35 courses with the subject SPAN H, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
SPAN H001ELEMENTARY SPANISH1.0
This course is the first part of the introduction to the Spanish language. We study grammar and vocabulary in order to learn about the culture of the Spanish-speaking world and to communicate effectively. The focus is on engaging in conveying meaning. The course meets for five hours (5) a week: three hours (3) with the instructor, one (1) hour with a TA, and (1) mandatory study group hour. This is a two-semester course. Both semesters need to be taken consecutively to receive credit. Students who take the first semester at HC have priority of enrollment in the second semester. Reserved for students with no previous to very little experience in Spanish.
This course is the second part of the introduction to the Spanish language. We study grammar and vocabulary in order to learn about culture of the Spanish-speaking world and to communicate effectively. The focus is on engaging in conveying meaning. The course meets for five hours (5) a week: three hours (3) with the instructor, one (1) hour with a TA, and (1) mandatory study group hour. Both semesters need to be taken consecutively to receive credit. Students who take the first semester at HC have priority of enrollment in the second semester. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 001 or instructor consent
This is a course for students who have achieved a basic knowledge of Spanish. Students will improve their conversational and writing skills while learning about contemporary issues of Spanish-speaking countries. The course meets for five hours a week: three (3) hours with the instructor, (1) hour with a TA, and (1) mandatory study group hour. Prerequisite(s): Placement score or instructor consent.
The main goals of this course are to strengthen and expand writing and conversational skills, with a focus on key social, cultural, and historical issues of the Spanish-speaking world. Vocabulary and grammar are taught within the context of the specific themes chosen to enhance students’ familiarity with Hispanic societies and cultures. The course meets for five hours a week: three (3) hours with the instructor, (1) hour with a TA, and (1) mandatory study group hour. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 100, Placement score, or instructor consent.
This course aims to refine the student’s ability to exercise critical analysis and to communicate effectively in Spanish (orally and in writing) by learning about a variety of cultural themes and literary genres and to prepare to take courses at the 200 level The course meets for five hours a week: three (3) hours with the instructor, (1) hour with a TA, and (1) mandatory study group hour. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 101, Placement score, or instructor consent.
SPAN H201EXPLORING CRITICAL ISSUES THROUGH WRITING1.0
The course aims to provide students with the skills necessary to successfully undertake writing assignments in the upper-division Spanish courses. Students will be engaged in discussions of, and write about topics such as identity, borders and migrations, and manifestations of violence. This course is conducted in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 102, placement, or instructor consent
SPAN H203WRITING THE JEWISH TRAJECTORIES IN LATIN AMERICA1.0
This course focuses on the trajectories of time, space, and gender in the Latin American Jewish experience. We will concentrate mainly on representations of Jewishness but will also explore the historical and contemporary relationships between Jews and non-Jews in Latin America. Our materials will include literary texts, films, and essays, approaching the topic through history, literary criticism, and cultural studies. We will discuss identity, immigration, memory, assimilation, diaspora, and nationalism. We will also analyze transnational experiences, language use, and gender issues. This course is conducted in English (with the option of taking it for Spanish credit if students do the readings and writing in Spanish). Crosslisted: Spanish, Comparative Literature Prerequisite(s): SPAN 102, placement, or instructor consent
SPAN H210SPANISH AND SPANISH AMERICAN FILM STUDIES1.0
Exploration of Latin American film. The course will discuss approximately one movie per week. The class will focus on the analysis of cinematic discourses as well as the films’ cultural and historic background. The course will also provide advanced language training with particular emphasis in refining oral and writing skills. This course is conducted in Spanish. Crosslisted: Spanish, Comparative Literature. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 102, or placement, or instructor consent.
SPAN H211CONTEMPORARY FEMINISMS IN LATIN AMERICA1.0
This course, taught by Lina Martinez Hernandez offers a panoramic overview of contemporary feminist movements in Latin America, with special attention given to the intersection of political intervention and performance, literary, and artistic practices. We review movements in response to and resisting Euro-centric feminist traditions, as well as movements that respond to Latin American ideological and cultural tropes including, “nacionalismo”, “mestizaje” and “machismo”. As we move through the history of 20th and 21st century movements, we explore the different languages created by feminists through their modes of intervention, languages that allow us to speak differently about issues including: reproductive rights, femicide, neoliberalism, anti-racism, south-south networks of connection, queerness, among others. The course will be taught in English, with materials in English, Spanish, and Spanglish. Lottery Preference: Students follow application process of 360 Cluster
SPAN H213READING AND GLOSSING MEDIEVAL IBERIAN LITERATURE1.0
This course provides students with an in-depth exploration of medieval Iberian literature through the lens of literary analysis. In the course, students will develop essential reading techniques of close reading, annotation (glossing), and outlining to help them interpret literary works and build arguments. Through guided readings, discussions, and assignments, students will explore various genres (poetry, drama, prose), topics, and theoretical frameworks to enhance their ability to engage critically with medieval Iberian literature and the historical and cultural discourses of the primary sources. Ultimately, the reading strategies learned in the course will give them confidence in their analytical skills and deepen their understanding of medieval texts and literature in general. Taught in Spanish. Pre-requisite(s): Completed 102, placement exam at the 200 level, or instructor consent Lottery Preference: Majors; minors; LAILS concentrators
This course introduces the body of Latin American literature known as magical realism. The authors of the literary boom transculturate European cultural elements with aspects of criollo, indigenous and African traditions in their works. This style’s leit motifs include folk beliefs, time and space warping, and the normalization of magic. Critical moments in Latin American history, such as the Cuban Revolution, the long history of dictatorships and strongmen, and the shadow cast by U.S. foreign policy and corporations, are essential to understanding these texts. Issues of race, gender, and class will be central in class discussions. This class can be taken in connection with the 300-level class on magical realism or independently. Pre-requisite(s): Students who completed SPAN 102 or placed into 200-300 level courses can take this course
SPAN H219CONTEMPORARY LATIN AMERICAN SHORT FICTION1.0
This course focuses on recent (1990 to the present) Latin American short fiction, highlighting themes such as gender, violence, resistance, memory, politics and social transformation. The course will also explore the development of short narrative forms in Latin America, including the legacy of genre figures such as Quiroga, Borges, Cortázar, Peri Rossi, Monterroso, and García Márquez. Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the genre by creating their own short stories in a workshop setting. Course taught in Spanish. Pre-requisite(s): Placement at the -200 level or permission of the instructor Lottery Preference: Majors, minors, seniors, LAILS concentrators
This course analyses the construction of foundational narratives when rebuilding a nation. In the wake of the Mexican Revolution (the first revolution of the Twentieth Century), an extraordinary post-revolutionary culture and art production (Kahlo, Orozco, Rivera, among others) called the attention of intellectuals, leftists, and post-war artists such as André Breton, Leonora Carrington, Tina Modotti, and Leon Trotsky, among others. Social and political context will assist to understand avant-garde literary and visual works; to examine debates around revolutionary art, cosmopolitanism, Mexican roots, and national identity; and to assess why rural sectors including campesino and Indigenous groups still claimed the debts of the Mexican Revolution. This course is conducted in Spanish.
SPAN H222RETHINKING LATIN AMERICA IN CONTEMPORARY NARRATIVE1.0
An examination of literary texts, cultural production and practices that address issues of coloniality, subalternity, gender violence, forced disappearance and displacement, among others. This course explores how the concept of “nation” has marginalized different identities (Indigenous people, women, LGBTQ+), how they have become targets of violence, and what are the connections between coloniality, racism, and forced disappearance as a current practice. However, this course highlights community practices of resilience and agency. For example: radical change from Indigeneity literary works to decolonial Indigenous movements, from genocide to testimonials and Commission of Truth, from forced disappearance to national search brigades and caravans of mothers looking for their beloved ones. This course is conducted in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 102, placement, or instructor consent
SPAN H226LEARNING TOGETHER: INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY ENGAGED LEARNING1.0
In this class students will have the opportunity to explore different aspects, issues, challenges, and initiatives involved in co-creating social justice projects with communities (local and international). The class will be taught by Professor Martínez Hernández and Community Co-Instructor Marguerite Kise and it will explore different themes, including: what is Ethical Engagement; the basis for Mutuality and Co-Creation; How to build relationships of trust and leadership; and the importance of building multilingual spaces in social justice/migrant justice work, among others. Throughout the semester, we will invite different community educators and leaders, as well as visit different organizations and communities in Philadelphia. The class will be taught in Spanish and English. Pre-requisite(s): Fulfilled Language Requirement with Spanish, or instructor consent.
SPAN H230INTRODUCTION TO IBERIAN STUDIES: MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN LITERATURE AND CULTURE1.0
This course surveys over a thousand years of literary, cultural, and political history in the Iberian Peninsula. In the context of European and world history, course readings will span from the 5th century CE to roughly 1700, that is to say, from the final dissolution of the Roman Empire through the middle ages and ending with the early modern period and the first centuries of Iberian colonization in the Americas. While most readings will be in Castilian (i.e. Spanish), the Arabic and Hebrew writers that called the Iberian Peninsula home from 711 CE to 1492 as well as early Gallego-Portuguese writers will likewise be discussed. These non-Castilian voices represent a linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity at odds with the commonplace notion of Spain as an exclusively Spanish-speaking and Catholic monarchy. Topics of discussion will include the politics of history, love and epic poetry, writing the self, and the changing role of women in Iberian society. This course is conducted in English; students taking it for SPAN credit will write a final paper in Spanish. Crosslisted: COML 200
A survey of Chicana/o/x literature and performance, including novels, personal essays and memoirs, drama, and film. This course privileges the stories, struggles, imaginations, and accomplishments of Chicana/o/xs in the United States, through an exploration of cultural identity and production. Key topics include El Movimiento, Chicana/x feminism, labor and exploitation, expressions of pride and joy, and performative traditions. In our exploration of Chicana/o/x life and culture, we will gain insights into the history and experiences of curanderismo, agricultural labor migration and incarceration, and social reproduction across Greater Mexico and the Northern Borderlands of Atzlán. Crosslisted: SPAN, ENGL
SPAN H240INTRODUCTION TO LATIN AMERICAN, IBERIAN, AND LATINX STUDIES1.0
A multidisciplinary introduction to Latin American, Iberian, and Latinx Studies, this course offers an overview of the field’s cultural production in a socio-historical context. It introduces cultural expressions from crucial moments in the region’s history: the peak of Indigenous civilizations, the Spanish conquest, early modern and colonial times, the rise of independence and nationalism, various forms of religious syncretism, and internal and transnational migrations. We will pay close attention to issues related to class, race, and gender, as well as transnational experiences and linguistic variations in written and visual texts, music, and performance studies. This course is designed to serve as the introduction to the concentration in Latin American and Iberian studies. It will be taught in English, but students who wish to obtain Spanish credit are expected to read Spanish language texts in the original and write all assignments in the language.
SPAN H244DIGITAL LATINX STORIES ACROSS CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY1.0
This course examines the diasporic, transcultural, and translingual experiences of Latinx communities in the U.S. through literary and audiovisual texts and community collaboration. Students analyze works by Latinx authors and scholars of language and identity, then partner with members of the CCATE organization in “story circles” to create written and digital narratives. The course culminates in a public showcase highlighting underrepresented voices and stories within dominant cultural narratives. Pre-requisite(s): SPAN 102 or placement at the 200 level Lottery Preference: Majors and minors; LAILS concentrators
This course proposes a bilingual reading of Miguel de Cervantes’ famous novel, El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha. The adventures of Don Quijote and Sancho Panza force readers to probe the fraught and circular relationship between life and art. How do we know when something is true? What happens when fictions, dreams, or outright lies become confused with the truth? What role does art play in catalyzing this desire to transform the world? Course readings and discussion will be largely in Spanish with the option of reading the novel in translation and participating in course discussion in either Spanish, English or Spanglish. Please be advised: Students who wish to receive credit towards a SPAN major or minor must complete course readings and assignments in Spanish. This course fulfills the “pre 1898” requirement. Crosslisted: Spanish, Comparative Literature.
Students will learn about different Hispanic Caribbean migratory experiences through a selection of short stories, novels, memoirs, and essays, as well as in film, and performative production. The tales featured in this course will consider how gender and sexuality shape migration experiences. The texts that will be analyzed are mostly originally written in Spanish. Crosslisted: Spanish, Comparative Literature Prerequisite(s): SPAN H102 or 200-300 level in the placement test
SPAN H273THE INVENTION OF PABLO NERUDA: POETICS AND POLITICS1.0
This course deals with the principal works of Pablo Neruda’s long career as a poet. Close readings of his major poems will be accompanied by an examination of the criticism and reception of Neruda’s poetry at different stages of his trajectory. Special attention will be paid to the creation and elaboration of Neruda’s image as a poet, cultural icon, and political figure in Chile and in the Spanish-speaking world. This course is conducted in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 102, placement, or instructor consent
This course offers a historical and cultural approach to blackness in Latin America. Understood as an epistemological discourse and as embodied practices, blackness has been at the center of Latin American identity since colonial times. Taught in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): 200 level Spanish course
SPAN H314SPANISH IN THE US: LANGUAGE, IDENTITY AND POLITICS1.0
The course introduces students to basic concepts of (critical) sociolinguistics with a focus on Spanish in the US. It examines the history and politics of Spanish in the US, the relationship of language to Latinx identities, and how language ideologies and policies reflect and shape societal views of Spanish and its speakers (and contribute to discrimination and social injustices). Course taught in Spanish. Prerequisite(s): Course at the 200-level in Spanish or Linguistics
SPAN H316WOMEN AND THE ARMED STRUGGLE IN LATIN AMERICA1.0
An examination of socialist armed struggles in 1970s, women’s rights and feminist movements in Latin America. A comparative study of literary texts, testimonials and documentary films addresses theoretical issues such as Marxism, global feminism, hegemony and feminisms produced in the periphery. This course is conducted in Spanish. Course taught in Spanish. Cross-listed: Spanish, Gen/Sex, and PJHR Prerequisite(s): One 200-level, preferred 300- level course, or instructor consent
SPAN H330BEYOND QUIJOTE: CERVANTES'S OTHER WRITINGS1.0
Focusing on Miguel de Cervantes’s lesser known works, this course aims to foster a fuller picture of Cervantes’s lifetime of literary experimentation. Readings and discussion will assess the writer’s corpus diachronically as it developed over time in order to understand the author’s intellectual development and its relation to his slippery critical perspective on early-modern Spanish society. Prerequisite(s): one 200 level course in Spanish
SPAN H332INTO THE THREAD: GENDER AND TEXTILE ARTWORK IN LATIN AMERICA1.0
Long dismissed as “women’s work,” fiber art carries quiet insurgency in its threads. Emerging from Indigenous, Black, and mestizo communities, its textures expose how race, labor, and intimacy intertwine. From domestic spaces to museum walls, Latin American feminist and queer artists have used fiberwork to unravel colonial legacies and re-stitch desire, memory, and resistance. Taught in Spanish, this course traces how touch, texture, and craft become acts of embodied, anti-colonial transformation. Crosslisted: SPAN,GSST,VIST
SPAN H336HUMANIMALS IN SPANISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE FROM PREHISTORY TO THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD1.0
Humans are animals and yet most people consider animals to be something other than humans. This course sets out to understand from a specifically Iberian perspective how humans have come to define themselves in relation to animals and vice versa how animals have come to be defined in relation to humans. Readings in this course will approach animals as both living and literary figures with an emphasis on the medieval and early modern periods as well as key theories in Animal Studies. Crosslisted: COML. Pre-requisite(s): A 200 level-course; or permission of the instructor Lottery Preference: Spanish majors; Spanish minors; Comparative Literature majors; LAILS concentrators
SPAN H338“I NEED A HERO”: CHIVALRIC SAGAS IN LATE MEDIEVAL IBERIAN LITERATURES AND CULTURES1.0
This course explores the rich tradition of chivalric literature in late medieval Iberia. Students will evaluate the sociocultural and literary significance of chivalric literature in Iberia through a wide range of texts, including chanson de geste, ballads, chivalric romance, and legends from the 13th-16th century. The course evaluates themes cardinal to the chivalric genre, such as courtly love, honor, knightly conduct, revenge, adventures, warfare, fantastic geographies, world creation, and the origins of the novel. Pre-requisite(s): 200-level, placement exam at the 300 level, or instructor consent Lottery Preference: None
SPAN H339"MY PLACE TO FEEL": MIGRANT LITERARY EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPES AND MENTAL HEALTH1.0
This interdisciplinary course brings together social work and cultural studies to approach understandings of mental health in Spanish speaking migrant communities. We will explore how Latine literature and art offers vocabularies for emotional landscapes through narrative and character building, as well as culturally and territorially informed understandings of self-love, depression, anxiety, relationships, and trauma. Through a community engagement, students are invited to collaborate with a migrant youth group based in Philadelphia in monthly 3hr workshops. F-1 students interested in taking this course should consult with the ISS Office. Pre-requisite(s): To have taken SPAN 200 or SPAN 300 courses Lottery Preference: Spanish Majors
This course explores Latinx life, culture, and social movements through the field of Sound Studies. The course takes a multimedia approach to ideas of subjectivity and collectivity, political action and resistance, and forms of (self) representation and self-determination to ask how might we reconceive Latinx history, cultural production, and social justice movements through sonic concepts such as amplification, voice, gain, listening, resonance, and deafness. Crosslisted: SPAN, ENGL
This course is designed for the advanced student of Spanish, who is interested in the processes involved in learning a foreign language, and/or contemplating teaching it. This course is conducted in Spanish. Crosslisted: Spanish, Education Prerequisite(s): One 200-level course, or instructor consent
SPAN H365THE POLITICS OF LANGUAGE IN THE SPANISH-SPEAKING WORLD1.0
The course will explore the relationship between (national) identity and language, and the specific outcomes of (language) policies and educational practices in societies where Spanish is spoken, generally alongside other mother tongues, often as the dominant language, but also in a minority situation. This course is conducted in Spanish. Crosslisted: Spanish, Linguistics
SPAN H385POPULAR CULTURE, IDENTITY & THE ARTS IN LATIN AMERICA1.0
This course examines the interaction among mass, élite, traditional, and indigenous art forms and their relationship with the dynamics of national/ cultural identity and politics in Latin America in the 19th, 20th, and early 21st centuries. Among the forms of expression to be studied are oral poetry and narrative, musical and political movements such as “neo-folklore,” “New Song,” “Nueva Trova,” “Rock Nacional” and 21st-century derivations, popular dance, and the cinema. This course is conducted in Spanish. Crosslisted: Spanish, Comparative Literature Prerequisite(s): One 200-level course in Spanish or instructor consent
The course will consist of two one-semester parts. The first, taken in the fall semester, will have the format of a seminar under the supervision of one Spanish department faculty member. Students will also consult with other professors in the department (potential thesis directors). The purpose of this seminar is to prepare students for the research and writing their senior theses by 1) enhancing and refining the reading tools and critical approaches to Spanish and Latin American texts; 2) elucidating and contextualizing relevant aspects of literary history, theory, and culture 3) determining the thesis topic, key secondary sources and approach to be deployed in writing the thesis, and 4) polishing the skills and methods for successful research and proper use of available resources. Problems in literary and cultural analysis-selected with a view to their pertinence in relation to the group’s interests-will be discussed through close readings of selected works of criticism or theory. The second semester will involve the process of writing the thesis under the supervision of individual professors.
