Spanish Course Descriptions

3000 and 4000 level Spanish Courses for SPRING 2015

COURSES IN SPANISH LANGUAGE
SPN 3300: Spanish Grammar and Composition. This course covers the theory and practice of Spanish
grammar and its application to compositions. Can be taken concurrently with SPN 3400.
Prerequisite: A grade of “C-“ or higher in SPN 2240.

SPN 3400: Spanish Reading and Conversation. This course develops communicative proficiency and
accuracy in both reading and writing Spanish. Can be taken concurrently with SPN 3300. Not open to
native or heritage speakers of Spanish.
Prerequisite: A grade of “C-“ or higher in SPN 2240.

SPN 4420: Advanced Composition and Translation (Fernández). Tuesdays/Thursdays 2:00-3:15
Stresses composition in Spanish with less emphasis on translation from Spanish into English. For
students with prior knowledge of essential points of Spanish grammar.
Prerequisite: SPN3300 and SPN3400.

COURSES IN (HISPANIC) LINGUISTICS
LIN 3041: Introduction to Linguistics (Sunderman) Tuesdays/Thursdays 11:00- 12:15.
This course is taught in English and is an introduction to the science of linguistics and its subcomponents
of syntax, semantics, morphology, phonetics, phonology, neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, first and
second language acquisition and sociolinguistics. By the end of the course, students will be able to: (a)
describe and give examples of ways in which human languages are all alike and how they are different;
(b)use basic terminology of linguistics to describe language phenomena; (c) apply the tools of linguistic
analysis to the sounds, words, and sentences of a language; (d) discuss important research findings
concerning acquisition of first and second languages; (e) describe how and where language is processed
in the brain; (f) describe differing uses of language in its social context; and (g)evaluate popular
mythology about language and grammar.

SPN 4700: Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics (Reglero). Tuesdays/Thursdays 9:30-10:45
This course is a general introduction to Spanish linguistics. Our main objectives will be (i) to learn about
and analyze Spanish sounds, words and sentence structures, (ii) to develop an appreciation for the rich
variation of the Spanish language throughout the world and (iii) to understand the origin of the Spanish
language, its development and its present situation in the US and abroad. Along the way we will learn
about different areas of linguistics, including acoustic phonetics (which studies the physical
characteristics of sounds), morphology (which investigates words and their components), syntax (which
focuses on how words combine into sentences), historical linguistics, and language variation.
Prerequisite: SPN3300 and SPN3400. LIN3041 highly recommended.

SPN 4930: Bilingualism in the Spanish-speaking World (Leeser). Tuesdays/Thursdays 3:35-4:50.
In this course we will explore the main topics in the study of bilingualism with an emphasis on bilingual
communities in Spain, Spanish America, and the United States. Our primary goals will be (i) to develop
an appreciation for the social, political and cultural contexts of bilingual communities in the Spanish-
speaking world, ii) to learn about the acquisition and processing of more than one language, and iii) to
recognize the ideologies underlying language planning and bilingual education. This course is taught in
Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 3300 and SPN 3400.

COURSES IN HISPANIC LITERATURES
SPW 3030: Introduction to Hispanic Literatures
Tuesdays/Thursdays 9:30-10:45; Tuesdays/Thursdays 11:00-12:15
In this course we will be exploring the process of literary analysis and learning the necessary tools for
literary appreciation and interpretation in the field of Hispanic literary studies. Discussions on the
different periods and their history, movements, and literary currents will complement our reading and
interpretation of the four basic genres: narrative, poetry, drama, and essay.
Prerequisite: SPN3300 and SPN3400.

SPW 3104: Readings in Modern Spain (Cappuccio). Tuesdays/Thursdays 12:30-1:45
Through a variety of readings and written and oral activities, we will consider the critical issues related
to modern Spain from 1700 to the present, including: 1) some of the more outstanding writers of the
period and their works, 2) various literary movements, and 3) the historical and cultural situations as
they affect and relate to literature.
Prerequisite: SPN 3030

SPW3493: Readings in Modern Spanish America (Gomáriz). Tuesdays/Thursdays 9:30-10:45
Clase social, raza, género. Estudio panorámico sobre la literatura hispanoamericana moderna con
especial atención al papel de las relaciones de clase, raciales y de género. Situaremos los textos en sus
contextos sociales, políticos, culturales, e históricos; analizaremos manifestaciones y estructuras de
poder tales como la esclavitud, el colonialismo, y el patriarcado; así como las relaciones hemisféricas
entre Hispanoamérica y los Estados Unidos. Nuestro recorrido literario incluye textos del romanticismo,
de la narrativa de la esclavitud, del modernismo, de las vanguardias y de las letras contemporáneas.
Prerequisite: SPN 3030

SPW 4770: Caribbean Literature (Fernández). Tuesdays/Thursdays 11:00-12:15
This course focuses on the reading, discussion, and analysis of works by Hispanic Caribbean authors,
with an emphasis on the history, cultural life, and social conditions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the
Dominican Republic as it is reflected in the literature.
Prerequisite: Two 3000-level SPW courses, including SPW 3030.

SPW 4930: Contemporary Spanish American Poetry (Galeano). M-5:15-7:45
This course provides a comprehensive study of contemporary Spanish American poetry from 1910 to the
present. Works of individual poets will be analyzed and balanced within the context of significant artistic
and literary movements such as the avant-garde, "poesía comprometida," “exteriorismo,” and
"antipoesía". The course will address the following questions: What changes have occurred in Latin
American Poetry? What are the changes in content? What are the changes in style? Who has initiated
these changes? What is the foundational role of these poets? How do the transformations of Latin
American societies influence the world of the poets? What influences have Modernist and Postmodernist
Western cultural trends had on Latin American poetry throughout the Twentieth century? These
questions will be addressed along with an examination of the role of poetry in contemporary societies
present in poetic texts of the “poetas canónicos”. This course and all related activities will be conducted
in Spanish.
Prerequisite: Two 3000-level SPW courses, including SPW 3030.


SPW 4930: Spanish Golden Age Poetry (Howard). Tuesdays, 3:35-6:15pm
In this course, we will study Spanish lyric poetry as a tradition, in the sense that we will assume that
each subsequent author was familiar with all previous authors in the same tradition. In this way we may
track the evolution of Petrarquismo, as well as other movements, through the Renaissance and the
Baroque, as the poets attempted to "imitate" their predecessors, but with some difference. We will
begin with Juan Boscán and Garcilaso de la Vega, who brought Italianate verse and Petrarquismo to
Spain, and cover the major Spanish Golden Age lyric poets and commentators in roughly chronological
order, taking into consideration the material circulation of the texts as much as possible. In the end
students not only will be deeply familiar with Spanish Golden Age lyrical poetry as a whole but also will
be able to carry out sophisticated analyses of individual poems.
Prerequisite: Two 3000-level SPW courses, including SPW 3030.

SPW 4930: Contemporary Latin American Fiction (Poey). Wednesdays 5:15-7:45pm.
This course will cover twentieth century Latin American fiction. While the course is designed to expose
students to a broad range of representative authors and texts, it also seeks to situate those texts in both
specific histories and broader theoretical frameworks. Roughly half of the semester will focus on
“canonical” texts. The other half of the semester will be dedicated to layering, critiquing and responding
to those texts through readings of less recognized voices.
Prerequisite: Two 3000-level SPW courses, including SPW 3030.

COURSES IN HISPANIC CULTURES/CRITICAL THEORY
SPT 3391: Hispanic Cinema (Álvarez). Tuesdays 3:35-5:50, Thursdays 3:35-4:30
This course focuses on the work of Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar in order to explore the
important political and social changes undergone by Spain at the turn of the century. Students will learn
of the historical, cultural and social contexts in which Almodóvar has produced his work from a cross-
cultural, comparative perspective. The emphasis will be on analysis and discussion of key themes and
questions of style through a selection of films produced by Almodóvar from the 1980s to the present
time. Key themes will include regional and national identities, social class, race and ethnicity,
globalization and immigration, place and space, gender and sexuality, language, cultural stereotypes and
historical memory. This course counts towards Liberal Studies Competencies: Cultural Practice and
Cross-cultural studies X credit.

SPW 4930: Queer Theory (Álvarez). Tuesdays/Thursdays 2:00-3:15
For some practitioners, queer theory is almost synonymous with lesbian and gay theory. However, it
designates to others a radical rethinking of the relationship between subjectivity, sexuality and
representation which, based on poststructuralist critical tenets, calls into question the fundamental
assumptions upon which identity markers like “lesbian” and “gay” are based. In this seminar we will
investigate the development of different perspectives taken by queer theories in order to come to terms
with this split theoretical heritage. This course is open for both graduate and undergraduate students
with a strong interest in critical theories.