Spanish Language and Literature

Courses

SPAN101Beginning Spanish IIntroduction to the Spanish Language and the Spanish-speaking world. Students begin developing competency in the four basic skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) through communicative activities and cultural exploration.Prerequisite: Placement test if student has any prior experience with Spanish.

SPAN102Beginning Spanish IIFurther development of the four skills through continued exploration of the Spanish-speaking world. Students will work to acquire the linguistic skills and cultural knowledge needed to navigate a variety of cultural settings. Prerequisite: SPAN-101

SPAN201Intermediate SpanishThe refining and expansion of communicative skills. Students develop critical thinking and cross-cultural competency by reading, discussing, and writing about authentic texts. Prerequisite: SPAN-102

SPAN202Conversation and CompositionCritical explorations of the Spanish-speaking world through focused reading, discussion, and related written assignments.Prerequisite: SPAN-201

SPAN203Advanced Conversation and CompositionAn introduction to the critical analysis of texts from the Spanish-speaking world. Students begin to acquire a more sophisticated knowledge of the intricacies of the Spanish-speaking world while putting into practice more complex forms of written and oral expression.Prerequisite: SPAN-202

SPAN205Culture of Health and Disease in the Hispanic CommunityThis course enables students to connect with Spanish-speaking clients and healthcare providers by teaching appropriate vocabulary and presenting different cultural attitudes and practices. A service-learning component is included in this course. Prerequisite: SPAN-201

SPAN301Introduction to Hispanic LiteraturesAn introduction to the periods, concepts, genres, and major figures of Spanish and Spanish-American literature. Using selected texts, discussion, and a variety of written assignments, this course will introduce students to literary analysis and bibliographic methods. Prerequisite: SPAN-203

SPAN401The Spanish-Speaking World on FilmResearch, discussion, and analysis of selected topics and issues in the Spanish-speaking world as reflected in film. Students develop the vocabulary and critical-thinking skills necessary to analyze and interpret the genre in both oral and written form. This course may be repeated for credit toward graduation if the content is different, but may count only once toward the major or minor.Prerequisite: SPAN-301

SPAN435Advanced Literary StudiesCourse focuses on major figures and movements in Spanish and/or Spanish-American literature. Topics will vary. May be repeated for credit if the course content is different. Spring 2013 Description: This course will investigate the work of the Chilean novelist Roberto Bolaño and through that work other contemporary literary currents and their historical context. The course focuses on two key moments in Bolaño's life: the slaughter of student and civilian protestors in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Mexico City in 1968 (featured in the novel Amuleto), and the military coup d'état in Chile in 1973 and the resulting dictatorship (described in part in both Estrella distante and Nocturno de Chile). Through the reading of his novels, short stories, poems, and essays, we will explore how these events impacted Bolaño, his generation, and his vision of literature.Prerequisite: SPAN-301

SPAN436Spanish & Spanish-American RomanticismThe aim of this course is to give the student a broad view of the Romantic movement as it manifests itself in Spanish and Spanish-American Literature in the first decades of the XIXth century in lyric poetry, the theatre, and the novel. Spanish authors include poet Jose de Espronceda and dramatists Francisco Martinez de la Rosa, Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch, and Jose Zorilla. Latin American writers include Cuban poet Jose Maria de Heredia, Cuban novelist Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, and Colombian novelist Jorge Isaacs.Prerequisite: SPAN-301

SPAN437Central American LiteratureA sampling of Central American literary movements from the late XIXth century through the XXth century and the oral folklore tradition. Includes the modernist poetry of Rubén Darío, a novel of dictatorship of Miguel Ángel Asturias, the exteriorist political, social and scientific poetry of Ernesto Cardenal, feminist poetry of Gioconda Belli, a historical novel of Jorge Eduardo Arellano, a feminist novel of Gioconda Belli, and songs and poems from Costa Rican folklore, incuding romances religiosos, romances novelescos, corridos, retahilas, ensaladas, other subgenres of comic poetry, pastorcillos, and posadas. Prerequisite: SPAN-301

SPAN455Limits of GenreThis course explores the limits of the traditional boundaries (poetry, narrative, drama, essay) among literary classifications. Appropriate cultural, historical, and political context provides the backdrop to understand the crossing of boundaries among literary genres and the incorporation, in literary texts, of diverse art forms.Prerequisite: SPAN-301

SPAN460Early Modern SpainA survey of the major movements, figures, and works of the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. Students will explore the social, historical, and aesthetic contexts of early modern Spain through a study of the cultural production of the period and pertinent secondary texts.Prerequisite: SPAN-301

SPAN465Spanish Culture From the Enlightenment to the RestorationA survey of the literary, social, and ideological currents of the 18th and 19th centuries in Spain. Students will study encyclopedic writing, neoclassical theatre, romantic theatre and poetry, and realist and naturalist narrative.Prerequisite: SPAN-301

SPAN470Modern Peninsular LiteratureA survey of the major writers and cultural movements in Spain from the Generation of 1898 until the contemporary period. Students will focus on how writers challenged and represented the historical, social, and cultural changes of the 20th century.Prerequisite: SPAN-301

SPAN475Spanish-American Literature IStudy of the principal literary figures, works, and characteristics of the Pre-Hispanic period, the Colonial Period, Neoclassicism, and Romanticism. Prerequisite: SPAN-301

SPAN480Spanish-American Literature IIStudy of the principal literary figures, works, and characteristics of Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, Post-Modernism, Vanguardia, and the Post-Vanguard movements.Prerequisite: SPAN-301

SPAN485Contemporary Spanish-American LiteratureExamination of the intellectual and literary patterns in Spanish-American literature from the mid-20th century onward, with emphasis on the literary expression of social and philosophical thought.Prerequisite: SPAN-301

SPAN491Peninsular Spanish SeminarAdvanced study of outstanding authors, works, or genres that will vary to reflect the interest of students and the professor. Prerequisite: One unit above SPAN 301

SPAN492Spanish-American SeminarAdvanced study of outstanding authors, works, or genres that are generally recognized as seminal to an understanding of Spanish America's social, philosophical, and aesthetic traditions.Prerequisite: One unit above SPAN 301

SPAN593Senior Individualized ProjectEach program or department sets its own requirements for Senior Individualized Projects done in that department, including the range of acceptable projects, the required background of students doing projects, the format of the SIP, and the expected scope and depth of projects. See the Kalamazoo Curriculum -> Curriculum Details and Policies section of the Academic Catalog for more details.Prerequisite: Permission of department and SIP supervisor required.