Fall 2004

(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 136
Spanish for Heritage Speakers I
Staff
TR 10:30-12:00

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

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. Espòsito
(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 2:00-3:00

An excellent course for students wishing to study in Barcelona, Spanish 230 provides an accelerated introduction to the language, history and culture of the Països Catalans. This course will give students an intensive functional preparation in standard Catalan with the hope that students will acquire a more-than-basic knowledge of Catalan language and culture. In addition to developing oral and writing skills, reading and writing assignments will focus on the history, literature and culture of the Catalan-speaking areas of Spain, France and Italy. Catalan will be used as the language of instruction as much as possible. Requirements include frequent quizzes, hourly examinations and a final during finals week. Prerequisite: advanced work in another Romance language.

Prerequisite(s): 200-level course in a Romance Language.

Spanish 250
Major Works in Spanish and Latin American Literature
Prof. Regueiro
MW 5:00-6:30

From the rise of the novel with Cervantes' Don Quixote in early-modern Spain to the Latin American "boom" with García Márquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude, this course will examine these and other major works in Hispanic literature within the cultural, political, and social context of each period.

Spanish 317
Spanish Phonetics and Morphology
Prof. Espòsito
MWF 11:00-12:00

Spanish 317 is an introduction to Hispanic linguistics, with special emphasis on the Spanish sound system and structural morphology. Topics to be covered include articulatory phonetics, use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), English and Spanish contrastive phonology, regional and social variations of Spanish pronunciation, word formation and classification, verbal inflection and semantics. Requirements include readings in both Spanish and English with quizzes, in-class examinations, and a final examination during finals week.

Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 350
Don Quijote and the Reading Madness
Prof. Fuchs
TR 10:30-12:00

In this course, we will focus on Don Quijote as a compendium of writing and reading practices in early modern Spain. We will discuss different genres--chivalric romance, picaresque, Moorish novella, pastoral--in relation to both their specific social and political contexts and the broader literary production of sixteenth-century Europe. Central questions will include: How does Don Quijote portray the relationship between literature and history? What is the relation between genre and historical circumstance? And how do reading practices impact our understanding of texts?

Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 380
After the Empire. Spain and the Moderns
Prof. López
TR 3:00-4:30

After the loss of the Spanish colonies in Cuba and the Philippines in 1898, Spain faced for the first time its existence as a nation. The nation had an international projection since its inception, and it had always existed as an empire. The loss of the colonies meant the end of
this expansion and the beginning of an inward discourse in search of the "Spanish" character. In this course we will explore the different manifestations fo this character in
the work of authors of different generations, including among them Unamuno, Azorin, Baroja, Perez de Ayala, Ortega y Gasset, Maeztu, Salaverria, Basterra, Maragall, Sabin
Arana and Castelao. Two exams, class participation including an oral report, and a final paper will decide final grade.

Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 386
Eschatological Avant-gardes: the Strange Case of Iberian Surrealism
Prof. Nadal
TR 4:30-6:00

In this seminar we will examine the persistence of eschatology in Spanish Surrealism. From the work of painter Maruja Mayo to the films of Luís Buñuel, and from the poetics of the entire Generación del 27 to the intricacies of their shared Jesuit schooling, we will establish an alternative view of the Spanish historical avant-garde that is not embedded in the modernist narrative of the new but rather on an obsessive and existentialist exploration of the figure of "the end".

Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 390
Fiction in Focus: The Contemporary Spanish American Novella
Prof. Knight
TR 12:00-1:30

The second half of the twentieth century has been called the era of the Spanish American novel, and with good reason. This phenomenally creative period gave rise to many works of critical and popular success that have attracted a worldwide readership. This course will present a number of the major creators of this exciting nueva narrativa through their short novels. Authors covered include Arguedas, Carpentier, Ferré, Fuentes, García Márquez, Onetti, Rulfo, Skármeta, and Vargas Llosa. As they progress through the course, students will become familiar with fundamental tendencies in contemporary Spanish American fiction, learn techniques essential for narrative analysis, and develop an appreciation for the concise, intense genre of the novella.

Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 395
Theater of Liberation and Democracy
Prof. Regueiro
MWF 1:00-2:00

In a series of contemporary plays, the course will study theater as testimony to the social and political changes in Spain and Latin American in the 20th century. From pre- to post-Franco Spain, and from the naturalist drama in the early 20th century to the post-modern experiments in the theater of the absurd in Latin America, we will examine works by Rafael Alberti, José Luis Alonso de Santos, Robert Arlt, Ricardo Halac, Osvaldo Dragún, and others.

Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 396-401
Women on the Move: Exiles, Emmigrants, and Travelers
Prof. García-Serrano
MWF 2:00-3:00

In this course we explore the experiences of Latin American women who left their homeland and settled in a foreign country. This includes Cuban artists (Lourdes Casal and Dolores Prida) who emigrated to New York; Argentine writers who after being persecuted and even tortured by the military dictatorship (Partnoy, Mercado) fled to United States and Mexico; Central American poets (Gioconda Belli, Claribel Alegría) who were uprooted from their places of birth by civil wars; and affluent Venezuelan "ladies" (Teresa de la Parra) who found Paris a more permissive and understanding society than at home. We will also learn about women who visited Latin America (Remedios Varo, Fanny Calderón de la Barca) and decided to stay. Throughout the course, we will pay attention the political, economical and personal reasons behind these exiles. The main focus of our class will be to study how the cultural displacement experienced by these exiles, immigrants and travelers have altered their perception of their country and of themselves.

Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 396-402
Tales of Mystery and Murder from Latin America
Prof. Fradinger
MW 4:00-5:30

An introduction to some of the best Latin American short crime fiction. We will analyze adaptations, appropriations, and subversions of classic detective, fantastic and hard-boiled fiction focusing on issues like the uses of irony and parody, the relation between fiction and history, social critique, and dark humor, seen through the prism of the crime story. We will read short stories and novels by Horacio Quiroga, Manuel Peyrou, Jorge Luis Borges, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Julio Cortázar, Gabriel García Márquez, Carlos Fuentes, and Juan Carlos Onetti.

Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 396-403
The Spaces of Latin American Utopia
Prof. Gomez
TBA

Since its “discovery,” America has been described as a utopian place informing historical, philosophical, and literary works. On the one hand, the concept of utopia stands for a critique of the existing order, and on the other it argues for social arrangements that seen as improvements to or culminations of the existing social order. This course will explore the evolution of Latin American utopian spaces--both geographical and imaginary—from early colonization up to the 20th century. We will first attempt to discern the main components of utopias and dystopias, and then read and discuss texts of ideal societies in Latin America. Utopia will thus be considered both as a philosophical and as a political concept. The course will analyze the techniques that have been used to create such a rhetoric, and the place of imagination in utopian cultural discourses. We will study letters, essays, novels, theoretical analyses, and other cultural artifacts. Among the authors examined are: Colón, Cabeza de Vaca, Ercilla, Bolívar, Sarmiento, Vasconcelos, Carpentier, Rodó, Cortázar, Allende, and Zoe Valdés.

Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 397-401
Cinema Minimo
Prof. Solomon
MW 3:00-4:30

This course explores the phenomenon of low budget, no budget, tiny cast, no crew, short duration and made-on-vacation filmmaking in Spain and Latin America. Following a brief history of short films from the early 20th century-- including the extraordinary silent work of Segundo de Chomón--this course will investigate the way students and amateur filmmakers have recently taken the camera and editing equipment into their own hands and challenged the tyranny of the feature length film through the electronic dissemination of low cost shorts. During the semester we will view more than one hundred films (30 seconds to 15 minutes in length) covering all genres including horror, melodrama, erotica, comedy, documentary and musical clips. We will study the technical and logistic aspects of on-line film festivals such as Solocortos.com (Argentina), NoTodo.com and Minutoymedio.com (Spain), while comparing these recent popular cinematographic movements to other minimal formats such as those developed in years past in Mexico (superocheros and narcocinema) and Latin America (Tercer cinema documentary).

Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

For more information, please click on the following link
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/romance/spanish/solomon/fable/CinemaMininmo/Description.htm

Spanish 397-402
The Bull: Lifting the Cape of Hispanic Sex and Gender
Prof. Salessi
TR 1:30-3:00

From the caves of Altamira at the very beginning of the history of representation in Spanish culture, through the labyrinth of Greek mythology, to the ruedo of the Spanish corrida and Latin American representations of civilization and barbarism, the bull has been a seminal figure in Mediterranean, Spanish and Latin American civilization. Examining texts and films by Pedro Almodóvar, Bigas Luna, Esteban Echeverría, Rómulo Gallegos, Federico García Lorca, Jorge Luis Borges, and others, the class will explore some of the social, cultural and political meanings and uses of the representation of the bull in Hispanic culture.

Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 397-403
The Latino/a Experience in the United States
Prof. Sisk
MWF 10:00-11:00

This course will explore the many facets of the Latina/o experience in the United States, and the specific histories and cultures that mark the trajectories of individual sub-ethnic groups and their representation, including the history of the three distinct communities that constitute the largest percentage of the category “Latina/o:” Chicano/Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans/Nuyoricans, and Cuban Americans. The course will also examine other growing groups, such as the Dominicans and Colombians, whose recent presence expands the notion of a Latina/o identity within the United States. The course will particularly address transnational communities and their relationships to Latin America. Among the topics that will be discussed in the course are: the Chicano Movement, transnational communities, political exile, music and identity, and gender/sexuality. Readings in Spanish and English; classroom discussion and all written assignments in Spanish. A number of film screenings outside of class time will be required.

Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.

Spanish 400-301
Conference Course for Majors: Globalization and Culture in Latin America
Prof. Laddaga
TR 10:30-12:00

The course will examine the impact of globalization in Latin American cultures.
We will propose an overview of the political, social and economic processes
that have shaped the region in the last couple of decades, and we will analyze
texts, films and websites that show the undercurrents of change that are
shaping its present.

Spanish 400-302
Conference Course for Majors: Liberalism and Modernismo in Latin America
Prof. Salessi
TR 12:00-1:30

Reading and discussing texts, novels, poems, historical and scientific documents of end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, the class will explore the literature and culture of Latin America, when the liberal economic and cultural project became the central ideology of the process Latin American nation formation. Authors will include: Darío, Martí, Ingenieros, Silva, Mercante, Ramos Mejía, and others.

Spanish 400-303
Conference Course for Majors: The Liberal Tradition: Romanticism and
Realism in Spain
Prof. Lopez
TR 1:30-3:00

A study of the canonical authors of the nineteenth-century in Spain. In this course we will pay attention to the main literary genres of the period, the connection between literary works and the social and political movements, the position of the writer, and the evolution of the artistic taste. Two exams, class participation including an oral
report, and a final paper will decide final grade.