Professors Schroeder Rodríguez and Stavans†; Associate Professor Brenneis (Chair); Assistant Professor Infante; Lecturers Bel López and Granda; Visiting Lecturer Rams.
† On leave fall semester 2016-17.
The objective of the major is to learn about Hispanic cultures directly through the Spanish language and principally by way of their literature and other artistic expressions. We study literature and a variety of cultural manifestations from a modern critical perspective, without isolating them from their context. Courses are categorized according to level of difficulty and focus:
A. Language Courses
B. Panoramic Introductions
C. Nation-Specific Studies
D. Courses Specialized by Author and Text
E. Thematic Analyses
To give students a better idea of the development of the Hispanic world throughout the centuries, we expect majors to select courses on the literature and cultures of Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Latinos in the United States. Fluent and correct use of the language is essential to the successful completion of the major. Most courses are taught in Spanish. The Department urges majors to spend a semester or a year studying in a Spanish-speaking country.
Major Program. The Department of Spanish expects its majors to be fluent in Spanish and to have a broad and diverse experience in the literatures and cultures of Spanish-speaking peoples. To this end, continuous training in the use of the language and travel abroad will be emphasized.
The following requirements for a major in Spanish (both rite and with Departmental Honors) will apply. The major will consist of a minimum of nine courses in the literatures and cultures of Spanish-speaking peoples. Up to three courses in the SPAN 130-212 range and all upper-division courses (above SPAN 212) may be counted toward the major. Five of the nine courses must be taken from the Spanish Department offerings at Amherst College. Please note: Once enrolled in culture courses (courses numbered 211 and above), students may not go back to take a language course and receive credit toward the Spanish major. During sophomore or junior year, majors are required to enroll in an Amherst College Spanish course that stresses the use of critical research tools. Courses designed to fulfill this requirement are marked "RC" for Research Course in the course description.
Courses enrolled abroad or outside the Department will require departmental approval. Three courses taken abroad and taught in Spanish may be counted toward the major; one of these courses must focus on literature. Please consult the Study Abroad page on the Spanish Department website for further details. The Department highly recommends that students returning from studying abroad elect from among Nation-Specific, Author and Text-Specialized and Thematic Analyses courses (SPAN 300 and above) as they complete the major requirements in their final semesters.
No Pass/Fail course may be counted toward the major. Only one course offered by the Spanish Department which is taught in English may be counted toward the major.
Only one Special Topics course will count toward the Spanish major. Special topics courses can be taken by seniors who are interested in pursuing a subject matter that is a particular faculty's specialty, has not been offered by the Department, nor is available through the Five Colleges. The student must have a well-defined idea of the topic and a clear and convincing reason for his/her education to take the course. Special Topic course enrollments are limited to two students.
Comprehensive Exam. Spanish Majors will be required to take a written comprehensive exam, to be offered during the month of March of the senior year. The exam is as follows: Students will find a list of foundational texts on the Department web page organized according to geographical areas: Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean, and U.S. Latinos. By October 15 seniors must notify the Department of their selection of a total of twelve works, four per geographical area. In order to understand these works in context, students are responsible for finding secondary sources as well as engaging in conversation with their advisors and other members of the faculty. In March students will receive three individualized questions about the works they have chosen, their significance and interconnections—historical, cultural, and aesthetic. The goal of the exam is to assess the student's broad knowledge of Hispanic civilization in all its manifestations by analyzing texts in light of their content and historical moment. Students are expected to write detailed, nuanced essays in Spanish in which complex ideas are made clear. Concepts and categories should be defined and the language should be polished and sophisticated. Seniors will have one week to complete this exam, the exact time and dates of which are determined each year by the Department. Each answer must be written in Spanish, with a length of no more than three typed pages, for a total of nine pages. Tenured and tenure-track professors in the Department will evaluate the exam. Students will be notified whether they passed or failed no later than two weeks after the exam is submitted. If all or parts of the exam are deemed unacceptable, majors will be given an opportunity to rewrite the exam. If the rewrite is unacceptable, the student will not be granted the Spanish major.
Departmental Honors Program. In addition to the major program described above, a candidate for Departmental Honors must present a thesis and sustain an oral examination upon completion of the thesis. Candidates will normally elect SPAN 498 and 499 during fall and spring semesters of their senior year.
Combined Majors. Both rite and Departmental Honors majors may be taken in combination with other fields, e.g., Spanish and French, Spanish and Religion, Spanish and Art and the History of Art. Plans for such combined majors must be approved in advance by representatives of the departments concerned.
Interdisciplinary Majors. Interdisciplinary majors are established through the Committee on Academic Standing and Special Majors, with the endorsement and cooperation of the Department or with the approval of individual members of the Department.
Study Abroad. Students majoring in Spanish are encouraged and expected to spend a summer, a semester, or a year studying in Spain or Latin America. Plans for study abroad must be approved in advance by the Department. Please see the Spanish Department website for further information.
Placement in Spanish language courses. See individual course descriptions for placement indicators.
This course provides an opportunity for intensive communication in spoken Spanish, and an understanding of Hispanic culture. Listening, speaking, reading and writing skills are developed. Emphasis is on vocabulary acquisition and interactive communication through the discussion of authentic texts, films, videos, music, etc. Upon completion, students should be able to discuss selected topics, express ideas and opinions clearly, and engage in formal and informal conversations.
This course is intended for students who have an intermediate-high Spanish level, and want to improve their listening and speaking skills. Three hours per week with the lecturer. Limited to 15 students per section. This course may be counted toward the Spanish Major. The class will be conducted entirely in Spanish.
Requisite: Spanish IV (SPAN 130) or Spanish Placement Exam. Fall and spring semester. Visiting Lecturer Rams.
2023-24: Not offeredThis course is designed specifically for native or heritage speakers of Spanish with oral proficiency but little or no formal training in the language. Generally, these are learners who were raised in homes where Spanish was spoken. The course is designed to build on the language base students already possess. Spanish-speaking students are not viewed as using an “improper” form of Spanish that is incorrect or needs to be eliminated. Rather, their language is viewed as an extremely valid means of oral communication. The primary purpose of this course is to develop reading and writing skills, although all of four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) are emphasized via cultural and community activities.
Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2016-17.
2023-24: Not offeredThis course provides an introduction to the diverse literatures of the Spanish-speaking world over the course of six centuries, from the Middle Ages to the turn of the twentieth century. Students will learn the tools, language, and critical vocabulary for advanced work reading the canon of Hispanic literatures from Spain, Latin America, and the Caribbean Basin, identifying aesthetic trends and historical periods such as the Renaissance, the Golden Age, the Romantic era, realism and modernism. The syllabus will include a wide variety of authors of different national, political, and artistic persuasions and an array of linguistic styles.
Limited to 15 students per section. This course may be counted toward the Spanish Major. The class will be conducted entirely in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199 or consent of the instructor. A medium to high level knowledge of the Spanish language and reasonable proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Spanish are required.
Fall semester: Professor Schroeder Rodríguez. Spring semester: Professor Infante.
2023-24: Not offeredCaribbean, Antilles, West Indies. Each of these terms carries ideological and cultural meanings that reach far beyond the geographical area they designate. In this course we will examine how writers and artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have used them, explicitly or implicitly, to invent very different imaginaries of the region and its place in the world. Most of the texts we will discuss will be from the Hispanic Caribbean (specifically Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Colombia), but we will also discuss texts from Antigua, Martinique, Jamaica, and the United States. Throughout the course, we will be attentive to how representations of race, gender, and sexuality inform evolving national and pan-Caribbean identities in the context of past and ongoing colonialisms. The course is conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199 or 211 or consent of the instructor. Spring semester. Professor Schroeder Rodríguez.
2023-24: Not offered(Offered as SPAN 236, EUST 232, and FAMS 328.) Once severely constrained by censorship laws and rarely exported beyond the country’s borders during its dictatorship, Spanish film has been transformed into an internationally known cinema in the last decades. This course offers a critical overview of Spanish film from 1950 to the present, examining how Spain’s culture and society are imagined onscreen by Spanish directors. Students will analyze works of Spanish cinema alongside theoretical and critical texts, exploring such topics as gendered roles in contemporary society, immigration, globalization, censorship, sexuality, and experiences of war and violence. We will also track the sociological, cultural, and political forces inside Spain that have inspired such cinematic representations. This course provides an introduction to visual analysis and critical writing about film. No previous experience in film and media studies is required. Attendance is required at six Tuesday 7pm-10pm screenings at Keefe Theater throughout the semester. Films will be subtitled in English. Conducted in English.
Spring semester. Professor Brenneis.
2023-24: Not offeredHow have Latin Americans represented themselves on the big screen? In this course we will explore this question through close readings of representative films from each of the following major periods: silent cinema (1890s-1930s), studio cinema (1930s-1950s), Neorealism/Art Cinema (1950s), the New Latin American Cinema (1960s-1980s), and contemporary cinema (1990s to today). Throughout the course we will examine evolving representations of modernity and pay special attention to how these representations are linked to different constructions of gender, race, sexuality, and nationality. We will conclude the course with a collective screening of video essays created by students in the course. The course is conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199 or 211 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Fall semester. Professor Schroeder Rodríguez.
2023-24: Not offeredThe term "Latin America" was coined by a French diplomat in the early nineteenth century to emphasize the region's affinity to a progressive French sphere of influence identified with the Enlightenment, as opposed to a backward-looking Spanish tradition identified with the Baroque. In this course we will examine the validity of the claim that the Latin American Baroque (ca. 1600-1800) was incompatible with the Enlightenment, or indeed with modernity. We will begin by defining the major characteristics of the European Baroque as an artistic movement linked to the project of Counter Reformation in Europe and the evangelization in the Americas. We will then examine examples of Latin American Baroque art, architecture, and literature that simultaneously participate in and subvert this project. Some of the artists we will study include the indigenous architect José Kondori, the Afro-Brazilian architect and sculptor Aleijadinho, various works by anonymous artists, and poems by Gregório de Matos (Brazil), Mateo Rosas de Oquendo (Peru), Bernardo de Balbuena (Mexico), and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Mexico). We will conclude by considering recent reappraisals of the Latin American Baroque as an alternative modernity, and the legacy of this period on contemporary art and literature. The course is conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199 or 211 or consent of the instructor. Spring semester. Professor Schroeder Rodríguez.
2023-24: Not offeredTaught at the Hampshire County Jail, this Inside/Out course is designed as a journey across Hispanic civilization through the prism of the tension between reality and the surreal, the physical world and the world of dreams. Topics like Magical Realism will be explored in depth. Material includes portions of Don Quixote, the play Life Is a Dream by Calderón de la Barca, poems by Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz and Pablo Neruda, stories by Horacio Quiroga, Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Juan Rulfo, and Gabriel García Márquez, and movies such as Amores Perros and Pan’s Labyrinth. Students will engage in creative efforts (stories, nonfiction, theater, movies) displaying some of the strategies discussed in class. Conducted in English.
Limited to 15 students from Amherst and the Five Colleges and 15 students from the Hampshire County Jail. Omitted 2016-17. Professor Stavans.
2023-24: Not offeredIn this course, we will examine five works of fiction published in Spain between 1950 and today.The Spanish Civil War ended in 1939 with the beginning of Francisco Franco’s 36-year dictatorship of Spain. Authors in 20th Century Spain were subject to censorship and overt oppression while they attempted to understand their own history and identity and translate it onto the page. Despite these obstacles, these authors produced works of literature that are daring, experimental, emotional, and now canonical. The novels we study bridge the topics of violence, gender, socioeconomic status, religion, cultural repression, and self-understanding. They vary from coming-of-age tales to experimental narrative to mainstream bestsellers. We will also study historical texts, images, films, and critical articles in order to gain a more complete understanding of the era and its reflection in literature. This is a highly collaborative and participatory course that allows for the discussion of a wide variety of subject matter. Conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199 or 211 or consent of the instructor. Spring semester. Professor Brenneis.
2023-24: Not offered[RC] A cultural study of language in the Hispanic world (Spain, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States), this course spans almost 500 years, from the arrival of Spanish to the Americas with Columbus' first voyage, to present-day "pocho lingo" in Los Angeles. It focuses on the verbal interactions between the missionaries to Florida and the Southwest and the indigenous populations, the linguistic repercussions of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, the age of acculturation in the early half of the twentieth century, the political agitation of the Chicano Movement as manifested in word games, and the hip-hop age of agitprop. Students will analyze works by Junot Díaz, Ana Lydia Vega, Giannina Braschi, Susana Chávez-Silverman, Luis Humberto Crosthwaite, and others. Topics like translation, bilingual education, lexicography, advertising, sports, and the impact of mass and social media will be contemplated. Emphasis will be made on the various modalities of Spanglish, such as Dominicanish, Cubonics, and Nuyorican. Plus, the development of Spanglish as a street jargon will be compared to Yiddish, Black English, and other minority tongues. Research Course. Conducted in Spanish.
Omitted 2016-17. Professor Stavans.
2023-24: Not offeredSPAN 110 is an introduction to Spanish and Spanish-American cultures. This course is recommended for students who have either no previous training in Spanish or no more than two years of high school Spanish. It gives the student a basic understanding of and ability to use the language. Grammar is used as a point of departure for development of oral and written skills.
This course strives to teach students to understand sentences and common expressions and to communicate in simple terms simple aspects of their background (e.g., very basic personal and family information), the immediate environment (shopping, local geography, employment), and matters of immediate need.
This course prepares students for Spanish II (SPAN 120). Three hours per week with the lecturer, plus two hours with the language assistant. Limited to 15 students per section. This course may not be counted toward the Spanish Major. The class will be conducted entirely in Spanish.
Fall and spring semesters. Visiting Lecturer Rams and Assistants.
2023-24: Not offeredSPAN 120 is an intermediate-level Spanish course. It is recommended for students who have had the equivalent of three-to-four years of high school Spanish. This course seeks to expand Spanish language skills with exercises in conversation, oral comprehension and composition, based on cultural readings.
This course teaches students to understand key conversation points at work, school, and beyond; how to deal with situations that may arise while traveling in a Spanish-speaking country; and how to compose simple, connected texts regarding personal matters and typical, familiar topics. Students will learn how to describe experiences, events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and explain the rationale behind their opinions and future plans.
This course prepares students for Spanish III (SPAN 125). Three hours per week with the lecturer, plus one hour with the language assistant. Limited to 15 students per section. This course may not be counted toward the Spanish Major. The class will be conducted entirely in Spanish.
Requisite: Spanish I (SPAN 110) or Spanish Placement Exam. Fall and spring semesters. Lecturer Granda and Assistants.
2023-24: Not offeredSPAN 125 is a continuation of SPAN 120. 120 and 125 are a two-semester sequence. Students who take SPAN 120 will need to complete SPAN 125 before moving on to SPAN 130. This course will expand Spanish language skills with exercises in conversation, oral comprehension and composition, based on cultural readings.
Students will gain command of expressing plans, doubts, and probability, and feelings (wishes, happiness, anger, surprise, fear, etc.). Reciprocal verbs, various subjunctive phrases using quizás, tal vez, probablemente, ojalá, etc., as well as subjunctive formations using subordinate noun clauses will be introduced. Finally, students will begin to learn how to express and justify their opinions and to argue them appropriately. This course focuses on the development of oral fluency and vocabulary.
This course prepares students for Spanish IV (SPAN 130). Three hours per week with the lecturer, plus one hour with the language assistant. Limited to 15 students per section. This course may not be counted toward the Spanish Major. The class will be conducted entirely in Spanish.
Requisite: Spanish II (SPAN 120) or Spanish Placement Exam. Fall and spring semesters. Lecturer Bel and Assistants.
2023-24: Not offeredWhile expanding on the grammar essentials covered in SPAN 125, this course helps the student further develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in Spanish. It is directed toward students who already have a good linguistic-communicative competency, broadening their contact with different kinds of texts, deepening their grammatical understanding, and enabling them to communicate through a variety of forms and registers.
Upon completing the course, students should be able to make themselves understood with accuracy and fluency and participate easily in a wide range of formal and informal communicative situations. An array of literary texts and films not ordinarily considered in language classes will be used.
This course prepares students for Spanish Writing Workshop (SPAN 199). Three hours per week with the lecturer, plus one hour with the language assistant. Limited to 15 students per section. This course may be counted toward the Spanish Major. The class will be conducted entirely in Spanish.
Requisite: Spanish III (SPAN 125) or Spanish Placement Exam. Fall and spring semesters. Lecturer Bel and Assistants.
2023-24: Not offeredIn this course students will learn how to approach writing as a process. The emphasis is on writing as a communicative act rather than as a mere language exercise. As such, emphasis is given to the interaction between the author and the text, the target audience, and the purpose and message of the final product. In order to develop the necessary skills that good writers should have, the course will focus on expanding vocabulary, exploring rhetorical techniques for organizing information, developing strategies for writing, and characterizing the target audience(s). At the same time we will insist upon critical readings, and the processes of revising and editing. In addition, this course includes the study of written texts (narrative, description, poems, reports, essays, letters, etc.), and of literature’s many genres and subgenres (prose, poetry, drama, etc.).
This course prepares students for advanced-level courses offered by the Spanish Department. Three hours per week with the lecturer. Limited to 15 students per section. This course may be counted toward the Spanish Major. The class will be conducted entirely in Spanish.
Requisite: Spanish IV (SPAN 130) or Spanish Placement Exam. Fall and spring semester. Lecturer Granda.
2023-24: Not offeredThe Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, is a pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. This interdisciplinary course will explore the origins of the Camino de Santiago through the Middle Ages, and its recent transformation into a cultural phenomenon. It will be divided into several units that focus on art and architecture, religion, gastronomy, music, history, literature, philosophy, pop culture, and tourism. Major cities along the camino francés will act as cultural “stops” to complement these topics. Primary sources will include historical documents, excerpts from medieval literary texts, poetry, and contemporary travel narratives. Secondary critical readings, films, music, maps, and interviews with pilgrim-scholars will supplement primary sources. Other significant pilgrimage traditions beyond Spain will also be considered. The course will culminate in a one-day hike on a local trail. Evaluation will be based on student discussion, research writing, and oral presentations. Although readings and films will be in English and Spanish. Conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Spring semester. Lecturer Granda.
2023-24: Not offeredA survey course that provides an understanding and appreciation of the Spanish-speaking world (including both North and South America and Spain) through language, geography, history, economics, sociopolitical issues, folklore, literature and art. The different units in this course are geographically oriented, and they will focus on individual countries or particular Hispanic groups. Writing skills will be refined by the completion of research papers, and communication skills will be developed further by class discussions and oral presentations. Comprehension will be enhanced by presenting students with literary texts, movies, documentaries and periodicals.
Limited to 15 students per section. This course may be counted toward the Spanish Major. The class will be conducted entirely in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199 or SPAN 211, or consent of the instructor. A medium to high level knowledge of the Spanish language and reasonable proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Spanish are required.
Omitted 2016-17.
2023-24: Not offeredThis course will introduce students to some of the major intellectual texts of the Spanish Caribbean from the twentieth century to the present. Through these readings, which include essays, novels and poetry, we will examine the legacy of colonial and post-colonial prejudices and the struggles the people of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico engage as they create a unique sense of nationhood within a global context and interlace their stories into a more complicated context often called Pan-Caribbean. We will explore the ways in which the Hispanic Caribbean countries are similar, while coming to a nuanced understanding of how recent politics and migratory histories have also rendered them vastly different. Our analyses will cover issues of language, gender, violence, traumatic memory, dictatorship, and human resilience. This course will be conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199, 211 or 212 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2016-17.
Part of the Global Classroom Project. The Global Classroom Project uses videoconferencing technology to connect Amherst classes with courses/students outside the United States.
2023-24: Not offeredThis course will explore the art of storytelling through the genre of the short story in Spain and Latin America. After a brief introduction to short fiction in medieval and early modern Spain, we will focus principally on the development of the short story from the nineteenth century to the present. Works studied may include short stories by authors such as Pardo Bazán, Valle Inclán, Matute, Gaite, Palma, Borges, Rulfo, Cortázar, Quiroga, and Valenzuela. Films and other visual materials will supplement the literary texts. Some of the themes examined throughout the course will include gender relations, love, power, justice, political resistance, the fantastic, and popular culture. Conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199, 211 or 212 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2016-17. Professor Infante.
2023-24: Not offered(Offered as SPAN 232 and SWAG 232) Although at times derided as abnormal "chicas raras," Spanish women have carved out a particular niche in the history of Spanish literature. These novelists, poets, essayists and short story authors have distinguished themselves by tackling issues of sexuality, subjectivity, isolation, sexism and feminism head-on. But how do we define an escritura femenina in Spain and what, if anything, differentiates it as a gendered space from canonical "masculine" writing? This course examines the social, historical and cultural transformations women have undergone in Spain from the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twenty-first century. We will explore a variety of texts and literary genres by authors such as Rosalia de Castro, Carmen Laforet, Carmen Martín Gaite, Ana Rosetti and Dulce Chacón. In addition, students will create their own canon by becoming the editors of an Anthology of Spanish Women's Writing. This course is conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199, 211 or 212 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Fall semester. Professor Brenneis.
2023-24: Not offered[RC] (Offered as SPAN 317, EUST 317, and SWAG 317.) This course will examine the diverse and often contradictory representations of women in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spain as seen through the eyes of both male and female writers. This approach will allow us to inquire into how women represented themselves versus how they were understood by men. In our analysis of this topic, we will also take into consideration some scientific, legal, and moral discourses that attempted to define the nature and value of women in early modern Spain. Works by authors such as Cervantes, María de Zayas, Calderón de la Barca, and Catalina de Erauso, among others, will offer us fascinating examples and different approaches to the subject. Conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199, 211 or 212, or consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2016-17. Professor Infante.
2023-24: Not offered[RC] In this course, we will explore the relationship of Spain, as a newly created nation, to the world of the “other,” in this case Islam, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Inside the Peninsula, the Muslim community is perceived as dangerously linked to the Mediterranean world, which both fascinates Spain and threatens it at the same time because of the growing power of the Ottoman Empire. We will examine changing representations of the Muslim “other,” from the idealized Moor in the Moorish novel to contradictory portrayals of Moriscos—those Muslims forced to convert to Christianity in sixteenth-century Spain. In addition, we will look at how questions of race, ethnicity, religion, and gender were treated by writers such as Cervantes, María de Zayas, and Calderón de la Barca. The class discussions will also include a significant visual component (e.g. paintings and engravings of the time on both sides of the Mediterranean that represent the “other,” maps, cityscapes, as well as films). Conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199, 211 or 212, or consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Spring semester. Professor Infante.
2023-24: Not offered[RC] (Offered as SPAN 340 and EUST 340.) The Spanish Civil War lasted only three years, from 1936 to 1939, yet the conflict cast a long shadow over Spain's twentieth-century history, culture and identity. Indeed, the war's effects were felt worldwide, and it became the inspiration for works of art and literature as varied as Pablo Picasso's Guernica, Pablo Neruda's España en el corazón, Guillermo del Toro's El laberinto del fauno and Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. This course will provide an introduction to the discord and violence of the war as well as to the anguish and catharsis of the stories, poems and films it inspired. Through primary sources and historical accounts, we will understand the causes of this fraternal war. By studying texts and films that track the reverberations of the Spanish Civil War in the United States, Latin America and Continental Europe, we will seek to understand how and why this historical moment has captivated artists and writers. In addition, we will grapple with the diverse ways that lingering memories of the war have affected modern-day Spanish politics and culture. Although readings will be in English and Spanish, this course will be conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199, 211, 212 or consent of the instructor. Fall semester. Professor Brenneis.
(Offered as SPAN 345 and SWAG 245) When political movements advocating for civil and human rights took full force in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, women from different Latin American and Caribbean origins discovered they could enter the national imagination through their writing and thereby defy historical erasure. In the last 50 years, the political literary production of Latina women has been vertiginous, important, and consistently understudied within the academy. Within a socio-historical context, we will study the making of Latina identities, the myths of unity in this label, and the distinctive nature of Latina stories from different countries and from different economic backgrounds. What is the role of Latina voices in the arduous and slow processes of nation building, democracy, and diversity formation? How have Latina lives and stories re-shaped concepts of community, introduced activism for LGBT rights, changed the parameters by which motherhood, race, and ethnicity are understood? How have Latinas tackled issues of domestic violence and rape? How has their work transformed national and transnational meta-narratives of citizenship? We will read manifestos, poetry, and fiction to understand this complex and critical condition. Conducted in English.
Omitted 2016-17.
2023-24: Not offeredIn 1989 the Berlin Wall was chiseled away, changing global culture and politics forever. In Eastern Europe, the rhetoric and divisions necessitated to fuel the cold war were transformed into new discourses of democracy and capitalist opportunities. In contrast, Cuba, remaining an iron-clad communist state, fell into a deep “periódo especial,” which ushered in a two-tiered economy greatly dependent on the European tourist industry. The revolutionary dream, many would argue, was then voided. Arguably, “fin-de-siglo” Cuba is a state in crisis. And a new, rich, often hypnotic, production of culture, film, and literature is available to give us a sensational glimpse of the latest of Cuban conditions. In this class we will be reading and screening some of the most outstanding materials from this period. Authors will include Abilio Estévez, Zoe Valdés, Pedro Juan Guttiérez, and Daína Chaviano. Conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199, 211 or 212 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2016-17.
2023-24: Not offered[RC] As a global city with a local identity, Barcelona resides both literally and figuratively at the border between Spain and the rest of the world. This interdisciplinary course will explore the in-between space this vibrant city inhabits in the twenty-first century, at once imagined as a tourist's playground in films and popular novels, while also actively guarding its particular Catalan cultural roots. Students will study architectural, literary, cinematic, linguistic and political movements set amid the urban cityscape of Barcelona, focusing on the city's role in the exportation of a unique Spanish and Catalan identity beyond Spain's borders. Conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199, 211 or 212 or consent of the instructor. Omitted 2016-17. Professor Brenneis.
2023-24: Not offered
[RC] A patient, detailed, Talmudic reading of Gabriel García Márquez’s masterpiece, Cien años de soledad, known as “the Bible of Latin America.” The course sets it in biographical, historical, and aesthetic context. Conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199, 211 or 212 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 25 students. Omitted 2016-17. Professor Stavans.
2023-24: Not offered(Offered as SPAN 364 [RC] and EUST 264.) A patient, careful reading of Cervantes' masterpiece (published in 1605 and 1615), taking into consideration the biographical, historical, social, religious, and literary context from which it emerged during the Renaissance. The discussion will center on the novel's structure, style, and durability as a classic and its impact on our understanding of ideas and emotions connected with the Enlightenment and its aftermath. Authors discussed in connection to the material include Erasmus of Rotterdam, Montaigne, Emerson, Tobias Smollett, Flaubert, Dostoyevsky, Unamuno, Nabokov, Borges, García Márquez, and Rushdie. Conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199, 211 or 212 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 25 students. Spring semester. Professor Stavans.
2023-24: Not offeredA vital question in today’s multicultural societies is how individuals with different identities—religious, racial, ethnic, etc.—can live and prosper together. This course will explore the literature, culture, and history of medieval and early modern Spain, paying special attention to how people with diverse backgrounds coexisted and interacted with each other. Examining the context of Spain during this time period will also serve as a means to help us think through issues of diversity in our world today. First we will look at the situation of medieval Spain where Christians, Muslims, and Jews lived side-by-side for centuries. Then we’ll turn to Spain’s exploration of the New World and how the diverse encounters that took place influenced Spanish culture. Finally, we will consider representations of other cultural minorities, such as gypsies, in Spain during the early modern period. Primary sources will include literary texts, historical accounts, legal documents, and maps and will be supplemented by secondary critical texts. Conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199, 211 or 212, or consent of the instructor. Limited to 18 students. Omitted 2016-17. Professor Infante.
2023-24: Not offeredFrom journeys of lovers to religious pilgrimages, voyages of conquest and exploration to imaginary excursions, journeys of war and slavery to picaresque adventures, among other types of travel, the theme of the “journey” is replete in Spanish literature. With a particular emphasis on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, this course will explore historical and fictional accounts of journeys to, from, and in Spain. Taking into consideration a variety of genres and authors, we will examine different motives that spurred real individuals and fictional characters to leave their homes in Spain and travel to new lands and in other cases we will look at what caused them to return to their homeland. Some of the works studied in class will include narratives of conquest and exploration in the New World, sea voyages in the Mediterranean (for example, Cervantes), spiritual journeys (such as the Spanish mystics), trips to the other world (including some of Quevedo’s Sueños), tales of homeless wanderers (the picaresque novel), female travelers, and perspectives from visitors to Spain from other countries such as France (d’Aulnoy) and Morocco (al-Ghassani). Conducted in Spanish.
Requisite: SPAN 199, 211 or 212 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 18 students. Omitted 2016-17. Professor Infante.
2023-24: Not offeredThe Department calls attention to the fact that Special Topics courses may be offered to students on either an individual or group basis.
Students interested in forming a group course on some aspect of Hispanic life and culture are invited to talk over possibilities with a representative of the Department. When possible, this should be done several weeks in advance of the semester in which the course is to be taken.
Fall and spring semesters.
Other years: Offered in Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Fall 2024One single course.
Fall semester. The Department.
Other years: Offered in Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2025