101 Beginning Spanish I
Designed for students
who have not taken Spanish before, this course
develops the basic skills in understanding,
speaking, reading, and writing the language.
Beginning Spanish I, as well as the other courses
in the beginning and intermediate levels, use a
combination of master classes with the regular
instructor and small groups and individual
practice with the multimedia materials
accompanying the text. (Offered each semester)
102 Beginning Spanish II
A continuation of
Beginning Spanish I, this is normally the
appropriate level for students who have taken
recently one year of Spanish in high school. The
course combines master classes with the regular
instructor, and practice sessions using the
multimedia materials accompanying the text.
Prerequisite: SPAN 101 or the equivalent.
(Offered each semester)
121 Intermediate Spanish I
The intermediate
level of Spanish is designed for students who
have completed the beginning Spanish sequence,
or students whose previous language studies place
them at that level. The course further develops
the basic language skills acquired in the
beginning sequence through the intensive study
of grammatical structures, continued attention to
oral and written communication, and an
increased emphasis on reading comprehension.
Written Spanish is practiced through short essays
and oral expression and through the creation of
dialogues and situations. The course combines
master classes with the regular instructor, and
practice sessions using the multimedia materials
accompanying the text. Prerequisite: SPAN 102
or the equivalent. (Offered each semester)
122 Intermediate Spanish II
A continuation of
Intermediate Spanish I, this course introduces
the student to the more complex aspects of
grammar, continues vocabulary build up, and
emphasizes oral and written communication
through discussion of textual material, situation
dialogues, and the writing of short essays. The
course combines master classes with the regular
instructor and practice sessions using the
multimedia materials accompanying the text.
Prerequisite: SPAN 121 or the equivalent.
(Offered each semester)
203 Advanced Spanish: Conversation and Composition
This course focuses on the Spanish
grammar acquisition process with a particular
focus on listening comprehension and speaking.
In addition to traditional grammar learning,
students will refine their Spanish language skills
by practicing oral expression. Aural comprehension,
idiomatic usage, fluency, and language use
in everyday situations will be emphasized.
Prerequisite: Completion of the intermediate
Spanish sequence or the equivalent. (Offered each
semester)
204 Spanish for Heritage Speakers
A comprehensive
review of the Spanish language that
targets the particularities of the bilingual
condition, this course introduces students to
issues that are relevant to the different Hispanic
populations living in the United States.
Readings, exercises, and class discussions address
the specific needs of the bilingual student.
Students in this course also have the opportunity
to work with the diverse Hispanic communities
living in the area. Prerequisite: permission of the
instructor. (Molina, offered alternate years)
221 Spanish in Film and Song
This course uses
Spanish and Latin American music and cinema
to refine the student’s language skills beyond the
intermediate level. Team work is emphasized in
the creation of multimedia projects tailored to
the needs of the group and the individual. Scripts
and lyrics are used as text to introduce students
to popular culture and current events in today’s
Hispanic world. In addition, students develop a
script writing project. Prerequisite: Completion
of the intermediate Spanish sequence or the
equivalent. (Liébana, offered annually)
225 Hispanic Media: Contemporary Issues
This
course focuses on contemporary issues as
presented in the media of Spain, Latin America
and U.S. Latino communities. The Internet,
printed, audio and visual media will provide the
foundation for class discussions, oral presentations,
critical analysis and journalistic writing.
Prerequisite: Completion of the intermediate
Spanish sequence or the equivalent. (Müller,
offered annually)
231 Translation I
A situational approach to
translation, this course provides practice in
translation in everyday situations, such as may
occur at banks, post offices, airports, immigration
offices, through role-playing, skits, and “real-life”
writing assignments. A contrastive analysis of
English and Spanish grammar as appropriate to
translation is a fundamental aspect of the course. This course is highly recommended for bilingual
students and students who intend to teach either
Spanish to English speakers or English to Spanish
speakers, since it addresses the major areas of
conflict between Spanish and English. Prerequisite:
Completion of the intermediate Spanish
sequence or the equivalent. (Offered annually)
260 Advanced Spanish: Grammar and
Composition
This course focuses on the Spanish
grammar acquisition process with a particular
focus on writing and reading. In addition to
traditional grammar learning, students will refine
their Spanish language skills by practicing
written expression with directed and original
composition exercises. Reading comprehension,
idiomatic usage, and language use in various
written genres will be emphasized. Prerequisites:
Completion of the intermediate Spanish
sequence or the equivalent. (Offered annually)
316 Voces de mujeres
Designed to introduce
students to Hispanic women’s discourse, this
course is an introduction to the critical analysis
of texts written by women from Spain and Latin
America. Class discussions confront issues of
race, class, gender, sexuality and nation; the
relationship between gender and writing, and
the dialogue of the analyzed texts undertaken
within their historical and cultural context.
Prerequisites: Two courses from level II and
above, one of which must be 203, 204 or 260.
(Molina, offered annually) Typical readings: Santiago, Cuando era
puertorriqueña; Gerúa Morales, Él sur; Laforet,
Nada; Alegría, No me agarran viva; works by
Poniatowska, Storni, Garro, and others
317 Arte y Revolución
This course offers an
introduction to literary discourse through the
exploration of literary genres, and the particular
vocabularies, strategies and devices they employ.
A number of critical approaches are brought to
bear on a variety of representative contemporary
Latin American texts. Comparisons are drawn
between literary works and the forms of other
artistic media, such as films, paintings, and songs.
Students sharpen their critical and communicative
skills through oral and written responses to
texts. Prerequisites: Two courses from level II and
above, one of which must be 203, 204 or 260.
(Paiewonsky-Conde, Spring, offered annually) Typical readings: Stories by García Márquez,
Rulfo and Borges; the poetry of Neruda; essays by
Alegría; paintings by Rivera and Kahlo; songs by
Parra, Blades, and others; novels by Fuentes and
Sábato, and theatre by René Marqués
321 Cuentos de América Latina
Against a
background of contemporary theory on the
genre, the course examines this ancestral drive to tell a story in its multifaceted manifestation in
Latin America. Moving from the forms of the
oral tradition (anécdota, chiste, cuento popular)
to the popularly rooted stories of Bosch, Rulfo
and Allende, to the metaphysical games of
Borges and Cortázar, and from the Amazon to
the urban centers, from the Andes to the
Caribbean, the course ends with an examination
of the multi functionality of feminine voices in
the present generation of women storytellers.
Students sharpen their receptivity as listeners
and readers as well as exercise their skills as
inventors and narrators. Prerequisites: Two
courses from level II and above, one of which
must be 203, 204 or 260. (Offered alternate years) Typical readings: Stories by writers
mentioned above and also Quiroga, Bombal,
García Márquez, Poniatowska, Valenzuela,
Sánchez, Vega
336 Spain: the Making of a Nation
This course
takes an approach to the development of
contemporary Spain and Spanish national
identities in the context of Western civilization.
It studies and discusses historical background,
economic and political patterns, literary and
artistic development (Cervantes, Velázquez,
Goya, Picasso), as well as cultural traditions and
folklore. Some of the issues the course addresses
are: Jews, Muslims, and Christians; imperial
Spain and the psychology of conquest; the myth
of Don Juan; the Gypsy paradox. Prerequisites:
Two courses from level II and above, one of
which must be 203, 204 or 260. (Liébana, offered
alternate years) Typical readings: Ugarte, España y su
civilización; Pereira-Muro, Culturas de España; films
by Buñuel, Berlanga, Saura and Almodóvar;
paintings by el Greco, Dalí, and Picasso
343 Masterpieces of Spanish Literature
A
chronological study of selected masterpieces of
the Peninsula from their genesis in the Middle
Ages to the present with an emphasis on the
historical, political, and sociological factors that
have shaped Spanish culture and society. An
appreciation of the essential features of different
literary periods (e.g., Renaissance, Baroque,
Romanticism) and of correspondences to other
artistic media. Prerequisites: Two courses from
level III or the equivalent. (Liébana, offered
alternate years) Typical readings: Lazarillo de Tormes; poetry
by Garcilaso, Góngora, and Quevedo; Calderón,
La vida es sueño; Unamuno, San Manuel Bueno,
mártir; García Lorca, La casa de Bernarda Alba
344 Survey I: Spain
This course focuses on key
moments in the development of Spanish
Peninsular Literature from the Middle Ages to the
(post) modern period. Through the analysis of poems, short stories, essays and other historical
and experimental genres, this class seeks to
explain and exemplify essential themes of the
Spanish literary tradition: race and ethnicity;
nation, Empire, and foreign influence; cultural
customs and the appraisal of modernity; gender
issues and the reflection on literature, individuality
and artistic language. Prerequisites: Permission
of the instructor. (Müller, offered alternate years)
345 Survey II: Latin America
This survey
course is designed to introduce students to key
authors and literary movements from the
colonial to the modernist period. Students read
and discuss selections from major works and will
analyze these texts from a historical and sociopolitical
perspective. This class will also explain
and exemplify essential themes of the Latin
American literary tradition such as race,
ethnicity and gender; Empire and nation
formation, the colonial and neocolonial
condition and others. Prerequisites: Permission of
the instructor. (Molina, offered alternate years)
346 Latin American Women’s Writings
This
course encompasses one or more topics
concerning female experience as represented in
texts written by women in Latin America. Class
themes and discussions center on issues such as
women as writers; the female body and violence;
women and power; women as agents of history;
or female voice/female silence. Prerequisite: Two
courses from level III or the equivalent. (Molina,
offered alternate years)
360 Special Topics. Dark Heroes: Melancholia in Western Culture
This course examines the
Spanish contribution to the historical development
of the notion of melancholia within Western
culture and thought. Starting with a question that
is more than two thousand years old, “Why are all
great people melancholy?”, this course investigates
the interrelation between sadness, anxiety and
creativity on the literary and philosophical level,
while taking into account the heterogeneous historical, cultural and political background of this
nexus. A reading list combining historical,
theoretical and critical texts will supply an
introduction to the complex development of the
notion of melancholia from a Spanish perspective.
Prerequisites: Two courses from level III or the
equivalent. (Müller, Fall 2006)
361 The Sounds of Spanish: Phonetics and Dialects
This course takes students one step
further in their study of the Spanish language
with an introduction to the biological mechanics
of native sound production. Students work
together to approximate the sounds created by a
native speaker of Spanish and the develop an ear
for native versus nonnative sounds. Once these
tasks are accomplished, students are introduced
to the phonetic variation found in the Spanishspeaking
world with particular emphasis on the
social advantages and disadvantages that these
variations produce. Prerequisites: Two courses
from level II or the equivalent. (DeSantis, Fall,
offered annually)
362 Generations of 1898 and 1927
From the
Spanish American War (1898) to the Spanish
Civil War (1936) there was a period of
extraordinary literary and artistic production.
This course focuses on the study of the two
generations that compose what is known as the
second Golden Age in Spanish literature. The
socio historical conditions and the literary
currents that affected this period in Spanish
history are examined in the light of the concept
of “generation” in the arts. Prerequisites: Two
courses from level III or the equivalent. (Liébana,
offered every three years)
372 Contemporary Spanish Novel
A study of
the novel after the Spanish Civil War, the course
focuses on some of the major novelists writing
during the Franco regime (1939-1975), and the
new generation of authors of the post-Franco
period. Such topics as the trauma of the Civil
War, censorship and creative freedom, the New
Wave novelists, and female voices in Spanish
fiction are addressed. Movies based on contemporary
Spanish novels are part of the course.
Prerequisites: Two courses from level III, or the
equivalent. (Liébana, offered alternate years)
410 Spanish Golden Age: Renaissance and Baroque
This course analyzes major works of
Spain’s most influential literary and cultural
period (1492-1700). It focuses on topics that
have become foundational to modernity such as
the relation of author and authority, selffashioning
and orthodoxy, perspectivism and
ethnocentrism, religious thought and secular
power. This class will examine the literary texts
in the larger context of Renaissance culture, and
explore their interrelations with history,
philosophy and art, and their preceding Italian
and contemporary Elizabethan counterparts.
Prerequisites: Two courses of level III or IV, or
the equivalent. (Müller, offered alternate years)
420 Contemporary Latin American Novel
This
course focuses on reading and discussion of major
works by the generation of Latin-American writers
know as the Latin American “boom” and important
precursors. Consideration is given to the political
factors that inform the ideological premises of these
writers. (Paiewonsky-Conde, offered every three years)
450 Independent Study
460 Special Topics: In the Shadow of Dulcinea
This course examines the complex social,
literary and philosophical aspects that underlie
the ideology of love developed in Spanish
literature during the Late Middle Ages and Early
Modernity. Through intensive textual readings
students approach conventional as well as
subversive models of love and lovers, along with
issues in gender identity, female literacy, and
politics of sexuality. The analysis of gender
relationships uncovers the taboos and the
repressed aspects of the Early Modern culture
and the self. Prerequisites: Two courses of level
III or IV or the equivalent. (Müller, Spring 2007)
490 Cervantes: Don Quixote
This course offers
careful analysis of the style, characterization, theme,
and structure of Spain’s greatest literary masterpiece,
and study of the work’s relationship to major social
and intellectual currents of the 16th and 17th
centuries. (Paiewonsky-Conde, offered every three
years)
495 Honors
COURSES TAUGHT IN ENGLISH (SPNE)
314 Spanish Cinema
In this course students
examine the production of the major Spanish
filmmakers from Buñuel to Almodóvar. Through
screenings of films, class discussions, and readings
on film theory and film history, students trace the
evolution of Spanish cinema through Franco’s
military dictatorship and under the new democratic
system. Themes of exile and censorship, gender
and sexuality, religion and sin, among others, are
explored in the context of Spanish society and in
relation to other artistic manifestations of Spanish
culture. Prerequisite: Open to all; recommended for
sophomores and above.
320 ¿Spanglish? Issues in Bilingualism
This
course examines the ever-growing bilingual
Spanish/English population in the United States
from both a linguistic and sociolinguistic point
of view. Students first explore linguistic and
sociolinguistic history by looking at the specific
events that lead to the merging of Spanish and
English along with prior notions of bilingualism.
They then look at the present linguistic and
sociolinguistic state of bilingualism through
current research as well as conduct their own
research by exploring the local bilingual
community. Prerequisites: SPAN 101 or 102, or
equivalent. (Offered alternate years)
330 Latina Writing in the United States
This
course examines works by women writers of
Hispanic descent in the United States. It
explores the dynamics of gender, race, and
sexuality as it affects the writers’ identities as
Latinas. The works analyzed are placed in
critical dialogue with the changing U.S. cultural
and political attitudes towards an ever-growing
Latino population. Prerequisite: Open to all;
recommended for sophomores and above.
(Molina, offered alternate years)
345 The Paradoxes of Fiction: Latin American Contemporary Narrative
This course examines
some of the most representative works by the
generation of Latin American literary giants
known as the “Boom.” This is a fiction that lays
bare the paradoxes at the very core of fiction:
exposing the double-sidedness of boundaries,
turning life inside out and death outside in,
dismantling the construction of subjectivity, and
constantly assaulting and reconstructing the
reader’s own identity. And yet for all this, the
reader is always caught in the very dense web of
socio-historical conditions (and at times
gruesome political reality) of Latin America. It
is, therefore, a literature responsive to the whole
of human experience. Prerequisite: Open to all;
recommended for sophomores and above.
(Paiewonsky-Conde, offered alternate years)
355 García Márquez: the Major Works
This
course provides a close study of major novels and
stories by this extraordinary writer, as well as
some of his journalistic pieces and key interviews.
Consideration is given to both the
political and magic-realist perspectives in his
work. The context of ideological controversy
(the politics of culture) in contemporary Latin
America is examined. Prerequisites: Open to all;
recommended for sophomores or above.
(Paiewonsky-Conde)
Spanish & Hispanic
Studies News
For more information, contact:
Edgar Paiewonsky-Conde, Associate Professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies, ext. 3632, 207 Smith Hall
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