regarding material culture and a subsequent reorientation toward objects.

SPANPORT 480-0: Topics in Latin American Literature and/or Iberian Literatures & Culture: Science Fiction in Latin American Literature

It would not be inaccurate to say that until recently, science fiction in Latin America was often viewed as marginal the region's literary production. For much of the twentieth century, Latin American literature with non-realist elements was viewed through the lenses of the fantastic or "lo real maravilloso." As scholars such as Rachel Haywood Ferreira and Soledad Quereilhac have shown, however, Latin America has a robust corpus of texts that can be considered science fiction dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. This course will explore the place of science fiction in Latin America in terms of the genre's relationship to socio-cultural moments and its positioning with respect to both literary canon(s) and popular culture. After considering the question of just what characterizes science fiction as a separate genre, our readings will focus on three moments: the 1920s and 1930s, when science fiction narratives such as Eduardo Urzaiz's Eugenia, Monteiro Lobato's O Presidente Negro and Clemente Palma's XYZ engage questions of national identity and cultural modernity; the post-WWII era, when the Argentine comic series El Eternauta and the work of Cuban science fiction writers Oscar Hurtado and Miguel Collazo explore the relationship of the intellectual to political struggle(s), and the "science fictional turn" of late-twentieth and early-twenty-first century Latin American literature, in which science fiction - and speculative elements - have been taken up by mainstream Latin American literature, resulting in increasingly hybrid literary forms. Readings from this recent literary production will be drawn from the work of writers such as Luis Bras, Jorge Enrique Lage, Rita Indiana Hernández, Luis Noriega, Martín Felipe Castagnet, and Liliana Colanzi. In tandem with these temporal investigations, we will examine Latin American science fiction's relationship to narratives of colonialism, scientific discourses, and ideas of utopia and dystopia. We will end by asking how recent science fictions explore questions of posthumanism and alternative communities.

SPANPORT 496-0: Dissertation Prospectus Writing Workshop

This course seeks to impart to students the knowledge necessary to answer the questions: what is a dissertation, and how do I write one? In the spirit of a workshop, we will work as a group to foster and cultivate the skill sets necessary to formulate and articulate an organizing question adequate to the charge of a significant, independent, multi-year research project. We will call this first stage the prospectus, and we will figure out what it is and how best to write it. We will try to distill multiple and often conflicting statements, expectations, and/or fears about what the dissertation is so we can effectively undertake its preparation and writing.

Back to top