Christopher C. Oechler

Assistant Professor

Spanish

Contact

Email

coechler@gettysburg.edu

Phone

(717) 337 - 6862

Box

Campus Box 0411

Address

McKnight Hall
Room 046
300 North Washington St.
Gettysburg, PA 17325-1400

Education

PhD The Pennsylvania State University
MA New York University in Madrid

Academic Focus

Golden Age Spanish Literature

Christopher C. Oechler, Assistant Professor of Spanish at Gettysburg College, holds a Ph.D. in Golden Age Spanish Literature from the Pennsylvania State University and an M.A. in Spanish Literatures and Cultures from New York University in Madrid. Professor Oechler’s research and teaching interests include Golden Age culture, history, and literature, especially theater (on the page and in performance) as well as the continuing appeal of Golden Age texts and plays in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. He has published articles that emphasize the ideas of performance and history in literary works, and his current research explores the connections between different forms of historical thought and Golden Age plays that dramatize Spain’s national past. He is particularly interested in analyzing the political, cultural, and historiographical implications of staging Lope de Vega’s play Fuente Ovejuna during the years surrounding the Spanish Civil War. Professor Oechler is also currently working with a team of Gettysburg College students to create a virtual-reality model of a seventeenth-century Spanish playhouse, the Corral del Príncipe.

Courses Taught

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.
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.
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.