Major-Level Spanish Courses – Spring 2017
All courses are taught in Spanish.
Spring 2017
Spanish 250 – Gateway to the Spanish-Speaking World (GE: FOL-S & WRI)
Section A – Prof. Sylvia Carullo, T 9:35-11:00 / Th 9:30-10:50
Section B – Prof. Ariel Strichartz, T 1:20-2:45 / Th 2:15-3:35
How do you get into the mindset of another culture? How do individuals relate to a society as a whole? In this course, we’ll start to answer these questions with respect to the Spanish-speaking world by exploring different stories and documents about families in Spain from the early 1900s through 2010. We will work with strategies of academic reading in Spanish through analysis of a series of “cultural texts” – from statistical data to periodical press articles to films to a novel. You will respond to these texts and develop your skills in Spanish through class discussions and oral activities, and most importantly, through various modes of academic writing. The course includes participation in out-of-class conversation groups.
Novel: Historia de una maestra (Josefina R. Aldecoa)
Film: La lengua de las mariposas
- 250 is the next course for anyone continuing on after 232/233/234 and is required for all Spanish majors.
- Counts for Women’s and Gender Studies and Family Studies
Spanish 272: Cultural Heritage of Latin America
“Politics of Life and Death in Latin American Literature and Film”
Prof. Kristina Medina Vilariño, T: 11:45 a.m.- 1:10 p.m. / Th 12:45 p.m.- 2:05 p.m.
Life and death have been key concepts for the social organization of all civilizations. In Latin America, for example, the concept of death and afterlife became an element of contention between Pre-Colombian cultures and European colonizers. Death was also a recurrent topic during the Romantic Period (XIX century,) when authors were often inspired by topics of love and nationalism. Later, in the popular literary movement known as the Latin American Boom (1960s-1970s,) led by writers such as Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia,) death and the supernatural were often employed as vehicles to address and represent political turmoil, racial oppression, and economic crisis. These concerns are also present in films set in the 1980s and 1990s, where the directors address (directly or indirectly) histories of dictatorship, genocide, civil war, or violence.
In this class we will examine how the topics of life and death can illuminate a discussion of the concerns, historical events, and political contexts of different parts and social groups of Latin America. We will focus on the following question: How do stories of life and death speak about: social values; gender, sex, and class struggles; and multicultural identities, through Latin American literature and film? Students will analyze a variety of literary and non-literary texts: novel [Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo (Mexico), Maria Luisa Bombal’s La amortajada (Chile),] film [Claudia Llosa’s La Teta Asustada (Perú,) Andrés Wood’s Machuca (Chile),] poetry [César Vallejo’s “Los heraldos negros” (Peru),] and short story [Emilio Díaz Valcárcel’s “La muerte obligatoria” (Puerto Rico.)] Cultural materials such as media, art, advertisement, photography, and cartoons will sometimes inform class discussions.
- Pre-requisite: Spanish 250
- Counts as a “Focus on Latin America” course
Spanish 275 – Exploring Hispanic Literature (GE: ALS-L):
“Memory and Literature”
Prof. Jonathan O’Conner, T 1:20-2:45 / Th 2:15-3:35
Through Historia de una maestra and the novels you’ve read in other 270-level courses, you have learned about culture and perspectives in the Spanish-speaking world. Now, you’re ready for the next step: to read literary works as “literature” and not just “cultural documents.” In this course, you will explore what makes a text literary. You will learn the words to describe literature, the properties that distinguish it, and ways to analyze it. We will read short stories, a novel, theater, and poetry.
Literature is about stories, the stories we tell about who we are, where we come from, where we’re going, and what happens on the way. Like Historia de una maestra, many of our stories focus on memories. With memory as our theme, we will read texts from across the Spanish-speaking world, including the Mexican novel, Pedro Páramo, by Juan Rulfo.
- Pre-requisite: Spanish 250
- Required for the Spanish major
Spanish 276 – Spanish as a First and Second Language
Prof. Maggie Broner, MWF 9:05-10:00
So, you have been learning Spanish as a second language for many years, but…have you ever wondered how a second language is learned and acquired? Or have you ever asked yourself why you acquired English “effortlessly” while you really need to work hard at learning Spanish? And, when you started to learn Spanish, did you ever ask yourself why some countries use vos, and you only learned tú and usted? This course will introduce you to the cognitive and social processes involved in learning and using Spanish as a second language. You will also explore Spanish as a first language through the study of the different varieties (dialects) of Spanish spoken in the Spanish-speaking world, as well as the influence of English and other languages on Spanish in situations of language contact (e.g., Spanish in the U.S.). In order to do all this, you will learn some fundamental notions from the fields of Second Language Acquisition and Hispanic Linguistics. Finally, you will have a chance to work on your oral proficiency and work on your pronunciation.
Tentative reading list:
- Packet of journal articles and book chapters/ and or textbook (TBD)
- The novel El plan infinito (Isabel Allende)
- Required for the Spanish major (prerequisite for Spanish 311)
- Includes analysis of your current oral proficiency
- Counts for Linguistic Studies concentration
Spanish 311: Language and Society
“Spanish in Contact with Other Languages”
Prof. Maggie Broner, MWF 11:50-12:45
This course explores what it means to live between two, or more, languages and tries to answer two broad questions: What does it mean to live in areas where more than one language coexists and/or clashes? And what are the common practices of bilinguals? To do this, this course exposes students to the study Spanish in contact with other languages and bilingualism in the Spanish-speaking world. Through critical analysis of relevant studies, students will analyze the effects of different contextual and cognitive factors in those areas of the Spanish-speaking world where more than one language “coexists,” “lives,” or “clashes.” We will explore this topic from two theoretical approaches: language contact and bilingualism. In particular, we will analyze Spanish in contact with other languages in three geographic regions: Spain, Latin America and the United States. Topics include the impact of language policy (for example, the effect of nationalism and political ideology on the use of the languages of Spain), language rights of linguistic minorities (e.g., linguistic rights of indigenous groups in Latin America), the impact of ideology on the use of “standard Spanish” in the language classroom, etc. There will be a particular emphasis on Spanish and English in contact in the United States.
Tentative Reading List:
- Klee, C. A. and Andrew Lynch (2009). El español en contacto con otras lenguas. Georgetown University Press.
- Montrul, S. (2013). El bilingüismo en el mundo hispanohablante. John Wiley & Sons.
- Lecturas adicionales (en Moodle, E-reserve y fotocopias)
- Montoya, Maria Cristina. (2015) Mi vida en los Estados Unidos: Jóvenes de herencia hispanoahablante escriben sus experiencias
- Counts as an 3XX elective for the Spanish major
- Includes an Academic Civic Engagement (ACE) component in the Northfield community.
- Counts for the Linguistic Studies concentration
- Counts for Race and Ethnic Studies
- Depending on Emphasis, counts as a “Focus on Latin America” or a “Focus on Spain” for the Spanish major (consult with instructor at beginning of the course)
Spanish 313 – Literature and Society in Spain (GE: ALS-L)
“What Is a Meaningful Life?”
Prof. León Narváez, T 9:35-11:00 / Th 9:30-10:50
What is a meaningful life? How do human beings vary in their understanding of that life? What do they seem to communicate as to the nature of a meaningful life? What do Spanish writers of the past convey about the possibility of leading a life that has meaning? There is a general focus in our society on happiness and “the pursuit of happiness.” How does happiness relate to having a life of meaning?
As we consider these questions and others, we will read some of the works that mattered to me when I was a teenager and in my twenties. We will explore together how they had an impact on my life, how they influenced my view of the meaningful life, as well as your understanding of these works. I will have the opportunity to consider again the importance of literature in my life and for you to consider its importance, if any, in yours.
What we will read is expected to include:
- Lazarillo de Tormes, a novel by an unknown author
- Selections from El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, a novel by Miguel de Cervantes
- Don Juan Tenorio, a play by José Zorrilla
- Pepita Jiménez, a novel by Juan Valera
- Portions of Torquemada en la hoguera, a novel by Benito Pérez Galdós
- Essays written by José Mariano de Larra and Azorín
- San Manuel Bueno, Mártir, a novel by Miguel de Unamuno
- Poetry written by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Federico García Lorca, and others
- Historia de una escalera, a play by Antonio Buero Vallejo
- Pre-requisites: Spanish 250 and 275
- Either 313 or 314 is required for the Spanish major
- Can count as a 300-level elective if you’ve already taken 313 or 314 (with a different topic)
- Counts as a “focus on Spain” course