Course Description Archive

2007 Graduate Course Descriptions

Six-week session in Vermont
Schedules, texts, and staffing are subject to change

LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS

SPAN 6501 Advanced Language for Mastery
Armstrong, Fernández Isla, Gonzalez de la Aleja, Nunley (coordinator)

This course utilizes an integrated approach to bridging the gap between intermediate and advanced levels of language, with particular emphasis on the development of formal speaking and writing. Review of grammar and development of vocabulary are linked to proficiency functions (e.g., narrating, describing, explaining, analyzing, hypothesizing, and defending opinions) in both speech and writing. Authentic cultural readings of diverse types and sources and authentic video segments serve as a context for linguistic practice in the classroom. This course meets two hours a day. (l unit)

Required text: Concha Moreno. Temas de gramática, nivel superior (Madrid, Sociedad General Española de Librería, 2001, ISBN 8471438755).

SPAN 6502 Advanced Spanish Language
Gutiérrez-Araus (coordinator), Domínguez, Garcia, Jurado Torresquesana

The fundamental objectives of this review grammar course are the following: 1) review the uses of indicative verb forms, in particular in the past; 2) clarify uses of the subjunctive; 3) study various types of subordinate clauses, focusing on the use of indicative and subjunctive; 4) review the use of ser and estar, with special attention to idiomatic use; 5) differentiate between personal pronouns, with particular attention to the use of se forms —impersonal, indeterminacy, passivity, intensifications, etc. Grades will be based on three exams, additional graded assignments, and class participation. (l unit).

Required texts: Selena Millares, Método de español para extranjeros: Nivel Superior, (Madrid, Edinumen, 1999).

SPAN 6505 Advanced Spanish Writing
Evangelista (coordinator), Fernandez, Martinez, Gil

The course aims at developing students academic writing skills through the understanding of key concepts of discourse analysis such as reference, cohesion, and coherence. A variety of text types will be analyzed in class. Rhetorical devices such as argumentation, hypothesis, and exposition will be presented and practiced through writing tasks, with group work integrated into the course. Special attention will be given to the articulation of class activities with the requirements of other courses at the same level. (1 unit).

Required texts : 1) Estrella Montolío (coord). Manual Práctico de Escritura Académica, Volumen II (Barcelona: Editorial Ariel, 2002, ISBN: 84-344-2868-7); 2) material in course pack form to be purchased at Middlebury; 3) Diccionario de la lengua española (Madrid: Real Academia Española, 2 vols.); 4) Diccionario esencial de sinónimos y antónimos (Barcelona: Vox, 1998). All students must also have a standard Spanish-English Dictionary (we recommend Bantam or Oxford).

SPAN 6607 Verb Tenses within the Indicative Mood: Evolution and Nuances of Meaning
Moreno de Alba

In this course we will explore the values and meanings (temporal, aspect, and modal) of the verb forms or tenses of the indicative mood. We will discuss the general rules governing tense use, studying the oppositions that are set up at the level of paradigm or general system, within the Spanish language (habitual present, historical present, "future" present, for example, or the distinctions between various past tenses). In addition, wherever possible we will ascertain the particular systematic values that some verb forms acquire, in particular dialects or varieties of Spanish—for example, in American Spanish versus European Spanish.

Required texts: 1) José G. Moreno de Alba, Valores de las formas verbales en el español de México, 2nd. ed. (México: UNAM, 1986); 2) José G. Moreno de Alba, Estudios sobre los tiempos verbales (México: UNAM, 2003); 3) material in coursepack from to be purchased at Middlebury.


SPAN 6609 Values and Uses of the Subjunctive in Spanish
Cabrera Morales

Subjunctive constitutes one of the basic topics of Spanish grammar and is one of the most important problems in the acquisition of Spanish as a second language. This course focuses on the study of how, when, and why the subjunctive is used in Spanish. In addition, it will also pay attention to other issues such as the values and uses of Subjunctive in independent and subordinated sentences, and how theses values and uses can be explained by teachers of Spanish in their classes. The course will have not only a theoretical dimension but also a practical orientation, with exercises designed to improve the comprehension of subjunctive in Spanish. (1 unit)

Required text : J. Borrego, J. Gómez Asencio, E. Prieto, El subjuntivo. Valores y usos (Madrid, SGEL, 1986)

Recommended Texts: 1) Mª Ángeles Sastre: El subjuntivo en español. Salamanca, Colegio de España, 1997 (84-8640-873-3); 2) Inmaculada Molina: Practica tu español. El subjuntivo. Madrid, SGEL, 2006 (ISBN 84-9778-246-1)

SPAN 6611 Introduction to the Study of Language
Simounet Bey

This is an introductory course to the scientific study of language. It is geared towards students with limited or no background in linguistics. Discussion centers on the following topics: the notion of language, brain and language, the grammatical aspects of language (words, sentence patterns, meanings and sounds), language acquisition, the birth and death of languages, language myths, and the relationship between language and society. In addition to the required texts, the instructor will provide other readings. (1 unit)

Required texts: 1) David Crystal, How Language Works (New York: Overlook Press, 2005); 2) Laurie Bauer and Peter Trudgill, Language Myths (New York: Penguin, 1998).

SPAN 6614 The Spanish Language in America
Moreno de Alba

This course will study the most important aspects of the Spanish language as it is spoken on the American continent, with the aid of literature, history and, above all, linguistics. Departing from some reflections on the influence of the Andaluz and the Amerindian languages on the development of the Spanish language in the Americas, the course will address the main phonetic, grammatical, and lexical features of the Spanish language as employed on this continent. Current trends will be studied to investigate both the unity and the variety displayed in the Spanish used on this side of the Atlantic. (1 unit).

Required text : El español en América, 3nd ed.(México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2001).

SPAN 6615 History of Written Spanish
Cabrera Morales

This course will study the history of Spanish language through the texts from Medieval Ages until today. At the end of the summer, students will be able to read texts of any period, understanding their linguistic differences in order to identify in which historic moment was written. The objectives of this course are: a) to improve the capacity of reading literary texts of any period based in the knowledge of their linguistic features; b) to learn from a historic perspective a lot of matters of the current Spanish language (orthography, grammar, varieties of Spanish, etc). All these topics can be most useful to understand better some linguistics problems that usually are explained in a class of Spanish as a second language (1 unit)

Required text : Material in course pack form to be purchased at Middlebury.

SPAN 6621 Syntax of the Spanish Language
Gutiérrez Araus

The purpose of this course is to provide a balanced combination of theory and practice concerning the structure of a sentence in Spanish and the basic problems when teaching Spanish grammar. The course focuses in the grammatical relationships between the components of the simple and dependent sentences. Course topics include: the Spanish order of the words, the alternance between the indicative and the subjunctive in the different types of dependent sentences, the different values of SE, the use of the prepositions, etc. Students will analyze texts in order to better understand the most complex questions of Spanish grammar. (l unit)

Required text: Mariluz Gutiérrez Araus, Problemas fundamentales de lagramática del español como 2/l (Madrid, Arco Libros, 2004).

SPAN 6709 Ethnolinguistics
Simounet Bey

This course looks into the relationship between language and culture. Various theoretical frameworks are examined with special emphasis on Dell Hymes’ anthropological approach, better known as the ethnography of communication. Classroom discussion focuses on basic terms, concepts and issues in the field, the identification and analysis of communicative events, the patterns of communication in a society, the attitudes towards communicative performance, the acquisition of communicative competence and the relationship between language and politeness, power and politics, with special emphasis on Spanish-speaking contexts. In addition to the required text, there will be other readings on the subject provided by the instructor. (1 unit)

Required text: Muriel Saville-Troike, The Ethnography of Communication: An Introduction, 3rd ed. (Malden MA.: Blackwell, 2003).

SPAN 6710 This course is cross-listed with professional preparation

CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION

SPAN 6631 Contemporary Spanish History
Maldonado Gago

This course will consider Spanish history from the Bourbon Restoration to the present day. Social and economic convulsions, civil war, and the military dictatorship that prevented freedom and democracy from becoming institutionalized until near the end of the 20th-century will be the main focus. Special consideration will be given to the period of King Juan Carlos I and the democratic governments of the Socialists and the Conservatives, including their corruption and respective scandals, as well as the most recent elections. (1 unit)

Required text: Jover, Gómez-Ferrer, and Fusi, España: sociedad, política y civilización (Madrid: Editorial Debate, 2001).

SPAN 6632 Trans-Atlantic History of the Spanish Empire
de la Guardia

One of the most complex and suggestive periods of modern history is found in the traumatic encounter between the Iberian Kingdom of Castile and the Americas. In this course, we will study the dramatic transformation of those two worlds in a theater familiar to us today as "the Spanish Atlantic World". We will study that period by reading texts by American and Spanish writers from the 16th through the 18th centuries. (1 unit)

Required text: a selection of excerpts from the following texts and authors which students can acquire in coursepack form, to be purchased at Middlebury. The readings will include John H.Elliott, Imperios del mundo atlántico: España y Gran Bretaña en América ( Madrid:Taurus, 2006); Richard L. Kagan and Geoffrey Parker (eds.), España, Europa y el Mundo Atlántico (Madrid: Marcial Pons, 2001); Miguel León Portilla, Códices: los antiguos libros del Nuevo Mundo (Mexico: Aguilar, 2003).

SPAN 6633 Surviving Memories: Resisting Dictatorships
de la Guardia

Among the most infamous phenomena of the 20th Century was the rise of dictatorships of both the political left and the right. In Spain and in Latin America, new regimes come into existence which monopolize power, submitting society to control by systematically resorting to repression and propaganda. In opposition to them, resisting voices develop, opening new margins of freedom. The aim of this course is to develop insight into the Spanish and American dictatorships by means of the study and discussion of writings and diverse reports by witnesses who were able to keep their memories alive. (1 unit)

Required text: a selection of excerpts from the following texts which students can acquire in coursepack form, to be purchased at Middlebury. The readings will include Mariano Constante, Los años rojos (Barcelona: Círculo de Lectores, 2004), Cristina Peri Rossi, El museo de los esfuerzos inútiles en Lo mío es escribir: Siglo XX, ed. Anna Caballé (Barcelona: Círculo de Lectores, 2003); Victoria Kent, Cuatro años de mi vida, 1940-1944 (Barcelona:Bruguera, 1978); Ernesto Sábato, La resistencia (Barcelona: Seix Barral, 2000).

SPAN 6643 Iberia: Fusion of Colors at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century
Álvarez Diaz

This course will study the intersection of music, history, and cultural context, taking as its point of departure one of the masterpieces of the Spanish music: the suite Iberia by Isaac Albéniz. As we observe the 100th anniversary of its composition, we will address the historical, sociological and artistic aspects relevant to the broader European cultural context at the beginning of the twentieth century. We will explore the artistic and cultural world of Paris and its influence on Spanish music, the vision of Spain as a nation from within and beyond its borders, and the influence of this music on Carlos Saura’s last film, Iberia. Besides the reading and research through bibliographic materials, an important part of the course will be a close listening to Albéniz’ repertoire, which will give students the opportunity to learn how to appreciate the aesthetics of this music and see how the popular-folkloristic spirit has inspired the Spanish music of that time. Through this example, we will study the complex interactions that result in conceptualizations of a "culture." No previous music knowledge is required. (1 unit)

Required text: Material in course pack form to be purchased at Middlebury

SPAN 6647 Cultural Crossbreeding and Interethnic Relations in Spanish American Societies
Bueno Sarduy

This course will analyze the meeting of Spanish American cultures and civilizations, and the processes of synthesis and crossbreeding among diverse ethnic groups and cultures, from a historical-anthropological perspective. We will pay special attention to the ethno-racial criteria that were used as classifiable categories, their repercussions in contemporary societies, as well as phenomenons of religious syncretism and cultural synthesis in its diverse manifestations. In conjunction with classroom lectures, there will be class discussions on anthropological and literary texts from authors such as Carpentier, Nicolás Guillén, Nancy Morejón, Rojas González, and Ciro Alegría, among others.

SPAN 6654 Ecuadorian Indigenous Culture
de la Torre

This three-week course (meeting two hours per day during the first three weeks of the 6-week session) will involve a comparative analysis between the historical periods and the present of the indigenous people of Spanish America. While it is true that there have been significant achievements in several fields of indigenous life, at the same time there are still enormous barriers to be overcome, such as racism, xenophobia, and the differentiation that translates into inequality. We will focus on the Ecuadorian indigenous movement, and the indigenous women’s movement as well, in order to analyze the principal advances in political, cultural, and educational arenas. However, we will also assess their stagnations, and their future challenges. We will analyze most specifically the contributions of Otavalo people, to analyze their achievements and failures to find themselves within the historical straight line, having achieved major victories but also still experiencing significant problems in cultural and human issues. A final research paper will be required, and will be submitted during the fourth week of the six-week session. (1 unit)

Required text: Material in coursepack form to be purchased at Middlebury.

SPAN 6676 This course is cross-listed with literature

SPAN 6737 Myth and Reality of the Spanish National Identities
Maldonado Gago

This course will explore the combination of factors—historical, sociological, cultural, etc.—that have given rise, over time, to the senses of identity or belonging within the different Spanish collective nationalities: Spain as a national entity, the País Vasco, Cataluña and Galicia. Since History (and our way of telling it) mingles with mythical histories at the heart of these identity questions, the course will explore both interpretative arenas, and their limitations. (1 unit)

Required text: José Álvarez Junco, Mater Dolorosa (Madrid: Taurus, 2005). Also material in electronic form, to be made available to students upon arrival.

LITERATURE

SPAN 6560 Literary Analysis
Staff

This course will introduce the graduate student to the techniques of literary analysis, critical thinking, reading, and interpreting Hispanic literary texts. It is divided into three segments, each of which is devoted to the analytic strategies pertinent to one major genre: narrative, poetry, and drama. Each student will write several papers and actively participate in class discussions. (1 unit)

Required texts: 1) C. Virgillo, L. T. Valdivieso, and E. Friedman. Aproximaciones al estudio de la literatura hispánica. 5ª ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill College, 2003); 2) Laura Esquivel, Malinche (Madrid: Punto de Lectura, 2007 OR Atria, ISBN 978-0743290340)

Recommended text: Marchese, Angelo y Joaquín Forradellas. Diccionario de retórica, crítica y terminología literaria. (Barcelona: Ariel).

SPAN 6664 From Prison to Palace: Space in Golden Age Spanish Literature
Carreño

Space is both living entity and literary device. The literary voices of a text refer to its various forms of enunciation, thereby situating the narrative in an often emblematic place. This locus can in turn form and define character behavior. There are public and private spaces; open and closed spaces; monumental loci (churches, squares, palaces); daily spaces (streets, roads); religious spaces (convents) and profane ones (corral de comedias). There is also the frontier as mythic space/s. Based on canonical texts of the period, this course will scrutinize the representation of space as cultural artifact and as a sign of identity. (1 unit)

Required texts: 1) El Lazarillo de Tormes, ed. Francisco Rico (Madrid: Cátedra); 2) El Abencerraje, ed Francisco López Estrada (Madrid: Cátedra); 3) Cervantes, Novelas ejemplares, ed. Harry Sieber, 2 vols. (Madrid: Cátedra); 4) Tirso de Molina, El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra, ed. Ignacio Arellano (Espasa Calpe, Austral); 5) Lope de Vega, El perro del hortelano, ed. A. Carreño (Espasa-Calpe, Austral); 6) Calderón de la Barca, La vida es sueño, ed. Ruano de la Haza (Clásicos Castalia). A selection of literary theory from a coursepack will also be an important part of the course.

SPAN 6665 Indigenous Narrative: Subjectivity in and through Testimonial
Dulfano

This class traces writing by and about the indigenous; from a preconquest discourse of the vanquished to contemporary testimonial as denunciation of atrocities committed during the Guatemalan civil war. Central themes that guide this study are: the insertion of a marginalized subject into the canon, mediation of discourse, mestizaje, the characterization of the indigenous in idealized or material terms, Marxist interpretations of indigenous reality in the Andes, and the appropriation and transformation of socially committed literature. (1 unit)

Required texts: 1) Vision de los vencidos (Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autonoma ISBN 968837315X); 2) Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Comentarios reales (México: Juan Leon Mera, Cumandá (ISBN 9978800271); 3) Jorge Icaza, Huasipungo; (España: Catedra Porrua); 4) Rigoberta Menchú, Me llamo Rigoberta Menchu (Siglo Veintiuno 16th edición, ISBN 9682313155). Other readings will be made available in electronic form, to include for example Mariátegui, Siete ensayos de la realidad peruana.

SPAN 6667: Creative Writing
Cardona Lopez

This course will combine the study of theoretical considerations on the creative writing process and the writing of the student's own work. The students will explore and use writing techniques in order to refine their skills to write fictions prose. This course will also be an opportunity to learn from the creative experiences and works of well-known Hispanic authors. (1 unit)

Required texts: 1) Oscar de la Borbolla, Manual de creacion literaria (Mexico: Nueva Imagen, latest edition); 2) Mempo Giardinelli, Asi se escribe un cuento (Mexico: Nueva Imagen, latest edition).

SPAN 6676 Political Violence, Memory and Cultural Representation
Evangelista

The aim of this course is to study cultural and human responses to the violence of political repression in Spanish America. Central to the theoretical and critical corpus of the course is the multidisciplinary work of scholars writing in response to historical violence, which posed questions regarding social trauma, the links between mourning and memory, and the social and cultural role of artistic creation. The theoretical dimension of the topic will be discussed in class through the reflection on key critical works and will provide the necessary framework for the analysis of primary sources, such as literature, film, art, oral history, journalism and popular music. In order to introduce students to the complex issues of memory and violence in its subjective and social dimension, the course will focus on the study of three different moments of Spanish American history. The main topics discussed will be a) the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and its long lasting effects on the present, b) the use of historical memory in México during the zapatista uprising and c) dictatorships and democratic transitions in Chile, Uruguay and Argentina (special attention will be given to the latter). (1 unit)

This course is cross-listed with culture

Required texts: 1) Jorge Semprún, La escritura o la vida, 3rd ed. (Barcelona: Tusquets, 2002, ISBN: 84-8310-518-7); 2)Carlos Franz, El desierto (Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, 2005, ISBN 950-07-2620-3); 3) Elizabeth Jelín, Los trabajos de la memoria (Madrid and Buenos Aires: Siglo XXI, 2002, ISBN-84-323-1093-X); 4) Elizabeth Jelín, and Susana Kaufman, eds., Subjetividad y figuras de la memoria: Memorias de la represión (Buenos Aires: Siglo XXI, 2006, ISBN 987-1013-46-9); 5) material in course pack form to be purchased at Middlebury, material in electronic format.

SPAN 6677 The Spanish American Short Story of the Twentieth Century
Cardona López

This course will be focused on five major Spanish American short story writers of the twentieth century: Jorge Luis Borges, Juan Rulfo, Julio Cortázar, Gabriel García Márquez, and Augusto Monterroso. It will include an introduction to the main theoretical considerations that are fundamental to analyze and interpret a short story. The main part of this course will concentrate on the critical analysis of short stories written by the aforementioned authors. (1 unit)

Required texts : 1) Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones (Madrid: Alianza, ISBN 9504001947); 2) Juan Rulfo, El llano en llamas (Madrid: Cátedra, ISBN 8437605121); 3) Julio Cortázar, Los relatos I: Ritos (Madrid: Alianza, ISBN 842061615X); 4) Gabriel García Márquez, Los funerales de la mamá grande (Buenos Aires: Sudamericana ISBN 9500700913); 5) Augusto Monterroso, Cuentos (Madrid: Alianza, ISBN 8420637378).

SPAN 6683 Panorama of Spanish literature of the XIXth and XXth Centuries
Ríos Sánchez

This course will examine the different works of those authors who are most representative of XIX and XX Century Spanish literature, in the context of the different literary movements comprised within this period: Realism, Fin del Siglo (Modernism and '98), Group of '27 and Post-War. Each of the texts will be analyzed according to its movement, context and author. In addition, the course will also focus on the following three goals: a) to understand the connections between the literature and its social, cultural and artistic context; b) to distinguish the individual characteristics of each author; c) to develop a capacity for literary analysis and commentary of both literary selections and complete texts. (1 unit)

Required texts: 1) Juan Valera, Pepita Jiménez, ed. Leonardo Romero (Madrid: Cátedra); 2) Leopoldo Alas (Clarín), Relatos breves, ed. R. Rodríguez Marín (Madrid: Castalia); 3) Antonio Machado, Campos de Castilla, ed. G. Ribbans (Madrid: Cátedra); 4) F. García Lorca, Bodas de sangre, ed. A. Josephs (Madrid: Cátedra); 5) Miguel Delibes, La mortaja, ed. G. Sobejano (Madrid: Cátedra); 6) Carmen Martín Gaite, Todas los cuentos. El balneario y Las ataduras (Barcelona: Destino); 7)material in course pack form to be purchased at Middlebury.

SPAN 6725 Cuban and Puerto Rican Narratives: De un pájaro las dos alas
Delgado-Costa

Two West Indian islands are christened at the end of the 19th-century as de un pájaro las dos alas, but amidst the turmoil of the 20th-century Cuba and Puerto Rico embark on different political and historical paths. This course samples the literary output of these "sister islands" through a series of narratives propelled by the celebration of the indigenous, the denouncement of slavery and poverty, the inquiry of language and culture, as well as the exploration of themes of solitude and existential anguish. The course consists of several short stories, and a few essays. We will also read one novel. (1 unit)

Required texts: The class will also view films, and there will be a coursepack available for purchase from Middlebury.

SPAN 6799 This course is cross-listed with professional preparation

PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION

SPAN 6695 Spanish L2 Teaching Methods
Davis

This course is an introduction to the basic principles of second language acquisition and their application in classroom settings. Topics covered include instructional techniques for developing the three language modes (presentational, interpretive, interpersonal), standards for foreign language learning (US and European frameworks), proficiency assessment, content-based instruction (CBI), techniques for addressing learner variables, and the role of culture in the L2 classroom. In addition to the theoretical readings and discussions, students will develop a portfolio of teaching materials ready for classroom use. (1 unit)

Required texts : 1) Lee, J. and B. VanPatten, Making Communicative Teaching Happen (2nd ed., McGraw Hill, 2003); 2) Alice Omaggio, Teaching Language in Context (3rd ed., Heinle & Heinle, 2001).

SPAN 6710 Spanish Phonetics and Phonology for English Speakers
Jurado Torresquesana

The primary objective of this course is the theoretical and applied study of the Spanish phonetic system, as well as an exploration of the pedagogy of this topic in the second-language classroom. Each student should begin with knowledge of the basic phonetic system, and the primary differences between Spanish and English phonetic systems. Throughout the course, we will combine theoretical explanations with practical reinforcement, with this latter aspect being a fundamental part of each class. Class participation and integration with class dynamics are expected from each student. Students will give two oral presentations of 10 minutes each, on a topic related to the course. These presentations should demonstrate assimilation of new habits of Spanish pronunciation, and should also stimulate the desire to know more about these topics among the classmates. The course can be taken as credit for pedagogy or for linguistics, depending on the student’s choice of final project. (1 unit)

This course is cross-listed with Linguistics

Required texts: 1) Navarro Tomás, T. (1974): Manual de pronunciación española . Madrid: C.S.I.C. (18ª ed.); 2) Quilis, A. (1981): Fonética acústica de la lengua española. Madrid: Gredos. Also a coursepack to be purchased upon arrival.

SPAN 6799 The Teaching of Literature
Invernizzi

In this course, students will address a number of the Latin American readings on the Advanced Placement Literature reading list, from both an analytical and a pedagogical perspective. Our chief goals will be to study existing critical interpretations of the readings, analyze the works meticulously ourselves, and explore various strategies for teaching these works to high school students. Participants in the course will develop and have, ready to be used with their own students, discussion questions, pre- and post-reading activities, and general ideas to make the readings comprehensible and accessible for high school age students. Students will also (and most importantly) gain an essential analytical understanding of each work treated in class. All materials developed throughout the course will be shared with the entire class. This course can be taken as credit for pedagogy or literature, depending on the student’s choice of final project. (1 unit)
This course is cross-listed with Literature

Required texts: 1) Antonio Sobejano-Morán, Introducción a la literatura latinoamericana (Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing, 2005); 2) Albertina Saravia, Popol Vuh: Antiguas historias de los indios quichés de Guatemala, (México: Editorial Porrúa, 1975).

2007 Guadalajara Courses

SPAN 6602 Spanish Phonetics, a Descriptive and Historical Approach- Castillo

Introduction to Spanish articulatory phonetics -phonemes, syllables, syntactic phonetics- and suprasegmentals -stress, unstressed words, and tones. Contrast with English vowels and consonants. The evolution of pronunciation from Latin to Medieval and Modern Spanish. Sounds common to all Spanish varieties and local differences. Practice will consist of reading aloud, counting of syllables in different types of verse and song and tapping of rhythm. There will be several oral and two written exams .

No textbook required. Course pack for purchase in Mexico.

SPAN 6612 Indicative and Subjunctive- Castillo

A linguistic introduction to dependent clauses in conversation and in formal writing. Different ways of selecting indicative or subjunctive depending on formal or subjective criteria. Practice will consist of exercises especially designed for this course, and of observation of local newspapers, cartoons and informal conversation. The grade will be based on a paper containing observations and two exams.

Course pack for purchase in Mexico. 

Culture

SPAN 6619 Reading Jalisco, from the Regional to the Global in Rulfo, Arreola, and Yáñez- Chávez

Due to a combination of historical, economic, and cultural factors, the Mexican state of Jalisco (where Guadalajara is located) has figured prominently in the formation of contemporary Mexican identity. Using a variety of critical approaches ranging from structuralism to ecocriticism, this course proposes a fresh reading of three of the most important writers of the 20^th-century from this state of Western Mexico (Juan Rulfo, Juan José Arreola, and Agustín Yáñez). The geography, regional history and culture from Jalisco will also inform our study of the novels, short stories, photographs, films, and other symbolic texts produced by these authors.

6623 Indigenous Performing Arts in Mexico- Alonso

This course offers a panoramic view of dance, ritual and theatre of Indigenous origin in Mexico and their social, political and religious dynamics. It will begin with the study of the components of pre-Hispanic rituals and the importance of its theatrical aspects. Then it will address the danza de los Concheros in the state of Queretaro and the role of the Catholic church. We will conclude with the study of pieces performed by the Centro Cultural Mascarones, a group which works with indigenous communities to preserve the traits of pre-Hispanic culture through aspects of quotidian life.

6626 Culture and Mexican Identity- Alonso

This course is designed to offer a panoramic view of Mexican identity. We will study aspects of pre-Hispanic, Colonial and Modern culture. From different authors’ point of view we will analyze the psychology of Mexican people and various ethnic movements as an important part of social action with political implications. Readings drawn from classic essays in the field including; La jaula de la melancolía y La sangre y la tinta by Roger Bartra, El laberinto de la soledad by Octavio Paz, México profundo by Guillermo Bonfil, Batalla and La identidad nacional como problema político y cultural by Raúl Béjar, among others. 

SPAN 6655 Social and Political Documentary in Contemporary Mexico- Velazco

There is, at present, a new impulse in documentary cinema. Recently, Mexico has experienced a national cinematic revival due to a largely extend to documentary films. This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the thematic and stylistic variety in documentary films that deals with issues related to politics, gender, human rights, rebellions, and democratization. We will address a wide range of theoretical issues specific to the documentary form as well. The course will include documentaries by Felipe Cazals, Mari Carmen de Lara, Raymundo Gleyzer, Luis Mandoki, Carlos Mendoza, Mercedes Moncada, Lourdes Portillo, Francesco Taboada, Carmen Toscano, Gerardo Tort, among others.

Required texts: Documental (Cuadernos de estudios cinematográficos 8), El cine de no ficción. Desvíos de lo real (Antonio Weinrichter), and other material in course pack form to be purchased at Guadalajara.

SPAN 6658 Contemporary Mexican Art- Franco

This course reviews the main expressions of Modern and Contemporary Art in Mexico. The study of the dominant currents, movements, and tendencies in the most important disciplines of the plastic and visual arts will be complimented with analysis of the musical and literary expressions surrounding them. The combination of these elements will allow us to present a more rounded view of the evolution of the artistic field in the last and present century. For comparative purposes some forms of popular art will be also studied for their social and aesthetic relevance.

Literature

This course offers a panoramic view of Pre-Columbian and Colonial Latin American writing. It will begin with a discussion of indigenous literary heritage: Nahuatl Poetry, the Mayan Popol Vuh, and Quechua Poetry. Then, it will address chronicles of conquest and colonization, using fragments from the writings of Cristóbal Colón, Bernal Díaz Del Castillo, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, el Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Bartolomé de las Casas, and Alonso de Ercilla. We will conclude with an analysis of the well known letter and a few poems by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.

SPAN 6767 Contemporary Spanish American Poetry- Sefamí

This course will examine various currents in Latin American poetry published in the last 60 years, starting with writers born after Octavio Paz (1914-1998). It includes works from the following ten poets: Gonzalo Rojas (Chile), Olga Orozco (Argentina), Ernesto Cardenal (Nicaragua), Carlos Germán Belli (Peru), Juan Gelman (Argentina), Alejandra Pizarnik (Argentina), José Emilio Pacheco (Mexico), José Kozer (Cuba/U.S.), Raúl Zurita (Chile), and Coral Bracho (Mexico). We will cover various topics as they relate to poetry, including Surrealism, Colloquialism, Revolution and Politics, and the Neobaroque movement.

SPAN 6783 Literature of the Zapatista Rebellion- Velazco

In 1994, the zapatista rebellion brought international attention to the southern Mexican State of Chiapas. Described by writer Carlos Fuentes as the world’s first “post-communist rebellion,” this armed movement has raised key questions about the social and economic impact of Neoliberalism, the future of indigenous cultures, and the scope of democratization in Mexico. After exploring the history of ethnic and class conflict in Chiapas with the classical novel of Rosario Castellanos, Balún Canán, we will examine recent narratives that provide the background and context for the Zapatista movement, and explore its impact in Mexico and internationally. Special attention will be given to the writings of Subcomandante Marcos, spokesperson and military strategist of the Zapatistas.

Required texts : Rosario Castellanos, Balún Canán; Efraín Bartolomé, Ocosingo: Diario de guerra y algunas voces; Jaime Avilés, Nosotros estamos muertos; Marcela Serrano, Lo que está en mi corazón; Carlos Montemayor, Chiapas: la rebelión indígena de México; material in coursepack form to be purchased at Guadalajara.

Professional Preparation for Teachers

SPAN 6693 Spanish in the Americas: Linguistic Varieties and their Role in the Language Classroom- Acevedo

The course will begin with a review of changes in modern Spanish in America. It will provide a general introduction to the history and structure of the varieties of Spanish spoken in the “New World.” Topics to be treated will include the peninsular origins of New World Spanish, the influence of American languages on Spanish, the features which characterize the different varieties of “New World” Spanish (including United States Spanish), and the grammatical and lexical features which distinguish Spanish varieties. At the end of this course, students will recognize the pluricentrality of cultures sharing the same Spanish language and its place in the language classroom.

Prerequisite: An Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics course is recommended.

Required Text: John M. Lipski, El Español de América (Madrid: Cátedra 3rd ed., 2004).