Spanish Studies: Upper Division Courses

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SP A310 Written Communication (3)
Reading and analysis of authentic language materials to develop written expression. Refining of communicative strategies for accurate expression of ideas. (To be taken concurrently with SP A315). Prerequisite: SP A210 or equivalent.

SP A315 Oral Communication (3)
Development of fluent oral expression through communicative activities stressing listening comprehension, structural accuracy and systematic approach to vocabulary expansion. (To be taken concurrently with SP A310). Prerequisite: SP A210 or equivalent.

SP A410 Advanced Written Communication (3)
Continuation of SP A310. Description, narration and exposition in topics of particular interest and special fields of competence. (To be taken concurrently with SP A415). Prerequisite: SP A310 and SP A315 or equivalent.

SP A415 Advanced Oral Communication (3)
Continuation of SP A315. Accuracy and fluency in oral expression in topics of particular interest and special fields of competence. (To be taken concurrently with SP A410). Prerequisite: SP A310 and SP A315 or equivalent.

SP A416 Business and Professional Spanish (3)
Application of language skills and cultural awareness to specific business and professional practices. This course counts toward credit in the minor and major field. Spring Semester.

SP A418 Spanish Culture and Civilization (3)
Presentation and discussion of significant cultural, social, economic and political events and issues that have shaped Spain: its institutions, its cultural and artistic developments.

SP A419 Three in One: The Hispanic Experience (3)
This course provides an understanding of the language variation, value systems, religious beliefs and assumptions about reality of Hispanic culture in its three manifestations: modern day Spain, Latin America, and the Hispanic groups in the United States.

SP A420 Introduction to Hispanic Literature (3)
This introduction to Hispanic literature will examine the different genres and representative texts to enable the students to acquire a working knowledge both of the literary history of the genres and the analysis of literary texts in Spanish. Prerequisite: SP A410 and SP A415.

SP A421 Language and Linguistics (3)
Crosslisted with FR-A421, GR-A421 and RU-A421. An introduction to the basic concepts and application of linguistic studies, presentation and discussion of three main aspects of

SP A422: Language Acquisition (3)
This course reviews major theories about how second or foreign languages are learned and what factors influence the process. We will discuss what these theories mean to the teacher, the learner, and the policy maker, and what the theories tell us about psychology and linguistics. Taught in English.

SP A423 Spanish Phonetics and Phonology
Theoretical and practical approach to Spanish phonetics and phonology from the dual perspective of the underlying representation of sound units and their pronunciation within syllables, words, and phrases. Auditory comprehension and sound discrimination practice, with transcription exercises and attention to correct pronunciation. Prerequisite. SP-A 410 and 415 or equivalent.

SP A424 Contemporary Latin American Short Story (3)
Short story trends, themes and techniques. Selections from outstanding authors with emphasis on Borges, Cortázar and García Márquez. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A425 Early Latin American Short Story (3)
This is a survey course that examines a generous selection of classic Latin American short stories (1839-1945). The texts are considered in the context of the complex cultural transformations that swept Latin American society from Independence to the Second World War. Literary texts are also discussed in relation to other cultural materials (movies, art,music). Texts and materials are organized around 5 different topics: Between Tradition and Politics, The Violence of History, The Many Faces of Modernity, Critical Realisms and Founders of the Present. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A426 Latin American “Modernism” (3)
Survey course that examines the literary expressions of the debate on Modernity and Modernization in Latin America in the period 1820-1920. Topics such as national identity, the creation of modern cities, the education of women and the role of minorities will be examined through an anthology of short stories, articles, poems, essays and comics. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A427 Contemporary Latin American Poetry (3)
Survey course that analyzes a representative group of Latin American poets. Main themes and formal characteristics of these authors will be discussed. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A428 Early Latin American Novel (3)
Survey course that examines the Latin American novels written between 1890 and 1940. The class presents an overview of the major movements that informed the novels of the period such as Naturalism, Indigenism, Historicism, Futurism and other Avant-garde trends. The issues of the construction of national identity and the formation of modern civilized societies will be addressed. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A429 Contemporary Latin American Novel (3)
Survey course that examines the Latin American novels written between 1940 and 1970. Main themes and formal characteristics of these novels will be discussed in the context of the so-called “Latin American Boom.” Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A430 Latin American Thinkers (3)
Systematic analysis of predominant themes among current Latin American thinkers. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A431 Contemporary Latin American Drama (3)
Survey course that analyzes the development of Latin American theater through the Twentieth-Century. Different schools and trends will be discussed. Occasionally this course will focus on specific issues or group authors (i.e. women playwrights, etc.). Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A432 Afro Hispanic Literature (3)
This course examines the literary contributions of Afro-Hispanic writers from Spanish America and Equatorial Guinea in order to discuss the complexity of the African experience in the Spanish-speaking world from the colonial period to the 21st Century. In addition to the discussion of race and class issues, the class focuses on the subject of Canon formation and Canon exclusion in order to bridge the real and imagined gaps between Afro-Hispanic literature and that written by canonized writers in Spanish America and Spain. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A433 Latin American Novel After 1970 (3)
Survey course that analyses a representative group of Latin American novels written after 1970. Main themes and formal characteristics of these novels will be discussed in the context of the so-called Post-Modern Era. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A434 Latin American Film
An overview of Latin American Cinema, focusing on four different moments of its history: The Golden Age of the Mexican Melodrama, The Populist Comedy, The New Latin American Film Movement and The Last Generation. Directors included are: Buñuel, Torre Nilsson, Sanjinés, Rocha, Gutiérrez Alea, Lombardi, and Ripstein. Special emphasis will be given to the development of critical strategies to discuss film narratives and subgenres. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A435 Latin American Testimony (3)
This course examines the diverse strategies used by Latin American testimonial literature to interpret today’s realities. Through the analysis of testimonials, the students will develop an understanding of the complexity of Latin American culture and society. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A436 Women’s Literature in Latin America (3)
This course introduces the students to the work of Latin American women writers from the Colonial period to the Twentieth-Century. The discussion will focus on the history of women’s education, concepts of beauty, the role of women in the society and the construction of women’s identity. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A437 Latin American Literature and Film (3)
Survey course that examines the relationship between some masterpieces of contemporary Spanish American Literature and their adaptations into film by some of the major directors of Latin American cinema. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A438 Stereotypes in Latin American Culture
This course examines the origin of stereotypes surrounding different social groups in Latin America. Its objective is to enable students to develop a critical attitude vis-à-vis with the linguistic learning process. Confronting stereotypes involves different fields of knowledge such as socio-linguistics, history, literature, politics, film and all art in general. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A439 Contemporary Spanish Women Writers (3)
On the edges of the canon. Introduction to a century of women’s writings from the “Generation of ‘27” to present day authors. Analysis of novels and short stories by contemporary women writers of Spain. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A441 Spanish Literary Culture (3)
History of the merger of Christian, Arabic and Jewish influences on Spanish literary culture. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420. (Offered occasionally.)

SP A443 Cantar De Mio Cid, Libro de Buen Amor and La Celestina (3)
Close reading and discussion of three medieval Spanish masterpieces, which have remained modern throughout the ages. Insight into social, historical, literary and creative issues (Offered occasionally.)

SP A454 Golden Age Drama (3)
The Spanish theatre of the 16th and Seventeenth centuries. Analysis of the works of Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Juan Ruiz de Alarcón and Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A455 Don Quixote (3)
A close reading and analysis of Cervantes’s masterpiece. Focus on its significance for modern fiction. The concept of the hero and the concept of the plot. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A459 Western Sephardi Diaspora (3)
Iberian Jewry in the Middle Ages and after the expulsion from Spain in 1492 and the forced conversions of Portugal in 1497. Study of the social, intellectual, and religious world of the Sephardi communities in Western Europe. Responses to rabbinic Judaism: Uriel d’Acosta, Baruch Spinoza, Isaac Cardoso, and I. Orobio de Castro. Recommended

SP A461 Spanish Romanticism (3)
Doctrinaire romanticism compared and contrasted with authentic Spanish romanticism. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A462 Nineteenth-Century Spanish Novel (3)
Costumbrism, naturalism and social revolution in Fernán Caballero, José María de Pereda, Emilia Pardo Bazán, Juan Valera, Benito Pérez Galdós, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, and Leopoldo Alas. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A466 Generation of 98 (3)
Modernism, politics, and language in major contemporary prose fiction writers: Miguel de Unamuno, Pío Baroja, Ramón del Valle-Inclán, Gabriel Miró, Ramón Pérez de Ayala, and Ramón Gómez de la Serna. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A467 Twentieth-Century Spanish Thought (3)
Major contributors to contemporary Spanish social, philosophical, political and literary thought: Miguel de Unamuno, José Ortega y Gasset and F.X. Zubiri, P. Laín Entralgo. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A468 Contemporary Spanish Short Stories (3)
In-depth analysis of short stories by Bécquer, Alas, Pardo Bazán, Valle-Inclán, Salinas, and Benet, among others. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A470 Twentieth-Century Spanish Poetry (3)
Antonio Machado, Juan Ramon Jiménez, Pedro Salinas, Aleixandre, Federico García Lorca, and Blas de Otero: Nuances of existential dilemmas. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A471 Twentieth-Century Spanish Novel (3)
Ideology and literature in selected novels by Camilo José Cela, Carmen Laforet, Ramón J. Sender, Juan Goytisolo, Elena Quiroga, A.M. Matute, Miguel Delibes, and Luis Martín-Santos. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A472 Twentieth-Century Spanish Drama (3)
Themes and aesthetics of Alejandro Casona, Federico García Lorca, Alfonso Sastre, F. Arrabal, and Buero Vallejo. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A473 The Picaresque and the Origins of the Novel (3)
An inquiry into the beginnings of the Picaresque tradition and its role in the origins of the novel. Lazarillo de Tormes, Guzmán de Alfarache, El Buscón, La Pícara Justina. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

SP A474 Peninsular Spanish Poetry 1965-Presenti
Study of a selection of the most representative poetic production in Spain from 1965 to present time: novísimos, postnovísimos, el boom femenino, poesía de la experiencia.

SP A475 Spanish Novel after 1970 (3)
Study of the most significant directions to the Spanish novel from 1970 to the present day. Change and continuity in society and the novel. Recommended prerequisite: SP A420.

Sp A477 Spanish Women Poets (3)
Historical analysis and literary interpretation of a representative selection of modern and contemporary Spanish women poets. Authors: Carolina Coronado, Rosalía de Castro, Concha Zardoya, Gloria Fuertes, María Victoria Atencia. Recommended prerequisite SP A420.

SP A488 Senior Inquiry: Research Project (0)

SP A489 Senior Inquiry: Comprehensive Examination (0)

SP A493 Special Topics (1-3)

SP A495 Senior Residency (0)
Required for graduating seniors.

SP A498 Advanced Independent Study (0-3)

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