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Fall 2007
(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 9-10, TR 9-10:30
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 6-8:30
Spanish 115 is a first-semester elementary Medical Spanish Language course and the first in the Spanish for Medical Personnel sequence. It is designed for students with no prior coursework in Spanish. This course teaches beginning students the fundamentals of practical Spanish with an emphasis on medical situations and basic medical terminology. In this course, particular attention will be given to developing speaking and listening skills, as well as cultural awareness. It incorporates activities, vocabulary, and readings of particular interest to healthcare practitioners, while adhering to the goals and scope of Spanish 110, the first-semester Spanish language course.
Spanish 120
Elementary Spanish
Staff
MTWRF 11:00-12:00
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.
Prerequisite: Spanish 110 at Penn.
Spanish 121
Elementary Spanish
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
Spanish 125
Spanish for the Medical Professions II
Staff
MW 6-8:30
Spanish 125 is a second-semester elementary Medical Spanish Language course for students who have taken Spanish 110/115 at Penn or have placed into Spanish 120/121. This course continues to explore the fundamentals of practical Spanish, with a special focus on medical situations and basic medical terminology. In this course, particular attention will be given to developing speaking and listening skills, as well as cultural awareness. Students will be expected to participate in classroom activities such as role-plays based on typical office and emergency procedures in order to develop meaningful and accurate communication skills in the target language. The class will be conducted in Spanish.
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 the Medical Professions, Intermediate I
Staff
TR 6-8
Spanish 135 is a first-semester intermediate level language course for students who have completed Spanish 120/121/125 or have placed into Spanish 130. Spanish 135 emphasizes the development of the four basic skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) and the acquisition of medical terminology. Students will be expected to participate in classroom activities such as role-playing based on typical doctor/patient interactions as well as other medical situations. Students will also review and acquire other essential tools of communication applicable both inside and outside of the medical field. Students will participate in pair, small-group and whole-class activities that focus on meaningful and accurate communication skills in the target language. The class will be conducted in Spanish.
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.
Prerequisite: Spanish 130 or equivalent score on the placement exam or SAT II.
Spanish 145
Spanish for the Medical Professions, Intermediate II
TR 6-8
Spanish 145 is a second-semester intermediate level language course for students who have completed Spanish 130/135 or have placed into Spanish 140. This course emphasizes the development of reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills within a culturally-based medical context. Throughout the semester, students will learn about those health care issues affecting the Hispanic world. Students will be expected to participate in classroom activities such as communicative activities, role-plays based on typical doctor-patient interactions as well as other medical situations. Students will also review and acquire forms and structures useful both inside and outside the medical field. The class will be conducted in Spanish.This course satisfies the language requirement in Spanish.
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 purpose of this course is twofold: (a) to develop students’ communicative abilities (that is, speaking, listening, reading and writing) in Spanish and (b) to increase their awareness and understanding of Hispanic cultures and societies. Homework and classroom activities are designed to help students build their oral proficiency, expand and perfect their knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical structures, improve their reading and writing skills, and develop their critical thinking abilities. The readings for this class include short stories, newspaper articles, poems, songs, cartoons, and the novel by Gabriel García Márquez, Crónica de una muerte anunciada. Three Hispanic films (with English or Spanish subtitles) are seen outside of class during the semester. At the completion of this course students will feel confident discussing and debating a variety of contemporary issues (cultural and religious practices, family relationships, gender stereotypes, political events, immigration to USA, etc.).
Prerequisite: successful completion of Spanish 140 or its equivalent
Spanish 208
Business Spanish I
Staff
(See Timetables for times)
Spanish for Business I provides advanced-level language students with technical vocabulary and communicative skills covering business concepts as they apply to the corporate dynamics of the Spanish-speaking world, with a special emphasis on Latin America. Through readings, presentations, discussions, and video materials, we shall analyze those cultural aspects that characterize the business environment in the region as well as focus on economies and markets in light of their history, politics, resources and pressing international concerns.
Spanish 209
Business Spanish II
Staff
TR 3-4:30
Business Spanish II, Advanced Spanish for Business, is specifically designed for advanced language speakers of Spanish (e.g. native speakers, heritage speakers, students who have studied in a Spanish speaking country for at least one semester, and/or those who have attained an equivalent level of linguistic competency). Through the creation of an entrepreneurial project and the writing of a business plan, students will take an in-depth look at the corporate dynamics of a number of countries in Latin America, focusing on their economies and markets, as well as on the cultural and business protocols of each region, while enhancing business language skills.
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 5-6:30
Spanish for the 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
(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, and essays. The course is designed to give students a broad understanding of Hispanic culture that will prepare them for upper-level course work.
Pre-requisite(s): Spanish 212.
Spanish 221-407
Identity from the Margins
Prof. Fuchs
TR 10:30-12
This course will provide an introduction to Iberian literatures from the medieval period to the mid-seventeenth century. We will explore the construction of religious, racial, gender, class, and national identities within the Peninsula and in a transatlantic context. Central questions will include: How do medieval and early modern texts portray ethnic and religious divergence? How is Spain defined in contradistinction to Europe and to the New World? How do literary texts, in particular those that represent the margins, contribute to a national tradition? Our emphasis will be on close reading as preparation for 300-level courses.
Pre-requisite(s): Spanish 212.
Spanish 223-401
Brazilian Culture and History Through Film
Prof. Flores
MWF 10-11
This seminar will explore Brazilian film production, both documentary and full-feature, in order to point out essential aspects of the history and culture of Brazil. The films will be used as an overture for the discussion of topics such as the colonization of Brazil (Desmundo, Hans Staden, Carlota Joaquina a Princesa do Brasil), the complex relations between Indigenous peoples, Africans and Europeans in Brazil (Quilombo, Xica da Silva, Brava Gente Brasileira), the struggles during the establishment of the Brazilian nation (A Guerra de Canudos, Netto Perde Sua Alma), and the relation between Brazil and its Hispanic neighbors (Anahy de las Misiones, A Guerra do Brasil). This class will be conducted in Spanish and will count toward the Hispanic Studies major and minor, as well as the certificate in Portuguese.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 212.
Spanish 250-601
Major Works in Spanish and Latin American Literature
Prof. Regueiro
MW 5-6:30
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 287-601
Introduction to Mexican Film
Prof. Solomon
T 5:30-8:30
An overview of Mexican Cinema from its roots in the late 19th century to the present. Feature-length screenings include: Vámonos con Pancho Villa (Fernando de Fuentes, 1935), María Candelaria (Emilio Fernández, 1943), Los olvidados (Luis Buñuel, 1950), La pasión según Berenice (Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, 1975), El Topo (Alexandro Jodorowsky 1969) El lugar sin límites (Arturo Ripstein , 1977), Cronos (Guillermo del Toro 1992), Y tu mamá también (Alfonso Cuarón, 2001), Japón (Carlos Reygadas, 2003). Note: This course is taught in Spanish. Readings and required films are also in Spanish.
Spanish 350-301
Spanish Literature of the Golden Age
Prof. Regueiro
MWF 1-2
This course will introduce students to the key works of Spanish literature written between 1500 to 1700. It will explore the major literary genres of this period (lyric poetry, narrative prose—including the picaresque—and drama) as well as the social and cultural contexts in which they were produced. We will examine works by Garcilaso, Cervantes, Góngora, Quevedo, Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, and Calderón.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 380-301
The Everyday, the Spatial Imagination, and the Spanish Realist Novel
Prof. Nadal
TR 12-1:30
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 380-302
Contemporary Spanish Literature
Staff
MWF 11-12
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 386-301
Ellas y Ellos o Ellos y Ellas: The Subversion of Gender Roles in Spanish Literature
Prof. Fernández
MWF 12-1
In this course, students will examine and analyze the way traditional gender roles are questioned and subverted in different works of Spanish literature, from the Baroque period to the present. Students will also have the opportunity to learn, through close reading of the stories, how to analyze and recognize different points of view, voices and narrative strategies, thus becoming more aware of their active role as readers. Among other authors included in this course, we will read works by María de Zayas, Emilia Pardo Bazán, Carmen de Burgos, Carmen Riera and Marina Mayoral.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 390-401
Latin American Literature of the 20th Century
Prof. Salessi
TR 12-1:30
Through the study of works by Gabriel García Márquez, Alejo Carpentier, Juan Rulfo, Manuel Puig and others, the class will explore an imagination of Latin American History, of the Baroque of the Colonial period, the civil wars of the Nineteenth Century, and the Mexican Revolution. Special attention will be given to definitions of social classes and gender through the production and consumption of High and Low culture.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 390-402
The Individual and Society in Latin American Art and Literature
Prof. Laddaga
TR 10:30-12
The course will reconstruct some of the ways in which the relationship between the individual and society was represented in Latin American literature in the course of the 20th century. We will study narratives, essays and poems by, among others, José Vasconcelos, Ezequiel Martínez Estrada, Jorge Luis Borges, Clarice Lispector, and Fernando Vallejo.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 390-403
The Dystopic Imagination: Representations of Crime and Violence in Contemporary Colombian Literature
Prof. Montoya
MWF 10-11
In this course we will study the contemporary Colombian society through literature. We will concentrate in the ways in which different types of violence have affected the social and cultural life of the people, and the process that has blurred the line between the legal system and illegal practices; we will put special emphasis on the effects that the traffic of cocaine has had in the progressive corruption of the society as a whole. We will read some contemporary writers and watch some movies that explore, among other topics, the chaotic urban life of some Colombian cities, the traumas of the victims of violence, the psychology of the murderers, the alliances between members of the elite and the drug dealers. We will read books by Santiago Gamboa, Fernando Vallejo, Laura Restrepo, Oscar Collazos, Jorge Franco, Héctor Abad Faciolince and Eduardo Mendoza. We will see "La virgen de los sicarios," "Rodrigo D," "Perder es cuestión de método" and "Rosario Tijeras".
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 390-404
Adventures in the Imagination: The Twentieth Century Latin American Short
Prof. Knight
MWF 11-12
In this course we will explore the short stories of seven masters of the genre: Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina), Julio Cortázar (Argentina), Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia), Augusto Monterroso (Guatemala), Horacio Quiroga (Uruguay), Juan Rulfo (Mexico), and Luisa Valenzuela (Argentina). As they read through collections by these authors, students will gain an appreciation for the themes and techniques associated with each. Students will also develop their capacity for narrative analysis and their Spanish skills as they write numerous short papers throughout the course of the semester.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 396-401
Queer Latin America
Prof. Martínez-San Miguel
TR 1:30-3
This course will analyze the ways in which Latin(o) American sexualities get expressed outside or beyond the script of the “coming out” narrative. Topics of discussion include the following within a Latin(o) American context: “Colonial Homosocialities,” “Nationalism and Sexualities,” “Against the Closet,” “Beyond Homonormativity,” “Queer Diasporas,” “Bodies of Desire,” and “Non-Corporeal Sexualities, or Queer Phenomenology.” Throughout the course, students will read critical and historical texts on the configuration of queer, sexuality and gender studies in Europe, the United States and Latin America. We will study texts by Christopher Columbus, Pero Vaz de Camihna, the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, José Martí, Piri Thomas, Manuel Puig, César Aira, Richard Rodríguez, Reinaldo Arenas, Achy Obejas, Junot Díaz, Sonia Rivera Valdés, Javier Bosco, Rey Emanuel Andújar, Rita Indiana Hernández, Ena Lucía Portela, as well as critical works by Jorge Salessi, José Quiroga, Emilio Bejel, Arnaldo Cruz-Malavé, Lázaro Lima, Juana María Rodríguez, Licia Fiol Matta, Frances Negrón-Muntaner, Lawrence LaFountain Stokes, Ben. Sifuentes-Jáuregui, Michael Horswell, and Jossianna Arroyo, among others. We will also discuss film clips from Brincando el charco, Frida, Fresa y chocolate, Y tu mamá también, Before Night Falls, and The Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 396-402
The Impact of Globalization in Latin American Culture
Prof. Laddaga
TR 1:30-3
The course will describe the ways in which processes of globalization have impacted Latin American art, literature and film in the last few decades. We will study a number of works and projects by artists, writers and filmmakers such as César Aira, Gabriel Orozco, Lucrecia Martel and others.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 397-401
Pleasures of Exile: Migration and Cultural Representation in Hispanic, Anglo, and French Caribbean
Prof. Martínez-San Miguel
TR 3-4:30
Most of the islands of the Caribbean experienced massive migrations during the second half of the twentieth century. This course reviews the historical backgrounds and patterns of major migratory experiences and their impact on cultural representation in the Hispanic, Anglo and French Caribbean. Contemporary diasporas are studied to question traditional definitions of national identity, and to propose a specific conceptualization of the Caribbean as a distinct geopolitical and cultural area within the Americas. Race, sexuality, ethnic identity, gender, and linguistic identity will also be studied in a migratory context. Particular attention will be devoted to intra-colonial migrations, or population displacements taking place between Caribbean countries and former or actual metropolis. Many of the countries of the Caribbean —such as Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Martinique or the Dominican Republic— have large immigrant communities in a metropolitan country, such as Great Britain, the United States, France or Spain, with which they had or still have colonial/imperial relationships. Given the significance of population displacements between colonies and metropoles for the production of foundational texts for postcolonial studies, this particular experience of colonial migrants merits further exploration . We will read texts by Piri Thomas, Calvert Casey, Rosario Ferré, Sonia Rivera Valdés, Luis Rafael Sánchez, Ana Lydia Vega, Pedro Vergés, Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Edouard Glissant, Gisèle Pineau, Maryse Condé, George Lamming, Stuart Hall, V.S. Naipaul, Derek Walcott, and Jamaica Kincaid. The course also includes music, film and visual arts. Literary and visual texts require knowledge of Spanish and English.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 397-402
Food in Latin American History and Culture
Prof. García-Serrano
MWF 12-1
Through a wide range of discourses (historical, sociological, literary, psychoanalytical and cinematographic), this course will examine the multiple roles played by food from Pre-Columbian times to the present in Latin America. Focusing primarily on Mexico and Cuba, we will learn about the significance of corn and chocolate for the Aztecs, the culinary experimentations and innovations carried out in convents during the colonial period, the connection between cuisines and national identity, the sugar plantations in Cuba and the slave trade in the nineteenth century, and the resources used by hungry Cubans during the so-called “Special Period.” Readings include selections from: Mariano de Cárcer y Disdier, Apuntes para la historia de la transculturación indoespañola; Jeffrey M. Pilcher, ¡Que vivan los tamales! Food and the Making of Mexican Identity ; Sidney W. Mintz, Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History; Antonio José Ponte, Las comidas profundas.
Prerequisite(s): Spanish 219.
Spanish 400-301
The Spanish and Latin American Horror Film
Prof. Solomon
TR 10:30-12
In this senior Hispanic Studies capstone seminar we investigate the prolific manifestations of Spanish and Latin American genre cinema from the late 19th century to the present. Drawing heavily on recent horror theory, students will explore the social and political function of fringe cinema, from its ability to provide simple scopic entertainment to its capacity to offer influential political allegories. We will examine the portrayal in Spanish language films of widely known figures such as zombies, vampires, werewolves and mad scientists, as well as creatures specific to Hispanic culture such as the Mexican Aztec mummy, the Spanish living-dead Templars, and the Port Rican chupacabra. Throughout the course, we will challenge the distinctions made between Art House cinema and Horrorshows, high art and Euro-trash, and the purveyors of the Avant-Garde and the promotional cults of genre filmmakers.
For more information and list of films, please see the course website.
Enrollment restricted to graduating senior majors.
Spanish 400-302
The Disappearing Self: Spanish Avant-Garde Poetry
Prof. Nadal
TR 1:30-3
Enrollment restricted to graduating senior majors.
Spanish 400-303
Galdós: Novel and Film
Prof. López
TR 3-4:30
In this course we study nineteenth-century narrative concentrating on four novels by Benito Pérez Galdós; these texts are Tristana, Nazarín, Halma, and El abuelo. Our initial goal is to achieve an adequate understanding of the morphology of a nineteenth-century novel. In order to do this, we will pay careful attention to the structural aspects of the novels under study and to their narrative qualities. After completing the analysis of each of the novels, we will turn to its cinematic version. We will concentrate our discussion on the differences in representation between word and image as they separate the different sensibilities of nineteenth-century readers and of twentieth-century audiences. Films will include works by Buñuel (Tristana, Nazarín, and Viridiana) and by José Luis Garcí (El abuelo). Students must be able to complete long reading assignments in Spanish in preparation for each class meeting. In addition, students are expected to become familiar with criticism of both narrative and film; different critical readings will be assigned both on the theory of the genres (narrative, film) and on the criticism of the specific works under consideration. At least two oral presentations will be asked from each student; in addition, students will write several short papers that, combined with a longer final research paper, will decide final grade.
The texts that are required reading for this course are accessible here.
Enrollment restricted to graduating senior majors.
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