Spanish 251A/B: Gender & Race in Latin America
OLE CORE: WAC & WLC
Section A: Prof. Mariana Reyes Payán MWF 9:05-10:00
Section B: Prof. Ariel Strichartz MWF 12:55-1:50
This course focuses on gender and race in Latin America and explores gender roles, femicide,
intersectionality, activism, and Latin America’s deep-rooted history of activism and resistance to
oppression. To capture a wide range of experiences and voices, we work with short stories,
articles, podcasts, films, songs, and poems from across Latin America. We include objective
sources that focus on providing information, as well as subjective sources that narrate human
experiences – people’s stories. In the process, we also work on developing our academic
language skills in Spanish, especially through writing with the use of textual evidence. Includes
participation in 3 out-of-class conversation groups.
Spanish 271: Cultures of Spain: “Discovery, Conquest, or Invasion?”
Prof. Jonathan O’Conner MWF 12:55-1:50
Prerequisite: Spanish 250 or 251
In 2014, Minneapolis became one of the first large cities in the United States to change
Columbus Day, which traditionally commemorated Christopher Columbus’ October 12 arrival in
the Americas, to Indigenous People’s Day. More recent conflicts in the United States have
centered on what to do with names and monuments that honor historical figures that embody
racism and oppression. Who tells the story of the past and whose views get represented are
questions intricately linked to power and identity not just in the United States, but globally. In
this course, we will take a critical approach to Spain’s narratives of conquest and colonization.
Although this course has traditionally focused on Spanish perspectives, we will consider them
alongside Latin American perspectives in order to understand how these narratives undergo
constant transformation. Counts as a 270-level elective for the Spanish Major and for the Latin
American Studies major.
Spanish 275 – Exploring Hispanic Literature: Masculine Textualities in Latin American
Literature (Caribbean Focus)
OLE CORE: CRE
Prof. Kristina Medina-Vilariño T 1:20-2:45/ TH 2:15-3:35
Prerequisite: Spanish 250 or Spanish 251
El cantante puertorriqueño de trap, Bad Bunny, se presentó en febrero del 2020 en el Tonight
Show vestido con falda. La imagen impresa en su camisa llevaba un reclamo de que “mataron a
Alexa [,] no a un hombre con falda.” Alexa fue una mujer transgénero asesinada en un violento
crimen de odio en Puerto Rico que aún queda sin resolver. Este violento incidente se convirtió en
un punto de referencia crucial en la sociedad moderna puertorriqueña, y criticaba las
representaciones del género o la sexualidad de Alexa publicadas en los medios masivos de
comunicación en PR. Las masas de fans aplaudían el acto de Bad Bunny, en persona y online, incluyendo algunos escritores y artistas activistas LGBTQ+. Sin embargo, en mayo del 2021, un
sector del senado en el Capitolio de Puerto Rico, defendía la legalidad de las terapias de
conversión. Estas últimas han sido reconocidas como “tortura” por muchos sectores sociales que
defienden los derechos humanos, y https://repeatingislands.com/2019/04/15/haitian-
photographer-breaking-the-mold-of-caribbean-masculinity/ven las terapias de conversión sexual
como una práctica violenta de homofobia y transfobia.
Este contraste refleja el choque de distintas ideologías que operan entre las comunidades
caribeñas más allá de Puerto Rico y alcanzan a sus diásporas. Mientras que el contrato social de
gran parte de lo/a/e s jóvenes caribeñe/a/os en el 2024 pareciera ser la aceptación de una mayor
libertad sexual y el rechazo de cualquier binario de género, la realidad diaria nos recuerda que las
expectativas culturales no han cambiado del todo.
Este curso explora el concepto de la masculinidad en el caribe latinoamericano a través de la
literatura, el cine y el intertexto. Algunas secciones de los textos incluidos en esta clase
contienen un lenguaje sexual gráfico que podría resultar ofensivo para algunas personas.
Aquell@s estudiantes que tengan alguna reserva personal con este tipo de contenido pueden
discutir alternativas con la profesora durante la primera semana de clases. Analizaremos textos
literarios, incluyendo poesía, novela, crónica y ensayo. Los estudiantes explorarán la relación
entre intertexto, cultura, raza, política y masculinidad dentro de movimientos sociales y políticos,
con un énfasis en el discurso literario anticolonialista. Al final del semestre los estudiantes
crearán un proyecto digital comparativo, enfocado en el tema del curso y sus respectivas
profesiones.
Spanish 276: Spanish as a First and Second Language
Prof. Maggie Broner MWF 2:00-2:55
Prerequisite: Spanish 250 or Spanish 251
¿Qué significa hablar bien una lengua? ¿Por qué es el español una lengua minoritaria en los
Estados Unidos? ¿Por qué se enseña el español como una lengua extranjera y no como una
segunda lengua en los Estados Unidos? ¿Por qué los libros de texto de español introducen el uso
de “vosotros” pero no “vos”? ¿Qué es Spanglish y quién lo habla? This course will critically
explore these, and other, questions related to the acquisition and use of Spanish as first, Heritage,
and second language in a social context. The course introduces the cognitive and social processes
involved in learning, acquiring, and using Spanish as a second language. In addition, Span 276
explores Spanish as a first and Heritage language through the study of the different varieties of
Spanish spoken in the Spanish-speaking world, with particular emphasis on Spanish and English
bilingualism in the U.S. The questions also invite us to look at the intersections between
language and identity. In order to do all this, this course will introduce some foundational notions
from the fields of Second Language Acquisition, Hispanic Linguistics, and sociolinguistics. This
course is required for the Spanish major. Counts for Linguistic Studies concentration and counts
for RACE.
Spanish 312: Voices of the Spanish-Speaking World: Indigenous Narratives Latin America
Prof. Américo Mendoza-Mori MWF 12:55-1:50
Prerequisite: Spanish 250 or 251 and at least one 270-level course
Across Latin America (Abya Yala), Indigenous peoples have preserved and transformed cultural
traditions through storytelling, literature, music, arts, and other forms of cultural expression.
These traditions offer ways of understanding history, community, language, and relationships
with the environment that often challenge dominant national narratives. In this course, we will
explore Indigenous perspectives from the precolonial and colonial periods to the present through
the analysis of literary and cultural texts.
Students will encounter a range of Indigenous traditions and perspectives from across Abya Yala,
including Quechua, Aymara, and Mapuche from the Andes; Nahuatl, Maya, Mixe, and Zapotec
from Mexico and Central America; and Taíno from the Caribbean. Through these materials, we
will examine themes such as oral archives, Indigenous knowledges, colonial encounters,
language politics, and contemporary movements for cultural revitalization. Particular attention
will be given to contemporary Indigenous voices and intellectual contributions. The course will
include the reading of Ää: Manifiestos sobre la diversidad lingüística (2020) by Indigenous Mixe
scholar and writer Yásnaya Elena Aguilar, a collection of essays that reflects on language
diversity, Indigenous identity, and the politics of cultural justice in Abya Yala.
Spanish 314: Literature and Society in Latin America: “Love and Magical Realism:
Overcoming the Challenges of Life”
NOTE: Students may register for Spanish 314 more than once provided a different topic is
offered.
Prof. León Narváez T 11:45-1:10/ TH 12:45-2:05
Prerequisite: Spanish 275
Among English-speakers one sometimes hears references to “the power of love” and much is
written about love, particularly the love between man and woman as well as family love
(between parents and children, between siblings, between grandparents and grandchildren). At
the same time some people deny human capacity to overcome difficulties and profound changes
in life through love. Is it possible to sustain love between two people under extremely adverse
conditions? Are there biological and social forces that ‘drive us to love’? What matters at the end
of a human life: the political, social, and economic history of a society or the history of the
family? What has ultimate meaning: the history of a nation or the love of a committed couple
based on shared perceptions, experiences, and esteem?
Even among those who believe in the power of love, there are differing opinions with respect to
the importance of the love of God. For many novelists toward the end of the past century and
today, God does not appear to exist, or at least the force of God in human life is never
communicated. In Spanish 314 we will explore these and other themes in a series of literary
works written in Latin America. We will analyze not only the authors’ perspectives but also the
techniques employed to communicate them. Our particular focus will be the use of magical
realism. In addition, we wish to develop our linguistic capacity, that is to say, our capacity as readers, speakers, and writers of Spanish. We hope to stimulate our appreciation of the verbal art
of Hispanic writers as we comment on aspects of that art.