87 courses with the subject SPAN, 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.
An intermediate level grammar review that also incorporates directed and original composition exercises.
A review of grammar and practice with composition focusing on needs and problems specific to Spanish-speaking bilinguals.
Intermediate Grammar and Composition for Students in Medical-Related Fields. SPAN 100B Intermediate Grammar and Composition for Students in Medical-Related Fields (3) The main goals of the course are to help students develop their competence in using medical terminology in Spanish and to become familiar with the cultural aspects in the health care of Latinos/Hispanics in the United States. In addition, the course will review intermediate level Spanish-language grammar and will provide structure to improve students receptive (listening and reading) and productive (speaking and writing) skills needed for this specialized vocabulary. During the semester students will learn and practice health terminology in Spanish, and they will apply the specialized vocabulary through case scenarios, noticias (news) and readings. Participants will be exposed to Spanish from the first day and are expected to stay up-to date with the current health news as it relates to the Hispanic/Latino population of the United States. The course is intended for those who are beyond the basic level of Spanish (must have taken Span 003), but participants are not expected to be fluent speakers.
The course covers basic Spanish, grammar, and oral, aural, and writing skills for students in the Agricultural Sciences. Students who have received high school credit for two or more years of Spanish may not schedule this course for credit without the permission of the instructor. This course does not count toward Spanish majors or the Spanish minor. SPAN 105 Elementary Spanish I for Students in the Agricultural Sciences (4)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. The class will focus on the development of basic language skills, socio-cultural awareness and discourse. The class periods will be used to develop: (1) the student's knowledge of Spanish as a linguistic code through mastery of a personalized vocabulary as well as common idiomatic language structures important to the student's ability to communicate with Spanish speakers employed in their area of agricultural interest; (2) the student's understanding of major grammatical concepts critical to effective communication in work management within the food, agriculture and natural resources industries; (3) the student's cultural awareness of the varied Spanish speaking cultures with which the student will come into contact in the workplace; and (4) the student's ability to be creative with their knowledge of the language as it relates to the development of self-confidence and effective communicative proficiency in Spanish. Frequent short quizzes and the collection and grading of are important components of the course as they are used to encourage the use of Spanish on a daily basis. Classroom activities will be designed to require students to use and develop their communication skills in Spanish to communicate efficiently and relate personally to Spanish speakers. Students will be evaluated based on homework, quizzes, exams, and class participation. Students who have received high school credit for four years of Spanish may not schedule this course for credit, without the permission of the instructor. This course does not count toward Spanish majors or the Spanish minor.
Further development of basic Spanish skills and the cultural awareness needed to work with Spanish speakers in the agricultural industries. SPAN 106 Elementary Spanish II for Students in the Agricultural Sciences (4) The class will focus on further development of the elementary language skills, socio-cultural awareness and discourse introduced in SPAN 105. It will also build on the agricultural concepts introduced in Spanish 105. The class periods will be used to develop further: (1) the student's knowledge of Spanish as a linguistic code through further mastery of a personalized vocabulary as well as common idiomatic language structures important to the student's ability to communicate with Spanish speakers employed in their area of agricultural interest; (2) the student's understanding of major grammatical concepts critical to effective communication in work management within the food, agriculture and natural resources industries; (3) the student's cultural awareness of the varied Spanish speaking cultures with which the student will come into contact in the workplace; and (4) the student's ability to be creative with their knowledge of the language as it relates to the development of self-confidence and effective communicative proficiency in Spanish. Frequent short quizzes and the collection and grading homework assignments are important components of the course as they are used to encourage the use of Spanish on a daily basis. Classroom activities will be designed to require students to use and develop their communication skills in Spanish to communicate efficiently and relate personally to Spanish speakers. Students will be evaluated based on homework, quizzes, exams, and class participation. Students who have received high school credit for four years of Spanish may not schedule this course for credit, without the permission of the instructor. This course does not count toward Spanish majors or the Spanish minor.
Practice in oral expression in Spanish, with emphasis on aural comprehension, idiomatic usage, and fluency. Use of journalistic materials.
Spanish 130 is a general education course on Iberian culture and civilization. The goal of this course is to provide the student with a broad, general introduction to the lands, peoples, history, and cultures of the area known as Spain and Portugal; to inform the student about the region¿s ethnic diversity, cultural heritages, and problems of development; to investigate vital symbols, myths, figures, icons, superstitions, and faiths; to foster critical thinking and associative skills; to suggest continuity and draw parallels between past and present; and to allow for a framework for undertaking further study. This course will survey the civilizations of these European lands and we will get an overview of the main historical events that make up this rich and complex history.The course is designed to expose students to the full range of Iberian history and diversity. Since we are covering centuries of history and several other variables (linguistic, artistic, ethnic, religious, political, economic, geographic, biologic, etc.), this tour will of necessity be pretty rudimentary. However, students will acquire an understanding of the diverse cultural currents and historical milestones that contributed to the creation of modern Spain and Portugal.
SPAN 131 Ibero American Civilization (3) (GH; IL; US) (BA): Spanish American and Brazilian life from the Conquest to the present; including studies of literature, art, the indigenous heritage, and contemporary problems. This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements.The nations and peoples of Latin America have a unique, interesting history and cultural heritage that are rooted in the traditions, beliefs, experiences, values, and struggles of Native American, European, African and other populations. As close neighbors and major trading partners of the United States, Latin American republics have both benefited and suffered from the proximity and foreign policies of the northern capitalist democracy, and have contributed to its strength and growing ethno-racial diversity. This course aims to provide the student with a broad, general introduction to the lands, peoples, and history of Latin America; to inform the student about the region's ethnic diversity, cultural background, and problems of development; and to promote appreciation for the values and practices of other cultures, and a better understanding of relations between the nations of the region and the United States. Traditional resident classes will usually combine presentation of content and discussion of reading assignments, with an expectation of high student participation. Films, videos, and recordings will enhance and illustrate readings. This course will fulfill the Humanities Breadth and Cultural Diversity requirements. The course does not count toward credits in the major or minor in Spanish because it is taught in English. Nevertheless, it will complement the department's offerings by providing students with a greater appreciation of Latin America's cultural origins, socioeconomic development, and everyday realities.
Spanish American and Brazilian life from the Conquest to the present; including studies of literature, art, the indigenous heritage, and contemporary problems. The nations and peoples of Latin America have a unique, interesting history and cultural heritage that are rooted in the traditions, beliefs, experiences, values, and struggles of Native American, European, African and other populations. As close neighbors and major trading partners of the United States, Latin American republics have both benefited and suffered from the proximity and foreign policies of the northern capitalist democracy, and have contributed to its strength and growing ethno-racial diversity. This course aims to provide the student with a broad, general introduction to the lands, peoples, and history of Latin America; to inform the student about the region's ethnic diversity, cultural background, and problems of development; and to promote appreciation for the values and practices of other cultures, and a better understanding of relations between the nations of the region and the United States. Traditional resident classes will usually combine presentation of content and discussion of reading assignments, with an expectation of high student participation. Films, videos, and recordings will enhance and illustrate readings. This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements and is a WritingAcross the Curriculum course. As such, students should expect assessments to require a significant amount of writing. This course will fulfill the Humanities Breadth and Cultural Diversity requirements. The course does not count toward credits in the major or minor in Spanish because it is taught in English. Nevertheless, it will complement the department's offerings by providing students with a greater appreciation of Latin America's cultural origins, socioeconomic development, and everyday realities.
A general introduction to human and cultural elements of African origin in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries of Latin America. SPAN 132 / AFR 132 / AFAM 132 Afro-Hispanic Civilization (3) (IL) (BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. The nations and peoples of Latin America have a unique, interesting history and cultural heritage that are rooted in the traditions, beliefs, experiences, values, and struggles of Native American, European, African and other populations. This course focuses on the presence and participation of African peoples and their descendants in the formation and development of societies and cultures in representative areas of the Caribbean, South America, and Central America and on the evolution, diversity, and richness of the African heritage therein. Course content includes the African background, the experience and impact of slavery, the social, cultural, and economic heritage of slavery, the role of race in Latin America, and Afro-Hispanic intellectual, literary, and artistic developments (e.g., aspects of folklore, music). The course aims to provide students with a general introduction to human and cultural elements of African origin within the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking nations of the Americas so that they may be more knowledgeable of the meaning, significance and widespread influence of the African diaspora. It proposes to provide the student with a better understanding of Africa's contribution to Latin American identity, diversity, culture, and development; to promote appreciation for the values and practices of other cultures, and greater awareness of the relations between the nations of the region and the United States.
Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject which may be topical or of special interest.
Formal courses given on a topical or special interest subject offered infrequently; several different topics may be taught in one year or semester. This Special Topics is an Inter-Domain GenEd course.
Grammar review and practice in oral expression and aural comprehension.
Intensive grammar review; composition. Designed primarily for majors and prospective majors.
This course will enhance writing proficiency in Spanish of Spanish speaking students by targeting common problems characteristic of Spanish speakers. SPAN 200A can benefit not only heritage speakers, but also Spanish speakers who were educated in Spanish-speaking countries because this class emphasizes the development of writing skills and metalinguistic knowledge (e.g., identifying language structures).
SPAN 210N Multilingual and Intercultural Communication course will showcase the fundamental components of the intersection of language and culture through humanities and social science. The purpose of this course is to teach the underlying mechanisms of multilingualism through language science principles and develop an understanding of intercultural communication through humanistic approaches. The content of this course focuses on linguistic strategies for succeeding in multilingual environments (e.g. dialect variation, second language acquisition strategies) as well as intercultural communication practices for navigating new environments (e.g. understanding cultural norms, skills for global leadership). The course requires an introductory level understanding of language. Students will learn how language and culture inform each other through the examination of cultures within the United States and internationally, including non-Western cultures.
Linguistics is the empirical and systematic study of language. In other words, linguists apply scientific methods to the study of language. Like all scientific disciplines, linguistics addresses broad issues as well as many very specific points. Among the broad issues are questions like: Are humans the only animals to have language? What (if anything) is unique about human language? Do we come hardwired from birth to learn language? How is language learned in infancy? Is bilingual language quantitatively and qualitatively different than two separate and independent languages? Why do adults seem to have more difficulty in mastering a foreign language than small children? What features do all languages have in common, and why? Are some languages simpler, more logical, or more expressive than others? What was the first language? Are all contemporary languages genealogically related? This course will examine some of these big questions. Since this is an introductory course, students will not get "the whole truth" about these issues, but they will get "nothing but the truth." Because this is a Spanish course, the focus will be on specific aspects of the Spanish language all over the Spanish-speaking world, including parts of the US. Students will not only learn facts about linguistics as a discipline and Spanish as a language, but they will also get a sense of what research in Spanish linguistics is about and why linguists consider these topics of interest.
Linguistics is the empirical and systematic study of language. In other words, linguists apply scientific methods to the study of language. Like all scientific disciplines, linguistics addresses broad issues as well as many very specific points. Among the broad issues are questions like: Are humans the only animals to have language? What (if anything) is unique about human language? Do we come hardwired from birth to learn language? How is language learned in infancy? Is bilingual language quantitatively and qualitatively different than two separate and independent languages? Why do adults seem to have more difficulty in mastering a foreign language than small children? What features do all languages have in common, and why? Are some languages simpler, more logical, or more expressive than others? What was the first language? Are all contemporary languages genealogically related? This course will examine some of these big questions. Since this is an introductory course, students will not get "the whole truth" about these issues, but they will get "nothing but the truth." Because this is a Spanish course, the focus will be on specific aspects of the Spanish language all over the Spanish-speaking world, including parts of the US. Students will not only learn facts about linguistics as a discipline and Spanish as a language, but they will also get a sense of what research in Spanish linguistics is about and why linguists consider these topics of interest.
Intermediate level Spanish readings dealing with Ibero-American life from the pre-conquest to the present.
This course guides students toward the development of skills that will enable them to move toward a greater awareness of how literary and other cultural productions create effects and reactions in readers, viewers, and/or listeners. Moreover, it engages with these forms of expression as reflections of the diverse contexts and communities from which they emerge, situating works by a range of voices from across Latin America, Spain, and/or the U.S. within their historical, political, social, economic, and artistic contexts. Along the way, as distinctive features of each selection are highlighted, students become equipped with key tools and strategies of literary and cultural interpretation. Emphasizing critical thinking and a communicative approach to language learning, the course invites students to explore fiction, poetry, drama, film and/or other areas of cultural production (such as music, painting, photography, performance, and/or comics) through conversations and activities designed to improve their speaking, listening, reading, and writing abilities in Spanish, as well as to deepen their cultural understanding of the Spanish-speaking world.
In Spanish Theatre and Performance, the students will read and analyze a variety of Spanish and Latin American plays from a literary perspective as well as from the perspective of a director, designer, and actor. We will use that analysis to create and perform monologues and scenes in Spanish. The students will learn acting, directing, and design skills and put those creative skills at service to further develop their ability to communicate effectively in the target language. This is a course for oral communication through the use of acting. In this course, we will use acting techniques in order to improve our fluency in oral expression. There will be some grammar instruction that will flow through the scripts we encounter. This course will facilitate your ability to express yourself both professionally and personally. The class is conducted in Spanish. The students will use Creative Thinking in order to support the Key Literacy of developing a world language, particularly Spanish. This course will examine plays from a variety of different countries. Play will be chosen from both Latin America and Spain, thereby introducing students to a variety of international cultures. We will be looking at these plays from a historical and social perspective, thereby examing the cultural values, traditions, beliefs, and customs of several countries and cultures. We will look at plays ranging from the turn of the twentieth century through today and see how they and their contexts change through time. We will see how, for example, the plays of Lorca (Spain) might influence playwrights from other Spanish-speaking countries. (The second performance of "Bodas de sangre" was in Buenos Aires Argentina.)
Creative projects, including research and design, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.
Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject which may be topical or of special interest.
Grammar review and practice in oral expression and aural comprehension.
In SPAN 300, students will develop advanced grammar and composition skills through reading texts by native speakers and adapting their techniques for original compositions. The course will review major topics in Spanish grammar, explore the different mechanics of writing in Spanish (punctuation, written accents, etc.) and refine students' writing skills in Spanish through the use of various writing techniques and strategies, e.g. the art of writing narratives, dialogue, descriptions, letters, and reports. SPAN 300 also emphasizes improvement in reading skills and knowledge of vocabulary and idiomatic expressions in Spanish while students continue to increase their cultural knowledge of the Spanish-speaking world.
Advanced Grammar and Composition for Students in Medical-related Fields.
SPAN 305 provides practical language applications for students going into social work, psychology, and the legal and medical professions. At the same time, there is an emphasis on the wide range of historic, linguistic and cultural influences that make up the Hispanic community in the US today. Students will read and discuss relevant resources to develop an understanding of the social and cultural nuance in the above professions with respect to Spanish and Spanish speakers.
No description.
This course covers Spanish phonetics and phonology. In SPAN 314, we will discuss the inventory of consonants and vowels in Spanish, how they are articulated, and the phonological contexts in which they appear. Time will be spent on overcoming common pronunciation challenges faced by English-speaking learners of Spanish. We will also consider various dialects of Spanish with respect to how they differ in their pronunciation and the particular sounds that make them distinct. This course is taught in Spanish.
In this course, we investigate various aspects of the language(s) and language behaviors of U.S. Latinos. The course is premised on the idea that language is a crucial component in the formation of identity. To understand Latina/o identity formation in the U.S., then, one must analyze what role languages--Spanish and English--have played in identity formation. The class commences with a brief historical assessment of the various U.S. Latino communities, including Mexican-American, Cuban-American, and Puerto Rican communities. Such a historical purview proves significant in the study of the cultural traditions that persist in these communities, chief among these, the Spanish language. In exploring the Spanish language in U.S. Latino communities, we consider several major sets of questions, among them the following: In what ways do the languages of U.S. Latino communities differ from those of monolingual Spanish- (and English-) speaking communities? What factors contribute to the maintenance and loss of Spanish in these communities? How does language contribute to the creation of individual and societal identity? How is language exploited in the representation of other U.S. Latino cultural traditions? We consider these questions across a variety of genres: poetry, prose (autobiography in particular), film, art, television, and music. These texts reveal how social environments determine language use as well as how artists have used language to reshape social environments, through, for example, the development of new language practices such as Spanish-English code switching. The course also connects these cultural practices to debates on Spanish in public life and policy as well as framing the content as part of a discussion on global cultures and societies, given the role of immigration and cultural contact in shaping Spanish in the United States.
Building words and sentences in Spanish" is an introduction to the study of Spanish morphology and syntax. In linguistics, morphology is the study of the morphemes (e.g. affixes, words, roots) of language and how they combine together to form words. Syntax is the study of how words combine together to form phrases and sentences. Because this course is for Spanish majors and minors, the focus in this course is on the structure of words, phrases, and sentences in Spanish, how Spanish compares to other languages, and how morphology and syntax vary across Spanish dialects. Special focus will be made on explaining the kinds of errors typical of English-speaking learners of Spanish as a second language, and a primary goal of the course is for students to improve their proficiency in using Spanish morphosyntax. The course is taught in Spanish.
This course examines representations of the U.S.-Mexico border in relation to the actual geographic space. SPAN 326 Reading the Border/Lands (3) (GH;US) This class will center on discussions of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands in cultural theory and practice. "Borderlands" is understood as a transcultural space filled with physical, cultural, economic, political, and mythical elements. The aim is to view how different artists from the Borderlands, both northern Mexican and Chicano, mediate their borderlands reality. That is to say, the goal of the class is to examine the different imaginative geographies in the borderlands. We examine a wide-ranging mix of cultural texts that includes prose, poetry, essays, and performance art, as well as film and video art. We explore how writers have historically rethought notions of citizenship, identity, and culture to create more fluid spaces of representation in cultural contact zones. We will in particular, pay close attention to the relationship between national geography and the shaping of regional identities and popular cultures and relationships between the maps that nations draw and the cultural forms that cut across them.
This course offers a comparative study of the literature, artistic manifestations, intellectual traditions, and cultural productions of Spain. This course offers a comparative study of the literature, artistic manifestations, intellectual traditions, and cultural productions of Spain. Depending on the semester focus, topics related to literary movements, comparative approaches to genre, and/or connections between textual representation and politics, social movements, and/or Spain's long and complex history (both locally and globally) may be at the center of discussion. Additionally, varied issues of gender, race and ethnicity, rural and urban environments, religion, and evolving conceptions of nationhood may be included as overarching themes. Particular literary genres and representative works may be foregrounded in yet another iteration of the course, wherein students will study and discuss principal readings against cultural backdrops framed by exposure to art, film, music, and/or other historical, intellectual, sociopolitical, and/or media-based materials of relevance to the semester-specific context at hand.
This course explores key geopolitical, social, intellectual, literary, artistic, and/or historical sites of contact, exchange, conflict, hybridity, and/or identity production in and across varied contexts of Spanish, Latin American, and/or Latina/o culture(s). While diverse variables (including diaspora, gender, race and ethnicity, sexuality, colonialism, nationhood, and transnationalism) will inform particular iterations of the course, approaches and text selection will be shaped by a central focus on conditions of cultural interaction and transformation in the Spanish-speaking world. Materials to be considered, which will vary according to the focus, may include literary, artistic, and intellectual works, film, media-based texts, music, and/or historical documents. Course objectives will also emphasize strengthening the range and precision of students' linguistic skills, especially writing. The writing component of the course will include frequent and varied assignments: short reaction papers, reflective journals, and more formal analytical essays to be completed across a structured draft and revision process.
This course offers a comparative study of the literatures, artistic manifestations, intellectual traditions, and cultural productions of the Latin American region. Throughout the course, we will reflect on the (im)possibility of characterizing a vast region by taking into account ongoing factors its broader history and culture, as well as national and local particularities. Topics will vary by semester and may include: literary and artistic periods and movements, (post)coloniality and decoloniality, the politics of race, gender, and sexuality, urban and rural sociopolitical movements, (self-)representations in old and new media, discourses of the political (populisms, revolutions, dictatorships, and neoliberalism), and migration studies. Students will engage with literary texts, historic documents, art, music, and other materials in order to understand different kinds of writing and forms of representation. While most materials will be in Spanish, the course may also include works in translation from Brazil, as well as the English- and/or French-speaking Caribbean.
This course offers a comparative study of the literatures and cultures of the Americas, bringing Latin America into dialogue with the United States (and, in some instances, Canada). Throughout the course, we will explore the (dis) continuities that both connect and divide the hemisphere, and we will trace the movement of people, artistic practices, and ideas across borders while paying attention to the distinctive aspects of national and local cultures. Topics will vary by semester and may include: empire and colonialism, the literary and cultural legacies of slavery, the figure of the "native," crime literature or science fiction in the Americas, theater of the Americas, literatures and cultures of the Spanish-American War, media and the U.S./Mexico border, and cultures of the Caribbean diaspora. Although the course may cover English-language materials, or works in translation from Brazil and/or the French-speaking Caribbean, most of the texts/recordings/films will be in Spanish, as will all assignments written by students.
Supervised off-campus, nongroup instruction including field experiences, practica, or internships. Written and oral critique of activity required.
Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject which may be topical or of special interest.
Advanced training in Spanish language skills.
Emphasis on achieving practical command of spoken Spanish and the comprehension of native speech. Use of journalistic materials.
In SPAN 411, students will learn to understand the bilingual landscape of the Spanish-speaking world and its consequences for communities and individuals. SPAN 411 the ABCs of Bilingualism: Acquisition, Brain, and Community will showcase the fundamental components of bilingualism (first language acquisition, language mixing, language and society, language contact, and cognitive consequences of bilingualism) situating them in the Spanish speaking world. The course requires an introductory level understanding of linguistics and presupposes familiarity with Spanish at the 15-credit level or higher. The purpose of this course is to adopt an understanding of the underlying mechanisms of bilingualism and what it means to be a bilingual speaker, as well as understand the community-level impact of speaking multiple languages. Students will learn theories surrounding the study of bilingualism and apply linguistic knowledge to better understand bilingual communities that are new to them.
Techniques of written translation from Spanish to English and vice versa, particularly for business, literature, and social work. Students will learn translation theory and best practices, as well as strategies for overcoming the most common translation problems in Spanish-English translation. Some time will be spent on a review of grammar issues that most commonly result in errors in translation. Students will also learn how to deal with colloquial language and cultural references in a Spanish source text, and will be taught to consider the function of dialect, style and register in a source text and their impact in translation. In the final weeks of the semester, the focus shifts from the theoretical to the practical, as students apply their skills to the translation in advertising, scientific and technical texts, documents, and literary and artistic translation.
Introduction to the art of interpretation, with particular attention to the professions for which it is most commonly required. SPAN 413 Interpretation (3) Spanish 413 will provide students with demonstrations and exercises designed to develop the skills required in sight translation and in consecutive, simultaneous and summary interpretation. The course does not presume to provide the training needed for entrance into the profession; it is intended to give students sufficient understanding of the rigors and demands of the profession and to help them determine whether they have the interest and skills to pursue further training in this area. At the same time, it will provide students with a unique opportunity to improve their listening comprehension and fluency in the target language, whether English or Spanish.
This class is a linguistics course that focuses on language acquisition in children and adults. Linguistics is the scientific study of language and its structure, and linguistic inquiry focuses on various levels of language: phonology examines the sounds of language, morphology examines the structure of words (e.g., root words and their inflections), and syntax focuses on the structure of phrases and sentences. Using the tools of phonology, morphology, and syntax, this course will address the following questions. What is unique about human language? How is language learned in infancy? How do humans learn additional languages after they have learned their first language? How does bilingual language development compare to monolingual language development? Can knowing more than one language actually be detrimental? What are the different languages spoken by bilinguals in the Spanish-speaking world? What sorts of bilingual education programs are there in the Spanish-speaking world, including in the U.S.? By answering these questions, this course introduces students to bilingualism and bilingual language acquisition.
The emergence and development of the sounds and forms of Spanish.
This course is an introduction to business administration (organizational structure, human resources, marketing, accounting, cross-cultural etiquette, business ethics, etc.) within the context of the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures against the backdrop of the global economy. Participants will broaden and deepen their ability to apply their Spanish skills in a professional setting by reading and evaluating current business articles, discussing and analyzing business issues in various Hispanic countries, examining the intersection of business and culture in the Spanish-speaking world, viewing short videos, preparing a resume in Spanish, and participating in other written and oral activities. To complement the core content, various assignments also allow students to focus on their individual majors.
Multilingualism in the Spanish Speaking World explores the multitude of languages spoken in Spanish-speaking countries, including the languages and dialects of Spain, indigenous languages of Mexico, Central, and South America, the Spanish spoken in Equatorial Guinea and the United States, as well as Spanish-based Creole languages. Through linguistic comparative analyses (e.g. phonological, morphosyntactic) of these various languages and dialects, informed by readings on the history and socio-political status of bilingualism in Spanish-speaking countries, students will refine their critical reading and writing skills in Spanish, while gaining a more informed appreciation of the linguistic diversity found within Spanish-speaking world. This course fulfills requirements for the major and minor in Spanish, and allows students interested in Spanish culture and language to undertake more in-depth and specialized study in linguistics.
This course focuses on key aspects of the acquisition of Spanish as a second language. The course will address questions such as: Can watching Netflix help me learn Spanish? What type of practice, and how much, can help me learn a language? Does the native language change when we learn a second language? Does speaking a second language influence thought and perception? Is it worthwhile to invest in studying a language abroad, and why? Is computer-based learning as effective as face-to-face learning? Is it enough to learn 'standard' Spanish? Throughout the course, students are presented with these and similar questions which they will have consider and evaluate as "facts" or "myths". The course goes from theory to practice, and emphasizes hands-on experience based on examining data and experiments. During the semester, you will regularly work by examining data from real speakers (native and non-native) to help you answer the questions explored in the course and to develop your own hypotheses.
Have you ever failed to understand someone because they didn't use the word "whom" properly? There is often a big difference between how one is "supposed to" use a language, and how the language is actually used in the world. Where does this difference come from? Why are some ways of speaking considered to be more correct, more logical, or more polite, and others are disdained, discouraged, or ridiculed? More importantly, how do these judgments spread, and what are their consequences? In this course we will read and conduct rigorous linguistic (e.g. phonetic or syntactic) analyses of how Spanish is used in a wide range of communities both in countries where Spanish is the majority language as well as in the US, we will apply methods from sociolinguistics to explore how linguistic variation is associated with social meanings, and we will critically examine how standard varieties are defined and promoted, and how nonstandard varieties are evaluated, both positively and negatively. We will also engage with points of view of Spanish users, community members, and others through critical study of literary works and other primary sources (e.g. social media, opinion writings, political statements, interviews), to listen to what different people say about varieties of Spanish, and about those who use those varieties. Through these efforts we will explore why languages vary and change, and how and why people come to be evaluated (negatively or positively, accurately, or inaccurately) on the basis of how they speak. Satisfies requirements for the major and minor in Spanish.
In this course, we will read and discuss Don Quijote from start to finish, studying the Cervantes masterpiece from a contemporary perspective. We will focus on its sociopolitical, historical, and literary context while incorporating and adapting critical approaches to our modern sensibilities. We will pay particular attention to the overlapping genres in the text, analyzing its mythical and symbolic repercussions. Emphasis will be placed on the construction of the principal characters, considering themes like law, the life of marginalized people, urban and rural spaces, sexuality, and the roles of violence and bodies. The course is taught in Spanish.
Young people have been at the center of political and cultural revolutions around the world and throughout history. For example, revolutions, urban movements, ethnic/racial pride, LGBTQ+, feminist movements, music bazaars, DJs and rave parties, and "barras de fútbol" are only some of the manifestations associated with young people in Latin(a/o) American literature, film, music, and journalism. Nevertheless, the concept of "youth" as an academic category only appeared in the 1960's. In this course, we will study different manifestations of youth cultures in the Hemispheric Americas, paying special attention to the Latinx communities in the U.S. and Latin America, since the 1960's and until the contemporary moment. The key question that will guide us is: How does each of these literary, artistic, and media representations of youth enter into dialogue with political events in which young people have been at the center of efforts to bring about political changes in the U.S. Latinx communities and Latin America? Using short fiction, film and documentaries, songs, blogs, and other cultural materials (YouTube clips, images, graffiti, etc.), we will identify and compare different youth cultures in Latinx communities in the U.S. and Latin America in terms of their productions, representations, and effects in the public sphere. We will enrich our analysis of primary materials with theoretical and critical readings that will help us to contextualize the different manifestations in our study.
SPAN 472 is dedicated to examining the genre of the Latin American novel and the social context in which such works have been produced in the 20th and 21st centuries. Students will practice close, critical reading of the assigned texts, analyze and discuss them in class, and complete written reflections based on what they have read and learned throughout the course. Particular attention will be paid to the history and cultural background that informs Latin American authors' perspectives, including issues such as race, colonialism, war, and politics. The course will contrast novels with shorter novellas and whenever relevant, other forms of media such as graphic novels will be examined. Students will hone their skills of identifying theses, interpreting historical and social themes, synthesizing arguments, and comparing the assigned readings to their own cultural experiences in class discussions and written essays; in the process they will refine their written and spoken proficiency in Spanish.
This course will enable students to develop a multifaceted understanding of the history, society, and political contexts in which the people of Mexico have experienced life from pre-Columbian times until today, both in Mexico and in the territory that now comprises the United States. It will also address multiple ways in which Mexicans have been characterized throughout history in both aforementioned countries, with an emphasis on who is doing the interpretation of the Mexican character. Scholarly articles, book chapters, narrative fiction, poetry, and film, among other materials, will be used to acquire a broad, panoramic perspective on this topic. Concepts such as discourse, identity, and representation will be addressed via class discussion, written response papers, and original research projects.
We will devote our study in SPAN 476 to Latin American authors that have produced masterpieces in literature and other arts, by engaging with a variety of topics such as race, society, history, and politics. In our examination of these works, we will pay attention to both their contents and their forms: Why can we call these productions "masterpieces"? What does each one of them tell us about the historical and cultural contexts in which they were created? How do they engage with other variables of identity (e.g. gender, sexuality, social class, etc.)? How do they relate and intersect, in their topics and formats, throughout different periods of time and across national borders? Students will read, discuss, and analyze selected major works of Spanish American prose and poetry, and often other cultural productions (e.g. film, music, art). In doing so, students will increase their abilities to identify, interpret, and communicate information and material from historical, literary, film, and performance sources.
This course is conducted in Spanish and will analyze some of the central themes that shape the diverse Latina/o experiences in the United States. Some of the main topics that the course will address include: the politics of labeling; definitions of displacements; the politics of language; imaginary homelands and geographic spaces; and conceptualizations of race, gender, and sexuality. These themes will be seen through the lens of Latina/o literature and film. The main objective of this course is to help students think critically about the conceptual, theoretical, historical, and social issues that inform the Latina/o experience in the United States.
This course, conducted in Spanish, examines Spanish literature from 1898 to 1939.
With the goal of developing students' understanding of literature's fundamental role in constructing our conception of culture, society and history, this course will examine masterpieces in the genre of Spanish prose (e.g. novels and short stories). In a given semester, particular literary themes, genres and representative works may be emphasized, encouraging students to investigate and discuss principal readings against cultural and historical contexts. Readings will include novels, essays, and short stories but may also be informed by visual media such as films and art. Class sessions will emphasize close, sustained reading and directed conversation in Spanish, while written assignments will offer students an opportunity to explore critical and theoretical texts of relevance to the topics being discussed. Students will write essays and analytical papers, as well as additional assignments such as presentations and original creative writing.
This course will explore written poetry and theatrical works from Spain. Specific topics and time periods will vary, but students will identify and examine master works of Iberian theater and poetry and explore the different dramatic and literary traditions that fostered their creation. From heroic, epic poetry to comedy and tragedy, we will delve into a selection of works through close reading and critical analysis. Particular attention will be paid to the historical and cultural contexts in which such works were produced, considering their reflection of social values and cultural norms. Through class discussion, written essays, and audiovisual projects, students will gain an appreciation of the diverse viewpoints, genres and components that make up the Spanish theatrical and poetic traditions, such as narrative, satire, representation, morality, philosophy, etc. We will also consider the evolution of drama and poetry in addition to discussing the lasting impact of masterpieces on the works produced since their creation.
Supervised student activities on research projects identified on an individual or small-group basis.
Creative projects, including research and design, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.
Creative projects, including research and design, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.
Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject which may be topical or of special interest.
Contemporary Spanish life and civilization. Emphasis on post-Civil War period: literature, arts, and sociopolitical problems.
Audio-lingual orientation.
History, development, and linguistic description of Old Spanish and related Romance languages of the Iberian Peninsula.
This course offers foundations of generative syntax. It addresses the advantage of a scientific model to explain human knowledge of language that also makes predictions about its representation in the mind.
This course covers foundations of functional syntax. It addresses the advantages of a scientific approach to explain human knowledge of language that makes predictions about its representation in the mind.
No description.
Analysis of research on the acquisition of syntax, phonology, lexicon, discourse. SPAN 513 Acquisition of Spanish as a Second Language (3) An in-depth analysis of current research carried out on the acquisition of Spanish as a second language. Focus will be on syntax, phonology, lexicon, discourse, and pragmatics. Specific topics covered include the following: null-subjects, clicits; movement and word order, tense and aspect, mood, agreement features, grammaticalization, modality, negation, functional categories, tutored vs. untutored learners, UG vs. non-UG effects, the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy, markedness, cohesive devices, speech acts, metaphors, idioms, the lexicon and culture, the phonological systems, including suprasegmentals.In addition to developing an understanding of the current research on the acquisition of Spanish as a second language, students will learn how to read the research literature from a critical perspective and how to read empirical data presented in published research that might result in alternative interpretations from those espoused by authors of published work. This goal will be achieved in two ways: requiring students to submit via e-mail to the professor and other students in the seminar two- to three-page critiques of assigned readings; and oral presentations in class of readings selected by the student(s). Some of the critical reports and presentations will be carried out jointly, and others will be done individually.Students will also learn how to design and implement empirical research on the acquisition of Spanish as well as how to write up the results of this research in a potentially publishable research report.Finally, they will have the opportunity to present their research findings to the Penn State applied linguistics community, in a mini in-house workshop at the end of the course. In preparation for this, time will be set aside near the end of the seminar for students to present and discuss their research with their colleagues in the course.Most of the readings for the course will be preselected by the professor; however, students will also be expected to carry out independent reading of publications not included in the course syllabus and present and critique what they read in the seminar.
Early fragmentation among the peninsular dialects; their status today, Judeo- Spanish; descriptive analysis of modern Spanish American dialects.
Our primary goal in this course is to explore how to analyze and interpret quantitative data in language science. Part of this goal will be to gain familiarity and proficiency with a range of quantitative techniques common in language science. Reflecting trends in the field, linear and logistic mixed effects regression will be a major focus in addition to more well-known (e.g. ANOVA, multiple regression, chi-square) techniques. We will also spend some time exploring other methods such as multidimensional scaling, generalized additive modeling, and conditional inference trees, as well as more specialized techniques (e.g. drift-diffusion modeling). A more important goal is to learn to think critically about quantitative data and how we can learn from it. This includes a critical view of quantitative research in general, questions of measurement, the many decisions involved in analytic strategy, model structure and interpretation, and the ability to extend students' knowledge to new techniques independently.
While most humans can be considered speakers of two or more languages, linguistic theory has for most of its history attempted to explain multilingualism as a special case, implicitly viewing monolingualism as more fundamental. In this course we explore a different perspective, namely that human language is fundamentally variable and multivalent, or in other words, multilingual. This orientation applies equally well to understanding how multiple languages are organized in the mind as to how multilinguals (understood here as users of more than one language) deploy their language knowledge, including language mixing phenomena. The focus of the course will vary (e.g., focusing on the mental representation of multiple languages in the mind, or on aspects of language behavior such as code switching), and students may repeat the course, provided the focus is different. Through readings of theoretical proposals and critiques of published work we will explore the implications of multilingualism for our understanding of the nature of human language at the most basic level. Students will develop their thinking through short essays, responses to published work, and in course projects designed to advance our theoretical understanding of language through both exploratory data analysis and hypothesis testing, probing the cutting edge of this topic and developing their abilities to ground their empirical work in well-developed theoretical reasoning.
Prose and poetry of major authors: works and trends of the late Golden Age and Baroque period.
Major works of Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Calderon, and others.
This seminar will examine the cinematic imagination of Spain's most internationally celebrated filmmaker, Pedro Almodóvar. Topics to be considered will include Almodóvar's lensing of gender politics, sexuality, multiculturalism, and national identity in post-dictatorial Spain; his nimble negotiation of the local and the global; his taste for cinephilic self-referentiality and hybridity of genre; and a distinctive tendency toward thematic idiosyncrasy all of which are signature features of his postmodern 'brand.' Significant attention will be devoted to approaches and trends within the vast corpus of scholarly criticism dealing with the filmmaker's oeuvre, and our engagement with film theory will arise organically out of the references from these texts. Some basic tools, techniques, and language of film analysis will be considered, as will a general understanding of field-specific norms of film studies as practiced in North American and U.K. Hispanism.
Various currents in Spanish poetry from the generation of 1927: Lorca, Aleixandre, Salinas, Guillen, Alonso, Alberti, Hernandez, Otero, and others.
Content varies; selected topics from colonial period, romanticism, and the nineteenth century before modernism.
A foundation in the field and strategies for teaching Latina/o Studies to undergraduates. This course provides a foundation in U.S. Latina/o Studies Literature and its contexts, with two separate but related goals. The first is to get a grasp on the U.S. Latina/o Studies canon that integrates humanities and social science approaches in order to analyze critical historical contexts that have shaped the emergence and evolution of the field of Latina/o Studies in U.S. higher education and academia, such as early colonial enterprises in the South and the Southwest, Spanish and U.S. imperialism, the Chicano and Young Lords movements during the 1960s, immigration patterns from the Caribbean and Latin America, government policies towards Latinos, contemporary rural and urban movements, etc. The second goal is to explore systematically pedagogical theories and practices in Latina/o Studies and critical race scholarship more broadly, in order for students to become conversant in the theoretical debates that underlie the design of curriculum and classroom practice in Latina/o Studies at the undergraduate level. The course will incorporate some of the major lines of research in Latina/o Studies from different disciplines (such as History, Anthropology, Ethnic Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Linguistics) in order to address some of their most relevant discussions, internal critical debates, and major schools of thought. Students will also engage with other forms of cultural production, including visual culture, theater and performance, and music, among others. The seminar will provide graduate students a solid foundation in the development of a very timely and marketable research and teaching minor.
This course provides a broad exploration of translation in the Americas. In particular, it investigates the politics, practices, and theories of translation in Latin America and the United States from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century, which allows for a comparative mode of reading across and between borders of language, nation, and region. The following questions will guide our readings and discussions over the course of the semester: How does translation unfold as a metaphor, a linguistic act, and a cultural experience in the Americas? To what extent do processes of translation inform the exchanges of languages, peoples, and cultures within and between nations in this region? The class examines the role of canonical Latin American writers as translators and scholars in order to underscore the centrality of translation to the production, circulation, and reception of Latin American literature. The course analyzes the contributions of Latin American writers, including José Martí, Brazilian modernists, Jorge Luis Borges, concrete poets Augusto and Haroldo de Campos, Octavio Paz, and Julio Cortázar, to discussions of translation by reading their works on translation as theory and practice alongside key essays in translation studies by, among others, Walter Benjamin, Jacques Derrida, Gayatri Spivak, Lawrence Venuti, and Emily Apter. It also considers the importance of translators like Gregory Rabassa, Suzanne Jill Levine, and Elizabeth Bishop in disseminating Latin American literature within the United States. Building on these insights, students will consider the recent phenomenon of Latin American literature in translation and re-translation to recognize translation as a linguistic and aesthetic challenge governed by, in part, the political and economic demands of the global, literary market.
Major theories of literary criticism applied to Hispanic literature.
Approaches to the uses and research applications of multimedia and other educational technologies applied to the teaching of foreign languages. (also crosslisted with SPAN 589)
CREATIVE PROJECTS, INCLUDING NONTHESIS RESEARCH, WHICH ARE SUPERVISED ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND WHICH FALL OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF FORMAL COURSES.
Formal courses given on a topical or special interest subject which may be offered infrequently.
No description.
No description.
Supervised experience in teaching and orientation to other selected aspects of the profession at The Pennsylvania State University.
No description.
Source: Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus's catalog, linked per course · table learning_unit · CourseShelf publish 59
