Spring 2018 Undergraduate Courses
Below you will find a list of courses offered within the department. For the dates and times of a specific course, please see the online Schedule of Classes. Course locations are subject to change. To view course previews, click here.
PORT 300: Brazilian Culture: Diversity, Conflicts and Challenges
Luciano Tosta
9:30-10:45, TR, 4012 Wescoe
Course Description:
This is an interdisciplinary survey course on Brazilian culture and society from the colonization to the present. Students will read texts from areas such as Brazilian history, politics, economy, architecture, literature, cinema, religion, and music, as well as watch films and videos related to them. The course will link Brazil’s colonial past to its current state of affairs, with an emphasis on the cultural and ethnic diversity of the country, particularly in relation to race, class, and gender.
PORT 347 / 785: Brazilian Studies: Afro-Latin American Cultures
Luciano Tosta
11:00-12:15, TR, 1001 Wescoe
Course Description:
This is an interdisciplinary survey course about the history of the Afro-descendant communities in Latin America with an emphasis on the cultural production of these groups. We will analyze how Afro-descendants have represented themselves and been represented in literature, cinema, and music. We will discuss how they have used art as a form of self-and political-expression. Students will acquire a solid view of the history of race relations in countries such as Brazil, Cuba, Colombia, and Argentina, and see the role that African identity has played in the formation of these national cultures.
PORT 611: Accel. Basic Brazilian Portuguese for Spanish speakers
Antonio Simōes
1:00-2:15, TR, 338A Strong
SPAN 322: Spanish Grammar: Form and Meaning Context
Amy Rossomondo
Online: January 16-March 09
SPAN 324: Grammar and Composition
Sean Gullickson
12:00-12:50, MWF, 4012 Wescoe
TBD
10:00-10:50, MWF, 4025 Wescoe
11:00-11:50, MWF, 113 Fraser
TBD
1:00-1:50, MWF, 4012 Wescoe
2:00-2:50, MWF, 4012 Wescoe
SPAN 326: Spanish for Healthcare Workers
TBD
9:30-10:45, TR, 106 MS
SPAN 340: Text Analysis & Critical Reading
Omaris Zamora
11:00-12:15, MW, 4034 Wescoe
Isidro Rivera
12:30-1:45, MW, 113 Fraser
TBD
9:30-10:45, TR, 4025 Wescoe
1:00-2:15, TR, 4034 Wescoe
SPAN 346: Transatlantic Hispanic Cultures
Robert Bayliss
11:00-12:15, TR, 4012 Wescoe
TBD
11:00-12:15, MW, 4025 Wescoe
2:30-3:45, TR, 4012 Wescoe
3:00-4:15, MW, 4012 Wescoe
SPAN 424: Advanced Composition and Grammar
Sean Gullickson
9:30-10:45, TR, 4012 Wescoe
TBD
12:30-1:45, MW, 4025 Wescoe
1:00-2:15, TR, 4025 Wescoe
3:00-4:15, MW, 4034 Wescoe
SPAN 429: Spanish Phonetics
Antonio Simōes
6:00-9:00, TR, 1007 Wescoe
6:00-9:00, TR, Online
Course Description:
The course is an analytical and practical study of contemporary Spanish pronunciation (Phonetics & Phonology). The overall objective of this course is to understand the basics of the physical features of Spanish sounds in comparison to English, the phonological processes of sound changes to form syllables, words, sentences and the Pragmatics of their use. Students are taught to develop listening and speaking skills in Spanish. Good listening skills can be beneficial to improve pronunciation. In addition to the study of Phonetics and Phonology, we will also survey some of the regional features of the Hispanic World like seseo, distinción, lleísmo, yeísmo, ceceo, zheísmo, and a few others as listed in the course syllabus. Class discussions are in Spanish.
SPAN 446: Spanish Culture
TBD
1:00-2:15, TR, 4012 Wescoe
SPAN 453: 20th Century Spanish Studies: Literary Innovation in 20th Century Spain
Jonathan Mayhew
11-12:15, TR, 4034 Wescoe
Course Description:
This course will examine the evolution of literary non-fiction, narrative fiction, drama, and lyric poetry in twentieth century Spain through an examination of canonical (and non-canonical) authors in each genre, including Miguel de Unamuno, Ramón del Valle-Inclán, Federico García Lorca, Alfonso Sastre, Claudio Rodríguez, and Ana María Moix, among others. The emphasis will be on works that are innovative in each genre, stretching the boundaries of conventional definitions through avant-garde techniques.
SPAN 463: National Traditions: Realisms in Latin American Short Story
Rafael Acosta
12:30-1:45, MW, 4034 Wescoe
TBD
3:00-4:15, MW, 1003 Wescoe
Course Description:
There are few ways to criticize reality more than by escaping it. Realisms in Latin America have been varied, spanning a wide array of options going from social realism to magical realism. During this course we will read short stories of the XXth and XXIst centuries in order to understand what does it mean to change what seems to be possible, what seems to be real and what seems to be realistic.
Realism is a constructed idea, changing throughout time and culture, and is often challenged by reality itself. Whereas once it could have been unrealistic to see Mexicans or Cubans in space, it has happened. Whereas once it could have been unrealistic to think of a black President of the U.S.A., it has happened. Where to some it seems unrealistic that alternatives to liberal republics and dictatorships can exist, some do. Students will be encouraged to think, through the many ways in which the Latin American short story has reimagined the realistic, of all the ways in which their reality could be constrained by an unfounded notion of realism.
SPAN 520: Advanced Studies in Spanish Language: From Idiom to Proverb (del modismo al refrán)
Jonathan Mayhew
2:30-3:45, TR, 4034 Wescoe
SPAN 560:Colloquium in Latin American Film: Not the world we have but the world we need: The Revolution
Rafael Acosta
11:00-12:15, MW, 4025 Wescoe
Course Description:
The oppressive nature of Latin American reality has led to a profuse imagery of revolution around the continent, as authors, both of narrative and film have, for the duration of Latin American history, reflected on the need for change. Many of the figures that are most representative of the continent have been revolutionaries, like Ché Guevara, Villa or Zapata, who have chosen to try and find the world that is needed in the ashes of the world that was received.
This course will analyze the different pathways to social justice that have been followed in Latin America through revolutionary movements. We will study film materials that analyze and depict the leaders and the social movements that have aimed to change their world, the reasons for it, and their intended and unintended consequences.
