Spanish Program
Courses
1301-1302. First Year Spanish I and II. In these foundation courses, students acquire a basic
vocabulary and an understanding of the fundamental structures of Spanish as they develop
their skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking. At the same time, students
are introduced to the cultures of the Spanish-speaking peoples of the world. 1301
is offered in the Fall semester only. 1302 is offered in both Fall and spring.
2311. Second Year Spanish I. The aims of this course are to enable students to communicate
intelligibly, both orally and in writing, on a variety of subjects, and to introduce
them to the values of short modern works of literature from Spain and Hispano-America.
Fall and Spring.
2312. Second Year Spanish II. This course aims to give students an appreciation and informed
knowledge of the heritage of the Spanish-speaking world through a panoramic overview
of the history, literature and arts of Spain from prehistoric times up to the present
day. Modern Spanish America is also briefly studied, from the time of Columbus, as
the amalgam of Hispanic and indigenous cultures. Fall and Spring.
3119. Spanish Internship. 3120. Studio Drama. These two one-credit courses are graded
pass/fail, and are offered occasionally.
3317. Peninsular Spanish Literary Tradition. An overview of Peninsular Spanish literature
from the Middle Ages to the present. Students are introduced to literary forms, genres,
and movements, as well as to major themes in Spanish literature. They read short original
texts. Required of majors and strongly recommended for concentrators. Every Fall.
3318. Spanish American Literary Tradition. Selection of representative works of Spanish
American literature from the Pre-Columbian period to the late twentieth century. Literary
works are placed in their historical and artistic context. Students continue the study
begun in Peninsular Spanish Literary Tradition of forms, genres, and movements. Required
of majors and strongly recommended for concentrators. Every Spring.
3322. Civilization of Mexico. A one-semester course that offers the student a panoramic
view of Mexican history as well as art and architecture from the Pre-Columbian age
through the Mexican Revolution.
3323. Advanced Spanish Communication/Grammar. This course primarily focuses on increasing
students' oral proficiency through an examination of the nature of communication across
time and across cultures. Film, music, visual arts, and literature provide material
for discussion, engaging students on a variety of levels. Grammar review. Every Spring.
3324. Advanced Spanish Composition/Grammar. This course is designed to develop a sense
of style and structure in writing of Spanish on various levels. This goal is achieved
through close reading and detailed analysis of modem Spanish and Spanish-American
authors in both literary and journalistic fields, in conjunction with intensive practice
in the art of writing for specific and varying purposes. Required for majors. Fall,
odd numbered years. Grammar review. Every Fall.
3328. Spanish Linguistics. This course explores the different theoretical approaches to
the study of language and the various answers they give to the basic questions: what
is language and how do people use it? The course also includes an overview of the
history of the Spanish language as well as a description of its contemporary phonology,
morphology, syntax, and sociolinguistic variations. Additionally, Introduction to
Spanish Linguistics helps prospective Spanish teachers articulate Spanish grammar
clearly and thoroughly. The course is designed for Spanish majors, but is open to
all students.
3329. Introduction to Spanish and Mexican Art History. This course has four objectives:
to introduce students to the main artistic styles throughout two thousand years in
Spain and Mexico, to familiarize them with some of the most outstanding buildings,
sculptures, and paintings in both countries, to show them the unity and the diversity
of artistic expression within the Hispanic world, and to teach them artistic terminology
in Spanish. The first half of the semester is dedicated to the Iberian Peninsula and
the second half to Mexico.
4301. Spanish Medieval History. A survey of Spanish History from the establishment of
the Visigothic Monarchy through the reign of the Catholic Monarchs. Emphasis on the
development of Spain's national character and sense of purpose during the Reconquest.
The course also concentrates on the cultural achievements of the thirteenth century;
surveys Aragon' s expansion throughout the lands of the Mediterranean in the late
Middle Ages; and studies the unification of the four Spanish kingdoms by Ferdinand
II of Aragon and Isabel I of Castile. Readings from medieval documents.
4302. Spanish Medieval Literature. A study of lyric and epic poetry as well as early Spanish
prose. Poetry read includes examples of jarchas, moaxajas, villancicos, and ballads.
Emphasis is placed on the Cantar de mio Cid (Spain's national epic poem) and King
Alphonse X's Cantigas de Santa Maria. Prose works include the Archpriest of Hita's
Libro de buen amor, Los cuentos del Conde Lucanor, by Infante Don Juan Manuel, and
La Celestina, written in the late fifteenth century by Fernando de Rojas.
4311. History of Habsburg Spain: The Golden Age. Spanish history in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. Emphasis on the greater Habsburgs of the Renaissance, Emperor
Charles V and Philip II. Topics include imperial expansion in the New World, defense
of Christendom against Islam, Spain's participation in religious conflicts and national
rivalries throughout Europe, cultural achievements during the Siglo de Oro, political
and economic decline under the lesser Habsburgs of the seventeenth century and the
national sense of purpose inherited from the Reconquest.
4312. Golden Age Peninsular/Colonial Drama and Poetry. Renaissance and baroque drama and
poetry in Spain and Latin America. Dramatists studied are Lope de Vega, Juan Ruiz
de Alarcon, Tirso de Molina, and Pedro Calderon de la Barca. Poets include Garcilaso
de la Vega, Alonso de Ercilla, Fray Luis de Leon, Francisco de Quevedo, Luis de Gongora,
as well as the Carmeline mystics St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.
4313. Golden Age Peninsular/Colonial Narrative. A study of both Peninsular and Colonial
narrative during the Golden Age, including El Lazarillo de Tormes, Cervantes's La
Galatea, and works by Christopher Columbus, Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Alvar Nunez
Cabeza de Vaca, El Inca Garcilaso, St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, Sor
Juana Ines de la Cruz, and Francisco de Quevedo.
4314. Cervantes: Don Quijote and Novelas ejemplares . A close reading of Cervantes's masterpiece,
Don Quijote. Students examine Don Quijote's relationship to the development of prose
fiction (books of chivalry, pastoral romance, and the picaresque novels of the sixteenth
century) as well as its impact on Spanish literature and the European novel in general.
The course also includes some of Cervantes's short Novelas ejemplares.
4342. History of Bourbon Spain: The Age of Revolution. A study of Spanish history during
the two hundred and thirty years of Bourbon rule, from 1700 to 1931. Includes discussion
of the loss of Spain's Empire in Europe, the administrative and economic reforms of
the Enlightenment, the great international conflicts of the eighteenth century, the
Peninsular War against Napoleon, the loss of Spain' s Empire in America, the fall
of the Old Regime, the political instability of the nineteenth century, and the conflicts
that led to the Spanish Civil War of the 1930's. One of the main topics considered
throughout the course is the question of the "two Spains."
4343. Nineteenth-century Peninsular Spanish Literature. Spanish poetry, drama, and prose
throughout the nineteenth century. The first half of the course focuses on Romanticism
as well as on costumbrista and historical novels. Writers studied include: Mariano
de Larra, Jose Zorrilla, the Duke of Rivas, Jose de Espronceda, and Gustavo Adolfo
Becquer. The second half is dedicated to the Realist and naturalist novel. Special
attention is given to works by Fernan Caballero (Cecilia Boel de Faber), Pedro Antonio
de Alarcon, Benito Perez Galdos, Clarin (Leopoldo Alas), Emilia Pardo Bazan, and Blasco
Ibanez.
4361. Early Twentieth-century Peninsular Spanish Literature. The main literary trends
in the first decades of the twentieth century. Study includes works by writers from
the Generation of 98, such as Miguel de Unamuno, Antonio Machado, Ramon del Valle
Inclan, and Azorin (Jose Martinez Ruiz). The course also looks at Spanish vanguardismo
of the 1920s and poets from the Generation of 27, including Pedro Salinas, Federico
Garcia Lorca, Jorge Guillen, Rafael Alberti, Luis Cernuda, and Gerardo Diego.
4362. Contemporary Peninsular Spanish Literature. A study of the most important works
of Spanish literature since the Civil War (1939). Authors studied are leading dramatists
(Antonio Buero Vallejo and Alejandro Casona) and major novelists (such as Camilo Jose
Cela, Carmen Laforet, Miguel Delibes, Anba Maria Matute, and Carmen Martin Gaite).
4371. Twentieth-century Spanish American Novels. A close analysis of the Spanish American novel
of the twentieth century. Authors studied are chosen from the following: Maria Luisa
Bombal, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Miguel Angel Asturias, Alejo Carpentier, and Gabriel
Garcia Marquez.
4372. Spanish American Poetry: From Modernismo to the Present. An examination of more
than a century of Spanish American poetry. Authors usually include: Jose Marti, Manuel
Gutierrez Najera, Ruben Dario, Gabriela Mistral, Alfonsina Storni, Juana de Ibarbourou,
Vicente Huidobro, Cesar Vallejo, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, and Jaime Sabines.
4373. Spanish American Short Story. A selection of the best Spanish American stories since
the late nineteenth century. Authors studied are chosen from the following: Ruben
Dario, Baldomero Lillo, Horacio Quiroga, Jorge Luis Borges, Juan Rulfo, Julio Cortazar,
and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
4374. Mexican Literature. This course includes a study of the interplay between literature
and the arts in Mexico since the late nineteenth century. Some attention is given
to the influence of the Mexican Revolution. Authors read are chosen from the following:
Jose Ruben Romero, Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes, Mariano Azuela, Alfonso Reyes, Agustin
Yanez, Juan Rulfo, Juan Jose Arreolo, Octavio Paz, Elena Garro, and Carlos Fuentes.
4375. Highlights of Spanish American Narrative. 4376. Realism in Spanish and English Nineteenth-century
Narrative. Two courses taught in ENGLISH and offered when needed.
4347. Senior Project. Majors write a twenty-five to thirty page research paper in Spanish
in literature, history, art history , or linguistics. Usually in the Spring.
4349. Senior Honors Thesis. Majors may write a fifty-page research paper, in Spanish,
in literature, history, art history or linguistics as one of their ten courses. By
invitation of the Spanish faculty. The thesis includes a defense open to the public.
Fall.
4351. Independent Research.
5V50. Special Topic in Spanish.