Fall 2003

(Course information subject to change)
(Cross-reference with Department Roster)

Spanish 110
Elementary Spanish
Staff
(See Timetables for times)

This course is intended for students with no previous study experience in Spanish. It introduces students to the language and to Hispanic culture, while promoting the development of the four language skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Students develop the ability to communicate in Spanish in everyday, practical situations and begin reading and writing short texts in the language.

Spanish 112
Elementary Spanish: Accelerated
Staff
MWF 9:00-10:00; TR 9:00-10:30

This is an accelerated course designed for the student who has already achieved intermediate proficiency in a second language and wants to study Spanish as a third language. The course covers two semesters of the regular Spanish course in one semester. Students wishing to enroll must have prior approval from the Coordinator.

Spanish 115
Spanish for the Medical Professions I
Staff
MW 6:30-8:45 PM

This course introduces beginning students to the fundamentals of practical Spanish usage in medical situations. The course is two-pronged: linguistic competence in Spanish will be stressed along with a focus on applied medical terminology. Emphasis will be placed on all four skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing, with a specific focus on perfecting speaking and listening skills. Students will be expected to participate actively in classroom activities such as role-playing based on typical office and emergency procedures.

Spanish 120
Elementary Spanish
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
(Prerequisite: Spanish 110 at Penn)

Spanish 120 is the continuation of Spanish 110. Students who place into a second-level Spanish course in the placement test should take Spanish 121.

Spanish 121
Elementary Spanish
Staff
(See Timetables for times)

Spanish 125
Spanish For the Medical Professions II
Staff
MW 6:30-8:45 PM

Spanish 130
Intermediate Spanish
Staff
(See Timetables for times)

Spanish 130 is a third-semester content-based language course designed to help students achieve intermediate-mid competency in Spanish. It emphasizes the development of reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in an academic context. Throughout the course, students will explore the history and literature of Spanish-speakers in the United States, Spain, Central America and the Caribbean. This course emphasizes the linguistic skills necessary to investigate, understand and express cultural themes in Spanish. Prerequisites: Spanish 120 or equivalent score on the placement exam or SATII.

Spanish 135
Spanish for Medical Professionals, Intermediate I
Staff
MW 6:30-8:30 PM

Spanish 140
Intermediate Spanish
Staff
(See Timetables for times)

Spanish 140 is a fourth-semester content-based language course designed to help students achieve intermediate-mid competency in Spanish. It emphasizes the development of reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in an academic context. Throughout the course, students will explore the history and literature of Spanish-speakers in Central and South America. This course emphasizes the linguistic skills necessary to investigate, understand and express cultural themes in Spanish. Prerequisites: Spanish 130 or equivalent score on the placement exam or SATII.

Spanish 145
Spanish for the Medical Professions, Intermediate II
Staff
MW 6:30-8:30 PM

Spanish 180
Spanish Conversation in Residence
Staff
Time TBA

Students must be residents of the Modern Language College House.

Spanish 202
Advanced Spanish
Staff
(See Timetables for times)

The main goal of this course is to build students' oral proficiency while increasing their awareness of Hispanic culture. Reading, listening, and writing skills are also practiced. Reading and listening materials provide opportunities for students to be exposed to authentic language use and to integrate these forms into their speaking. Some expository writing is done with the goal of perfecting students' command of linguistic structures and cohesive devices.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 140 or equivalent.

Spanish 208
Business Spanish I
Staff
(See Timetables for times)

This course is designed to develop students' use of Spanish for business purposes. It is conducted in Spanish. In addition to technical vocabulary, an outline of the geography, demography, forms of government, and current economic issues facing Latin American countries and Spain is presented in lectures, readings, and translations.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 140 or equivalent.

Spanish 212
Advanced Spanish Syntax
Staff
(See Timetables for times)

A rigorous advanced grammar course. Emphasis on acquisition of a solid knowledge of all important points of Spanish grammar, plus rules governing colloquial usage. Required of all majors and minors. Also useful for non-majors who wish to improve their language skills before beginning advanced courses on culture, or for those who want a practical working knowledge of Spanish for career work. Class work consists mostly of discussion and correction of assigned exercises.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 202 or equivalent.

Spanish 215
Spanish for the Professions I
Staff
MW 5:30-7:00 PM

Spanish for Professions is designed to provide advanced-level language students (post-proficiency) with a wide technical vocabulary and understanding of key areas in the developing Latin American countries. Emphasis is placed on the enhancement of technical vocabulary and solid communicative skills. A series of topics including politics, economy, society, health, environment, education and science and technology will reveal realities and underlying challenges in the Latin American scenario. Through essays, papers, articles, research, discussions, case studies, and videotapes we will take an in-depth look at the dynamics of Latin American societies and the outlook for their future. The course will focus on - but not be restricted to - Mexico, Cuba and Argentina. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 202 or equivalent.

Spanish 219
The Contexts of Hispanic Civilization
Prof. Esposito
(See Timetables for times)

The primary aim of this course is to develop students' knowledge of the geographical, historical, and cultural contexts in which Spanish is used. At the same time that they are introduced to research techniques and materials available in Spanish, students strengthen their language skills through reading, oral presentations, video viewing, short papers, and a final research project. The course is designed to give students a broad understanding of Hispanic culture that will prepare them for upper-level course work. Required of all majors and minors. Discussion and all class requirements in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 212.

Spanish 230
Intensive Catalan Language and Culture
Prof. Espòsito
MWF 10:00-11:00

This course provides an accelerated introduction to the language and culture of the Països Catalans. This course will give students a functional preparation in standard Catalan. In addition to developing oral skills, reading and writing assignments will focus on the history, literature and culture of the Catalan-speaking areas of Spain, France and Italy. Prerequisite(s): 200-level course in a Romance Language.

Spanish 325
Spanish and the Romance Languages
Prof. Espòsito
MWF 11:00-12:00

Spanish and the Romance Languages is an introduction to Romance philology and linguistics, using Spanish as both the point of departure and the common in-class Romance lingua franca. The course will study the linguistic taxonomy of Spanish as compared to the other Romance Languages. Topics to be covered include the comparative external linguistic histories of the various Romance languages; the invention of "Ibero-romance"; the structure of the Spanish lexicon in light of the other Romance languages; Spanish syntactic innovations; the colonial linguistic enterprise. Discussion and all class requirements in Spanish. Interest in a second Romance language is desirable. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 337
The Medieval Spanish Fable
Prof. Solomon
TR 10:30-12:00

This course engages in a close examination of brief narratives from Medieval and Early Modern Spain. We will read fables, myths, legends, ballads, and miracles, paying special attention to the way in which these stories are appropriated and used to develop national identities, individual codes of conduct, and notions of the self. Readings include selections from Barlaam y Josafat, the Libro de los engaños, the Conde Lucanor, the Milagros de Nuestra Señora, the Cantigas de Santa María, the Romancero viejo, Isopete, and the Libro de buen amor. Discussion and all class requirements in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 350
Spanish Literature of the Golden Age: Marginal Subjects in Imperial Spain (1492-1681)
Prof. Willstedt
MWF 12:00-1:00

First modern European empire, champion of Catholic orthodoxy within and without its expansive frontiers, forcefully driven to define its collective national identity after the momentous events of 1492, Spain became during the XVIth and XVIIth centuries the site of powerful new discourses of difference. Yet, despite the ever increasing efforts at orthodoxy -- or maybe because of them --, some of the most canonical and popular literary works and authors of the time chose to represent (and construct) the images of those "others" living on the margins of society excluded from the body politic.

This course will focus mainly (but not exclusively) on conversos, moriscos, pícaros, slaves, and women, both as subjects as well as producers of texts. These will include two of the most influential literary works of the time (La Celestina and El Lazarillo de Tormes) together with representative shorter texts by Antonio de Guevara, Miguel de Cervantes, María de Zayas, Mateo Alemán, and the Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, among others. The literary readings will be supplemented with contemporary documents (chronicles, letters, biographies, sermons, relaciones, legal and scientific texts, etc.) to gain a more nuanced vision of the Spanish culture and society of the time. Discussion and all class requirements in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 360
Modern Spain: The Enlightenment and the Failure of the National Project
Prof. López
MW 3:00-4:30

A study of the Enlightenment project and its importance in the birth of modern Spain. The 18th century is one of the most complex and enigmatic periods for the understanding of modern Spanish history. Two contradictory forces are at work conditioning the enlightened project. On the one hand, the intellectuals and the monarchs were determined to transform backward Spain through education and through political reform. At the same time, we see an empire that has begun a decline that will be completed in the next 200 years. Due to this decline of its former empire and its sequel of economic stagnation, Spain finds enormous difficulties to assimilate the enlightened project. In this course we study representative texts of the period illustrating the effort made by intellectuals to bring Spain to the level of other modern European nations. At the same time, we explore the reaction of the forces opposing reform in an environment of political decline. Finally, we study the end of the enlightened dream in the light of American and European events, including the Napoleonic invasion of Spain and the reaction against reform that results from the fear of the revolutions in France. Discussion and all class requirements in Spanish. Three exams, a final paper, and class participation will decide final grade. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 380
Contemporary Spanish Literature: Caribbean Migrations: Culture, Displacement, and Identity
Prof. Martínez-San Miguel
TR 1:30-3:00

Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico originated massive migrations to the United States during the second half of the twentieth century. This course reviews the historical backgrounds and patterns of these three major migratory experiences and their impact on cultural representation. Contemporary Caribbean diasporas are studied to challenge traditional definitions of national identity and to propose a specific conceptualization of the Caribbean as a distinct geopolitical and cultural zone within the Americas. Race, sexuality, ethnic identity, gender, and linguistic identity will also be studied in a migratory context. The course also questions the limits between Latin American, Caribbean and Latino identities to arrive at a productive redefinition of the local and the global in the larger study of culture. We will read texts by Reinaldo Arenas, Abilio Estévez, Achy Obejas, Sonia Rivera Valdés, Julia Alvarez, Juan Bosch, Angela Hernández Núñez, Pedro Vergés, Magali García Ramis, Manuel Ramos Otero, Luis Rafael Sánchez, Esmeralda Santiago, and Ana Lydia Vega. The course also incorporates the study of music, film, and the visual arts. Discussion and all class requirements in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 386-301
Spain at War: 1931, 1936, 1939
Prof. López
MWF 1:00-2:00

The Spanish Civil War has been understood traditionally as the historical event where the "two Spains" reached a point of confrontation. Modern studies suggest a different and more complex understanding in which the situation in Spain is not that different from that of other European nations. According to this view, the War in Spain is the preliminary chapter of a wider confrontation of forces in the western world and, since Franco stayed in power until his death in 1975, that same event would last for three decades beyond the end of the world war, a situation repeated in other European nations. In this course we will begin by studying the failure of the democratic project (1931-1936), we will continue with a study of the military and political events of the war (1936-1939) in both their national and international dimensions, and we will conclude with the study of the dictatorship during the post-war period (1939-1975). Discussion and all class requirements in Spanish. Three exams, a final paper, and class participation will decide final grade. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 386-302
Studies in Spanish Culture: Against History: The Contexts of Fiction in Medieval Spain
Prof. Bautista-Pérez
TR 3:00-4:30

Prose forms in Medieval Spain are closely related to the writing of history and other learned discourses such as sermons, philosophical treatises, and legal compilations. The use of prose form for fictional purposes arose from particular social and cultural contexts. Given the relevance of the reception of Crusade, Arthurian and Charlemagne legends in the emergence of fictional prose, the course will explore the meanings and implications of this legendary material and its relation to chivalric ideology, and how the transformations of prose form reflected specific social changes in Medieval Spain. We will read and analyze closely some legends from the Medieval Spanish period such as those of the Swan-Knight, King Arthur and the Round Table, Charlemagne, etc. Discussion and all class requirements in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 390
Introduction to Spanish American Literature: Learning to Curse: Twentieth-Century Latin American Women Writers
Prof. Bruña-Bragado
MWF 2:00-3:00

This course aims to study the wide variety of literary strategies shown by Latin American Women Writers in order to subvert the traditional canon and to find their own creative space. The appealing approaches of reader-response theory, new historicism, and, over all, gender studies (French –Irigaray, Cixous; North –Butler, Wittig; and Latin American Feminism –Guerra, Zavala) will help us to read a selection of poems, plays and short stories, and to disclose and articulate the particular processes implicated in this writings, both as produced by women authors and as a result of Latin American modernity. Some of the authors we will read are, among others: Delmira Agustini, Alfonsina Storni, Teresa de la Parra, Rosario Castellanos, Elena Garro, Julia de Burgos, Griselda Gambaro, and Carla Suárez. Discussion and all class requirements in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 394
The Urban Experience in Modern Latin American Literature
Prof. Laddaga
TR 1:30-3:00

Latin American writers throughout the XXth century have been obsessed with the city. Buenos Aires, México City, Medellín or Havana have been described as spaces of hope and promise, or of violence and desperation. They have been repeatedly constructed as objects of anxiety and/or desire. The ways intellectuals and writers have responded to the city have changed with the century, so much so that it is possible to propose a history of the urban experience in the region through their texts. We will read texts by José Martí, Jorge Luis Borges, Roberto Arlt, Octavio Paz, Mario Vargas Llosa, Carlos Monsiváis, and others. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 396
Blood and Tears: Testimonial Writings by Latin American Women Authors
Prof. García-Serrano
MWF 2:00-3:00

This course aims to study a wide variety of testimonial writings produced by Latin American women during the twentieth century. These testimonial accounts have in common the denunciation of social and political abuses and injustice in Latin America. They differ, however, on almost everything else: structure, use of language and literary devices, type of narrator and implied reader. While analyzing these texts we will question the current theoretical definition of testimonio as well as the grouping of such diverse narratives under one rubric. Some of the texts we will read are: La noche de Tlatelolco by Elena Poniatowska, Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y así me nació la conciencia by Elisabeth Burgos-Debray (ed.), Patria se escribe con sangre by Elvira Sánchez-Blake (ed.), and Una sola muerte numerosa by Nora Strejilevich. Discussion and all class requirements in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 397-401
History of Spanish American Culture: History and Culture of the Andean Region
Prof. Knight
MWF 11:00-12:00

When the Spaniards arrived in South America in the early sixteenth century, they found an empire that extended to Colombia in the north to Chile in the south, an which included present day Perú and Bolivia. This course focuses on writing produced in and about that important Andean Region of Latin America, from the pre-Colombian period through the present. Course materials are drawn from a variety of genres including history, sociology, anthropology, poetry, narrative fiction and film. By exploring literary representations of the Andes set in historical context, students will gain a deeper understanding of the major issues in the cultural development of this fascinating region of Latin America.

Among the authors read will be: Cieza de León, Garcilaso, Guamán Poma, Concolorcorvo, Palma. Turner, Icaza, Mariátegui, Alegría, Neruda, Vallejo, Aguedas, and Vargas Llosa. Films will include The Incas, La boca del lobo, and La vendedora de flores. Discussion and all class requirements in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 397-402
History of Spanish American Culture: Latin American Political History in Literature and Film
Prof. Fradinger
TR 3:00-4:30

How and why do we translate a political event into shared words or images? How do we select the words or images that will transform chaotic experience into a coherent story for others? And, given that we have to mediate experience with words and images, what is the status of its truth? Is experience recoverable in words or images “as it really happened”? Our century in particular has been haunted by the question of how to transmit our painful political experience from generation to generation; our very ability to communicate historical events is at stake. This course will look at three ways of translating political experience into language: history, literature and film (when possible we will look at both documentaries and fictional film). The cases we will study are twentieth-century narratives written in reference to historical events in Spanish America since the times of the Spanish Conquest. We will look at the different narrative and visual strategies that construct a version of a set of events, paying attention to issues like the blurring lines between fiction and fact, the point of view of narration, conflicting versions of a given event, uses and reconstructions of the past to address contemporary events, the cultural and historical context pertaining to the readings.

Among the authors studied will be: Alejo Carpentier, Abel Posse, Julio Cortázar, Reinaldo Arenas, Mario Vargas Llosa, Alicia Partnoy, Tununa Mercado, Tomás Eloy Martínez, and Manuel Puig. Films will include: Sergio Olhovich’s “Bartolomé de las Casas, ” Werner Herzog’s “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” Claude Moreau’s “Toussaint L’Ouverture,” Gutiérrez Alea’s “Memorias del subdesarrollo, Mignona’s “Evita, quien quiere oir que oiga, ” Héctor Babenco’s “The Kiss of the Spider Woman,” Luis Puenzo’s “La historia oficial," and Gustavo Beckis’s “Garage Olympo.” Discussion and all class requirements in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 400
Conference Course for Majors: The Representation of Violence in Hispanic Drama
Prof. Regueiro
(See Timetables for times)

From the commercialization of stage production in the corrales of early-modern Spain to the teatro abierto and teatro independiente of contemporary Argentina, dramatic texts are limited in the representation of violence by the dominant ideology and established forms of social ceremonies prevalent in the cultural context in which they are inscribed. This course will study texts dealing with rebellion, the abuse of power, and tyrannicide in Spain, and with assassination, oppression, and domination in the theater of the absurd, antihistorical drama, and the theater of cruelty in Latin America. Selected readings will include texts by Calderón, Lope de Vega, José Triana, Griselda Gambaro, Rodolfo Usigli, Egon Wolff, Fernando Arrabal, and others. Discussion and all class requirements in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.