SPA 342 / LAS 342

Topics in Latin American Modernity

Professor/Instructor

The development of cultural patterns and literary forms in Spanish America since the late 19th century. Topics may include: the importance of oral traditions and popular music in forging identities; the literary and ideological import of modernismo, travel literature in the 19th century; and the avant-garde movements of the 1920s. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

SPA 343 / LAS 343

The Invention of Latin American Traditions

Professor/Instructor

Fundamental texts of Spanish American literature from colonial times to the present. In a given semester the course could focus on works by Garcilaso, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Sarmiento, José Hernandez, Martí, Borges, Mariátegui, Palés Matos, Henríquez Ureña, or Lezama Lima. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

SPA 344 / LAS 344

Literature and Society in Early Latin America

Professor/Instructor

This seminar studies literary, legal, and historical writings in relation to such topics as imperialism and colonialism, the image of the "Indian," cultural identities, and rhetoric and politics, from the writings of Columbus and the cartographic imagination to the formation of the new criollo culture in the vice-regal city. Texts from the following authors will be carefully analyzed: Cortés, Cabeza de Vaca, Las Casas, Garcilaso de la Vega, Huaman Poma, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

SPA 345 / LAS 345

Topics in Latin American Literature and Ideology

Professor/Instructor

Susana Draper

Latin American and Caribbean thought from 1800 to the present, focusing on the conflicting cultural and ideological assumptions of liberalism and nationalism. Topics might include slavery and literature, the writing of history, the intellectuals and power, or the writings of some major figures such as Bolívar, Hostos, Martí, Mariátegui, Fernando Ortiz, or Paz. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

SPA 346 / COM 346 / LAS 364

Modern Latin American Fiction in Translation

Professor/Instructor

Rubén Gallo

Readings and discussion of authors such as Machado de Assis, Cortázar, Lispector, García Márquez, Vargas Llosa, and Puig, considered in relation to the cultures of Latin America and to trends of modern European and American fiction. Does not count as a departmental course for Spanish majors unless readings and papers are done in Spanish. Three hour lecture. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

SPA 348 / LAS 348

Fictions and Communities in the Andes

Professor/Instructor

How is the complexity of the Andes imagined or resolved in its literatures? This seminar will study the plurality of narrations and communities that constitute the Andean world, focusing primarily on Peru and two of its major intellectual movements in the 20th century: the indigenismo and the criollo urban literature. Aspects of the Afro-Peruvian narratives will also be studied. Major authors discussed include: Ricardo Palma, Clorinda Matto, González Prada, Mariátegui, Arguedas, Vargas Llosa, Bryce, Ribeyro, Gregorio Martínez. Conducted in Spanish. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

COM 309 / ENG 420 / SPA 349

The Lyric

Professor/Instructor

Sandra Lekas Bermann

The lyric as a form of literary art, as distinct from narrative or drama. Readings encompass a variety of lyrical forms and a number of different cultures. Translations will be used. One lecture, one two-hour seminar.

SPA 350 / LAS 349

Topics in Latin American Cultural Studies

Professor/Instructor

Nicole D. Legnani

A course focusing on elements of Latin American culture that left a strong mark on the history, literature, and arts of the region. Recent topics include the representation of Che Guevara in novels, film, and photography; the literary response to Tango in Argentina; the impact of the invention of radio in avant-garde poetry. The course will emphasize the connections between history, literature, arts, and visual culture of the region. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

SPA 351 / LAS 347

Topics in the Culture of Cities

Professor/Instructor

An overview of the cultural production and history of major cities in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds. Possible topics include Mexico City, Barcelona, Saõ Paulo, Buenos Aires, Havana, and Madrid. The course will examine the representation of the city in literature (poetry and prose), film, painting, photography, and music. Discussions will focus on how historical events determine the possibilities of representation. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

SPA 352 / LAS 356

Topics in the Politics of Writing and Difference

Professor/Instructor

A course analyzing various Latin American literary and written traditions produced by, in dialogue with, or on behalf of subjects who have an ambiguous relationship with dominant forms of written expression, for example: indigenous people, black people, and women. Special attention will be given to slave narratives, testimonio, autobiography, and the indigenista novel. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

SPA 353 / COM 354 / LAS 353

Topics in Gender and Representation

Professor/Instructor

An examination of the relationship between gender and genre, between the author's experience as a gendered subject, and experiments with literary form. Topics might include women's writing, gay literature, and the aesthetics of camp. Discussions will emphasize the link between experimental forms of writing and the experience of history as a gendered subject. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: a 200-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

SPA 380 / TRA 380

Translation Workshop: Spanish to English

Professor/Instructor

Natasha Wimmer

This workshop-style course will focus on developing the student's skills in translating short texts from Spanish into English. Each week one or two students will present their translations from a selection of poems and short stories by writers like Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, Elena Poniatowska, Julio Cortázar, and many others. Students will also read theoretical texts about translation. Several professional translators will visit the class during the semester and present examples from their own work to the class. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of Spanish. One three-hour seminar.

SPA 381

Topics in the Theory of Translation

Professor/Instructor

An overview of recent debates about the practice of translation with special emphasis on how these ideas have been applied in translations of literary works by poets, novelists, and thinkers like Octavio Paz, Alfonso Reyes, Jorge Luis Borges, José Lezama Lima, and José Ortega y Gasset. Readings include essays on translation by Walter Benjamin, Vladimir Nabokov, Georges Steiner, and Lawrence Venutti. Students will be asked to translate a literary text from Spanish to English. Prerequisite: 307. One three-hour seminar.

SPA 401 / LAS 428

Topics in Hispanic Culture (Europe and America)

Professor/Instructor

Possible topics might include: modernity, empire, and colonialism, European travel literature in Latin America, the encounter of Latin America, and North American cultural traditions. One three-hour seminar. Prerequisite: a 300-level Spanish course or instructor's permission.

LAS 404 / SPA 410 / POR 411

Latin American Studies Seminar

Professor/Instructor

The seminar will concentrate upon themes and topics in Latin American history, politics, society, literature, and/or culture. The focus will vary from year to year.

LAS 401 / SPA 412 / LAO 401

Latin American Studies Seminar

Professor/Instructor

The seminar will concentrate upon themes and topics in Latin American history, politics, society, literature, and/or culture. The focus will vary from year to year.

SPA 500 / POR 500

Methodology of Spanish and Portuguese Language Teaching: Seminar and Practicum

Professor/Instructor

Alberto Bruzos Moro, Nicola Trowbridge Cooney

Practical and theoretical preparation for teachers of the Spanish and Portuguese languages.

SPA 506

The Spanish Pacific, 1521-1815: A Survey of Primary Sources

Professor/Instructor

Christina H. Lee

The "Spanish Pacific" designates the geographical space Spain colonized or aspired to rule in Asia between 1521, the year Ferdinand Magellan reached the East by sailing West, and 1815, the year when the yearly galleon that linked Mexico to the Philippines stopped operating. It includes the Philippines and the Marianas - territories ruled by the Spanish Crown - but also parts of China, Japan, and other parts of Asia that Spanish officials and missionaries imagined as extensions of their American colonies. This course introduces the Spanish Pacific through the examination of a varied selection of primary sources written mainly in Spanish.

SPA 534

Seminar in Medieval Spanish Literature

Professor/Instructor

Marina S. Brownlee

To suit the particular interests of the students and the instructor, an intensive study of special topics, such as the representation of women, changing concepts of the hero, and first-person narratives.

SPA 538 / COM 578

Seminar in Golden-Age Literature

Professor/Instructor

Marina S. Brownlee

To suit the particular interests of the students and the instructor, intensive study of special topics, such as the Celestina, the mystics, Don Quixote, Renaissance, and baroque.

SPA 540 / POR 573

Main Currents of Spanish Thought, 1848 to the Present

Professor/Instructor

Germán Labrador Méndez

Krausismo and its countercurrents (traditionalism, neo-Catholicism, and positivism) and the doctrines emerging from the Institución Libre de Enseñanza; the Generation of '98 and the "problem of Spain"; and falangismo, new historicism, and post-Civil War liberalism.

SPA 543

Seminar in Modern Spanish Literature

Professor/Instructor

Natalia Castro Picón

To suit the particular interests of the students and the instructor, an intensive study of selected special topics, such as an individual author (Galdós, Unamuno, Lorca, and others), a literary movement (naturalism, the Generation of '98, and others), and theories of literary criticism.

SPA 547

Narrative Prose in Latin America

Professor/Instructor

Rachel Lee Price

Literary and extraliterary contexts of prose fiction in Latin America over the past hundred years through a study of representative writers, including Machado de Assis, Cambaceres, Borges, Onetti, García Márquez, Felisberto Hernández, Rulfo, and Cabrera Infante.

SPA 548 / ART 549 / LAS 548

Seminar in Modern Spanish-American Literature

Professor/Instructor

Rubén Gallo

An intensive study of intellectuals and nationalism in Latin America and the Caribbean; the Spanish American essay from Rodó to Paz; autobiography and first-person narrative, Martí; and the generation of 1880 in Argentina, the crónica modernista, poesía gauchesca.

SPA 550 / LAS 525

Seminar in Colonial Spanish American Literature

Professor/Instructor

Nicole D. Legnani

Intensive study of topics such as Bartolomé de las Casas and the conquest of the Indies; Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz; Neoplatonism and history in El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega; criollo letters and culture (1690-1824); and research methods and literary criticism pertinent to colonial literary studies.