Fall 2008 Program Description

COURSE OF STUDY, 18 CREDITS

Students enroll in three regular courses and an additional independent reading course for a total of 18 credits. All courses count toward a major in Spanish or Romance Languages, and they apply toward the Certificate of Advanced Study in Foreign Language and Literature or Foreign Language and Area Studies.

SPANISH 290-17: INDEPENDENT READING (2 CREDITS) S/CR/NC

Basic readings in Spanish history and culture in preparation for the program.

SPANISH 209-07: EXPLORING SPANISH CULTURE (6 CREDITS)

A survey of Spanish history as reflected in literary texts, or putting it differently, learning history the fun way.

Instructor: Spanish faculty

SPANISH 247-07: SPANISH ART FROM EL GRECO TO PICASSO
(4 CREDITS)

This course is a survey of Spanish art from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Classes will meet at some of the finest museums in Madrid, including the Prado Museum and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Museum of Modern Art). Art lectures will be supplemented by field trips to Toledo, Barcelona, and Seville.

Instructor: Spanish faculty

Spanish 249-349: LEARNING HOW TO READ CONTEMPORARY SPAIN
(6 CREDITS)

This course will focus on the study of post-Franco Spain. Through concepts such as nationalism, deconstruction, myth, mourning, and nostalgia, we are going to develop an understanding of what we call “contemporary Spain”. The reading of different critical texts and novels will be complemented with trips to different Spanish regions and meetings with local writers.

We will use the novels as an introduction to different realities in contemporary Spanish society: immigration (xenophobia), terrorism, civil war traumas, the relationship between generations, the battle of the languages (Castellano vs Catalán, Vasco y Gallego) gender troubles, etc. Also, as part of the course, students will be asked to attend different cultural activities; to keep a diary in Spanish of their experiences and to conduct different interviews in the streets.

Instructor: Palmar Alvarez-Blanco

EXCURSIONS

Cultural activities, speakers, and excursions within Madrid will supplement course work. In addition, there will be several excursions to different regions of Spain.

PREREQUISITES

Students must complete Spanish 205 or above by spring term 2008.