Courses

Fundamentals of understanding, speaking, reading, and writing Spanish. Enrollment based on Spanish placement test results, except for those who have had one year or less of high school Spanish.

Fundamentals of understanding, speaking, reading, and writing Spanish. For students who have completed Spanish 101 or its equivalent, or based on Spanish placement test results.

Overview of Hispanic cultures through readings and films, with emphasis on written and oral expression in Spanish. Through community-based education and cultural activities students gain a deeper understanding of the vast diversity of the Hispanic world. Prerequisite: Spanish 102 or consent of department. For students who have completed Spanish 102 or its equivalent, or based on Spanish placement test results.

Continuation of an overview of Hispanic cultures through readings and films, with more emphasis on written and oral expression in Spanish. Through community-based education and cultural activities students gain a deeper understanding of the vast diversity of the Hispanic world. For students who have completed Spanish 201, or based on Spanish placement test results.

An intensive summer language course centered on a cross-cultural service-learning experience in Argentina. The course integrates language classes and diverse cultural activities (folk-dancing and tango lessons, museums visits, and fieldtrips to archeological sites) with service at an orphanage and at a rural elementary school. Exposure to the cultural, social and geographical diversity of Argentina enhances linguistic as well as cultural competencies. This course may be taken after 201 or 202 as part of the two course sequence that fulfills the foreign language requirement.

Exercises in directed and free composition; extensive interaction with Spanish language and Hispanic cultures through readings, films and other media; group discussion and presentation of individual oral work; review of grammar and syntax at an advanced level. Organized around a central topic of importance in the Hispanic world. Prerequisite: Spanish 202, consent of department, or based on Spanish placement test results. Required for the major or minor (must achieve a “C” or better), and for the combined Spanish/LACLS major.

Students review grammar and syntax at an advanced level while they engage in various writing styles in Spanish. Students learn various cultural aspects about the Latino community in the United States and about Latinos as a diverse group in the Spanish-speaking world through readings, films, and other media. Students acquire better understanding of Spanish as a heritage language while students discuss various Latino cultural topics and issues.

Introduction to basic critical approaches to the reading of literary and cultural texts. Through the careful study of works in different genres, students acquire a knowledge of analytical skills and critical terminology in Spanish. Prerequisite: Grade of C or higher in Spanish 301/302, or consent of department. Required for the Spanish major and counts toward the minor; or towards the combined Spanish/LACLS major, and as MI-Humanities.

Analysis of Latin American cinema, through gender perspectives, within specific social, historical, and cultural contexts. How does early Latin American cinema represent the relationship between gender and nation? How does this representation evolve in recent decades, through the work of Latin American women interested in issues like gender and violence, the memory of the dictatorships, sexuality, and migration? We will cover documentary and fiction films from Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, etc.

Advanced composition and conversation course that explores a theme related to Iberian and/or Latin American Cultures, organized around a nationality, region, artistic or historical period, or event. The course uses a variety of literary and cultural texts, and may include film, television, music, visual arts, spoken word and periodicals. Prerequisite: SPAN 305. Counts toward the Spanish minor, or as an elective for the major, and as MI-Humanities.

Study of the Spanish language with a focus on comparing at least three different centuries. Includes analysis of cultural and historical factors that have influenced the development of Spanish. Several sections, each with a different topic, are offered from year to year. Prerequisite: Span 304. Counts toward the Spanish minor, or as an elective for the major.

A study of song lyrics and lyric poetry from the earliest transcriptions of Spanish medieval song to contemporary poems and songs of Spain and Latin America. This course focuses on the relationship between form and content, noting major influences on the poetry of each period. Appreciation is considered a primary goal as students read, recite, analyze, and discuss a wide array of verse. Alternate years. Prerequisite: Spanish 305 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, or toward the combined Spanish/LACLS major, and as MI-Humanities.

Study of the cinema of Spain with emphasis on films made since the 1975. Examines film theory and technique. Considers how the interactions between audiences and political and commercial institutions influence movie content and film art and form. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: Spanish 305 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, and as MI-Humanities.

Study of the transatlantic nineteenth-century Hispanic world, looking particularly into its most decisive literary, historical and cultural moments. Examinations include narratives, essays, poetry and visual arts. Facilitates strategies for the interpretation of a selected corpus of texts grounded on aesthetic, cultural and ideological conflicts, creation of political contexts, and social change. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: Spanish 305 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, or toward the combined Spanish/LACLS major, and as MI-Humanities.

Study of the drama of Spain and Spanish America through the ages. Focus varies from semester to semester, based on such aspects as literary period, common theme, historical development, and dramatic theory. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: Spanish 305 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, or toward the combined Spanish/LACLS major, and as MI-Humanities.

This course is an introduction to the analysis of visual media: films, documentaries, shorts, digital media and graphic novel/comics. Through an in-depth analysis of a variety of visual texts, students acquire knowledge of theoretical and analytical skills to examine the relationship between the story structure and the visual structure. Students also acquire knowledge of critical terminology in Spanish. Prerequisite: SPAN 305 or permission of the department.

In this course we will analyze the literature and cinema of Central America from the "official" end of the civil wars that affected the region: Guatemala (1960-1996), El Salvador (1980-1992) and Nicaragua (1979-1990). We will examine stories, short novels and cinema to understand the legacies of war and violence. We will focus much on writers and distinguished directors as well as lesser-known artists. We will study global issues such as injustice, inequality, poverty, the environment and migration for a better life. At the same time, we will consider the political, social and cultural history of Central America. By doing this, we will realize that the post-war dilemmas are still connected to other problems such as colonialism; race, gender and sexuality; war and trauma; indigenous movements and human rights. Prerequisite: Spanish 305, or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, or toward the combined Spanish/LACLS major, and as MI-Humanities

Texts include some of Spain’s greatest literary and artistic masterpieces. These works, which address issues of honor, gender relations, social class, ethics, national identity, and empire, remain as relevant and engaging in the 21st century as they were 400 years ago. Prerequisite: Spanish 305 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor.

Study of literature written by women during Spain’s Golden Age. This course analyzes plays, poems, autobiographies, and novellas of women writers to understand how the authors respond to and challenge gender roles in their patriarchal society. Additionally, the course explores topics in the literature related to sexuality, misogyny, identity, agency, and empowerment within the history and culture of Golden Age Spain (15th through 17th centuries). Prerequisite: SPAN 305 or consent of the department. SPAN 365 and WGS 365 are cross-listed.

Studies in the essay, poetry, prose fiction, and drama of the major writers of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries in Spain. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: Spanish 305 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, and as MI-Humanities.

Study of major literary and cultural trends and works in Spain, beginning with the resurgence of Spanish literature in the 1940s and continuing to the present day. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: Spanish 305 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, and as MI-Humanities.

Study of Miguel de Cervantes’ timeless masterpiece, Don Quixote de la Mancha, considered the first modern novel, Don Quixote de la Mancha, remains one of the funniest stories ever told. Besides the complete novel, readings include essays about the European political, social, and religious/philosophical climate from which this great novel arose. Prerequisite: Spanish 305 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, and as MI-Humanities.

Examines the development and progression of Latina and Chicana literature written in Spanish since its emergence due to the Chicano movement during the 1960s in the United States and the massive migrations from Latin America to the United States during 1980’s. Subsequently, it analyzes the construction of self-identity through the buildungsroman genre, mainly. Discussions and readings are based on canonical Chicana and Latina texts (novels, short stories and poems) that demonstrate the influence of Latin American culture and its migration to the United States. Prerequisite: Spanish 305 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, or toward the combined Spanish/LACLS major, and as MI-Humanities.

Emphasis on the narrative of the 'boom' and beyond in Latin America. Major writers of the 20 & 21st centuries. Prerequisite: Spanish 305 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, or toward the combined Spanish/ LACLS major, and as MI-Humanities.

An advanced course focusing on the contemporary literature of the Hispanic Caribbean. The course includes an analysis of a variety of literary genres, and considers the ways in which they represent and help shape their historical and cultural contexts. Prerequisite: Spanish 305 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, or toward the combined Spanish/LACLS major, and as MI-Humanities.

Study of the textual productions resulting from the initial centuries of the Iberian invasion, conquest and colonization of the Americas in the early stages of globalization. Readings and discussions focuses on the study of European and pre-Columbian imaginaries, and their impact on long-standing representations of Latin America. Goals include the analysis of a variety of discursive practices integrated into the process of colonization and how they have pervaded the understanding of Latin America. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: Spanish 305 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, or toward the combined Spanish/LACLS major, and as MI-Humanities.

Introduction to Spanish phonetic and phonemic theory and analysis, applied to improve pronunciation skills. Study of variation in pronunciation in Spain and Latin America. Three lecture hours and one practice. Prerequisite: Spanish 304 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, and as MI-Social Science.

An advanced Spanish linguistic survey of language that focuses on the relationship between linguistic forms and their users across Latin America and the United States. This course exposes students to linguistic, sociological and anthropological approaches to language and culture. This course also examines how context contributes to the meaning of utterances in the Spanish language. Prerequisite: Spanish 304 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, and as MI-Social Science.

Synchronic study of different linguistic theories that analyze Spanish words and sentences. The course presents a broad view of Spanish syntax and morphology, taking into account the results of recent research, but not assuming familiarity with current theories. A combined descriptive and theoretical approach is used to help students understand how different elements of the Spanish language relate to one another and why Spanish is spoken the way it is today. Prerequisite: Spanish 304 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, and as MI-Social Science.

Introduction to linguistic issues that have arisen in areas of contact between Spanish and other languages (English, Quechua, Catalan, and African languages, among others). Social and linguistic features will be addressed. A range of contact situations throughout the Spanish speaking world will be reviewed, with a view to gaining a better understanding of linguistic change in general. Prerequisite: Spanish 304 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor, and as MI-Social Science.

An introduction to sociolinguistics, with a focus on research conducted on the Spanish language. Throughout this course students will examine the theoretic framework and methodologies associated with the study of linguistic variation. At the end of the course students will be able to identify linguistic variables, formulate a hypothesis, and choose and apply a methodology to investigate the variable using data from a spoken corpus. Prerequisite: Spanish 304 or consent of the department. Counts toward the Spanish major or minor.

Spanish of the U.S. explores the varieties of Spanish spoken in the United States through an interdisciplinary perspective. The class looks at the history of Spanish and Spanish speakers in this country, as well as their current situation. Linguistic variation of Spanish is explored as it relates to social, geographic, educational, generational and other variables. Effects of Spanish and English in contact are studied, as well as the politics of language. Prerequisite: SPAN 304

Overview of Spanish syntactic, morphological and phonetic variation in Spain, Latin America and elsewhere. Spanish variation is used as a vehicle to introduce linguistic theories, methods, and problems as applied to Spanish. Attention is also given to relevant linguistic topics, such as Spanish dialectology, sociolinguistics, bilingualism and field research. Prerequisite: Grade of C or better in Spanish 301/302 or consent of department.

Directed and specialized studies in Spanish. Course is taken by seniors during the final semester in order to complete their undergraduate work. Offered every spring. Prerequisite: Limited to seniors, except with permission of the department. Required for Spanish majors.

Individualized tutorial counting toward the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded A-F

Individualized tutorial counting toward the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded S/U

Individualized tutorial not counting in the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded A-F

Individualized tutorial not counting in the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded S/U

Individualized research counting toward the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded A-F

Individualized research counting toward the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded S/U

Individualized research not counting in the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded A-F

Individualized research not counting in the minimum requirements in a major or minor graded S/U

Internship counting toward the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded A-F

Internship counting toward the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded S/U

Internship not counting in the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded A-F

Internship not counting in the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded S/U

Summer Internship graded A-F, counting in the minimum requirements for a major or minor only with written permission filed in the Registrar's Office.

Summer Internship graded S/U, counting in the minimum requirements for a major or minor only with written permission filed in the Registrar's Office

Half credit internship, graded S/U.