Spanish

Intermediate/Advanced, Seminar—Fall | 5 credits

SPAN 3873

Prerequisite: Intermediate Spanish (SPAN 3501) or appropriate score on Spanish placement test

This course is designed for students who have reached a solid foundation in their Spanish language skills but have not yet fully applied context-based communicative practices. Using a discussion-based and hands-on methodology, students will strengthen oral and written communication, expand vocabulary, and refine grammar while developing descriptive precision, analytical skills, and critical thinking in Spanish. The “El Dorado” myth emerged from the colonial search for vast treasures in the Americas, imagining a land of limitless gold and wealth. As described by René Zavaleta (1986), it reflects a vision of magical surplus that justified and sustained unequal extraction–consumption relationships, later reframed as “the curse of abundance” by Alberto Acosta (2009). The course will situate “El Dorado” within broader global imaginaries, including Atlantis, Lemuria, The Land of Mu, and Aztlán, the ancestral homeland of Chicanx cultural imagination. Students will engage with diverse sources, including short stories, myths, comics, films, sculpture, and paintings. Among other cases, they will study Caesar’s City of Trapalandia, colonial-era sites reputedly filled with gold and silver at the end of the world; the “Tesoro del Inca” myth, recounting gold allegedly hidden by Atahualpa Yupanqui in Llanganates Hill, Ecuador; and the Afro-Caribbean myth of Mami Wata, represented as a mermaid-savior and symbol of fortune. Students will analyze narration, description, comparison, and argumentation while developing critical perspectives on extractivism, colonial legacies, and socioecological justice. They will also engage with primary and secondary sources before each session and use class time for guided discussion, collaborative activities, and applied language practice. Throughout the semester and in biweekly conference meetings, they will also complete creative and research-based multimedia projects that foster multiliteracy and public humanities skills. The course will require attendance to one relevant public-facing activity (e.g.: museum, conference, convention, etc.), documented through a structured logbook and brief in-class presentation. In addition to class meetings, students will participate in weekly conversation sessions with a language assistant.

Faculty

• Javiera Irribarren Ortiz

Advanced, Seminar—Fall | 5 credits

SPAN 4020

Prerequisite: Advanced Intermediate Spanish (SPAN 3873) or appropriate score on Spanish placement test

Since their conceptions, Latin American and Caribbean societies have been accompanied by the looming presence of disasters. Throughout the centuries, literature from this region has abounded with earthquakes, hurricanes, and other environmental devastations, indicating an enduring preoccupation regarding these catastrophes among its intellectuals and artists. Far from being natural and singular events, these tragedies rather reveal the legacies of key colonial systematic structures and some corresponding failures of nation-building projects. At the same time, these literary works render visible intellectual and artistic efforts made to learn from and remember past catastrophes, as well as to imagine sustainable, ecological futures. This discussion-based seminar will delve into this dialogue. Throughout the semester, we will read and analyze enriching narratives originally written by Latin American and Caribbean thinkers. Although our conversations will be held exclusively in Spanish, the texts will represent the linguistic varieties in this region of the world in translation. Our discussion of these texts will be enriched by fundamental theoretical contributions from critical disasters studies, ecocriticism, decolonial thought, and memory studies. Designed for students who have previously completed Intermediate/Advanced Spanish (SPAN 3873), the course also invites those who are interested in the topic to take the Spanish placement test and interview with the instructor to ensure that it is the correct level for them. Students will improve their close reading and critical thinking skills through reading and written assignments. This seminar will contain an individual conference project.

Faculty

• Danielle Dorvil

Open, Seminar—Year | 10 credits

SPAN 3001

Note: For students who have never studied the language or appropriate score on Spanish placement test.

This introductory course will provide a solid base of grammar and vocabulary for students with minimal or no prior knowledge of Spanish. The study of the Spanish language will be complemented with the critical analysis of an array of Hispanophone cultural objects that highlight issues of colonialism, gender, and race. Through movies such La Llorona, Roma, La teta asustada, También la lluvia, short stories by Camila Sosa Villada, Ana Lydia Vega, Augusto Monterroso, Carlos Fuentes, Eduardo Galeano, poems by Julia de Burgos, Gloria Anzaldúa, Victoria Santa Cruz, and songs by Trueno, Villano Antillano, Bad Bunny, Nathy Peluso, Silvio Rodríguez, among others, students will explore historical and contemporary processes of Indigenous and Afro resistance, intersectional feminism, ecocriticism, and migrations. This course will provide students with opportunities to engage in cultural and artistic projects both individually and in groups. Students will create their own textbooks (cuadernos) with examples of the grammatical structures and vocabulary used in class. Students will also participate in group conferences around a specific topic related to the general theme of the course. During the conference, students will have an opportunity to expand course topics, practice their oral skills, and pose additional questions. In addition to class sessions and group conferences, weekly individual meetings with a Spanish language assistant are required. The course will focus on linguistic and communicative competence; that is why Spanish will be the only language spoken during class and it is required that students participate in all in-class activities. This will be a reading and writing intensive course. Students will read a selection of short stories and produce short writing assignments every week that will progressively increase in difficulty and number of words.

Faculty

• Pedro Cabello del Moral

Open, Seminar—Year | 10 credits

SPAN 3110

Note: This course is intended for students who took a Spanish course in middle school or high school and/or received an appropriate score on the Spanish placement test.

This course is designed for students with prior exposure to Spanish who seek a faster-paced alternative to Beginning Spanish (SPAN 3001). Using a communicative, discussion-based, and hands-on classroom methodology, students will strengthen foundational grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation while developing oral and written communication skills, descriptive precision, and analytical abilities in Spanish. As students become familiar with key concepts such as “artivism” and “climate advocacy,” the course will introduce Spanish language and culture through authentic sources, including songs, graphic journalism, fashion practices, visual art, performance, and collective projects. Students will examine Andean sustainable weaving traditions and circular fashion through artisan networks such as the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco; collective visual projects focused on biodiversity preservation in the Amazon; and graphic journalism addressing environmental contaminants in the Caribbean. The course will also explore artistic responses to extractivism that foreground water rights, gender, and Indigenous sovereignty, such as installations by Carolina Caycedo, performances by Mapuche artist Seba Calfuqueo, and hip-hop lyrics by Aztec artist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez. Students will engage with primary and secondary sources before class and use class time for guided discussion, collaborative activities, and applied language practice. The course will also require attendance to two relevant public-facing activities (e.g.: museum, conference, convention, etc.), documented through a structured logbook and brief in-class presentation. While there are no individual conferences with the instructor, students are required to attend weekly individual meetings with a Spanish language assistant, in addition to the two weekly class sessions and the biweekly group conference meeting.

Faculty

• Javiera Irribarren Ortiz

Intermediate, Seminar—Year | 10 credits

SPAN 3501

Prerequisite: Beginning Spanish (SPAN 3001), Advanced Beginning Spanish (SPAN 3110), or appropriate score on Spanish placement test

Note: This course is conducted in Spanish.

What lessons can we draw from Latin American and Caribbean societies? How have their writers and artists employed their intellects and talents to educate both local and international audiences about the issues facing their societies? This yearlong, discussion-based seminar will delve into these questions. Designed for students who have previously taken Beginning Spanish (SPAN 3001) or Advanced Beginning Spanish (SPAN 3110), it also invites those who are interested in exploring these questions to take the Spanish placement test and interview with the instructor to ensure that this is the correct level for them. This course will follow a “flipped classroom” methodology where students are first introduced to the materials at home and then come to class to delve deeper into these concepts. Through extensive grammar review and engagement with authentic materials, students will broaden their vocabulary, hone their verbal and written communication skills, increase their cultural competency levels, as well as improve their close reading and critical analytical skills. We will discuss topics relevant to Latin American and Caribbean societies—such as health, education, migration, environmental concerns, gender and sexuality, race, historical memory, and technology—through poetry, short stories, podcast episodes, films, music, and legislation. We will carefully discuss the cultural productions of Samanta Schweblin, Daniel Alarcón, and Valeria Luiselli, among many others. In addition to class time, students will complete an individual conference project each semester and attend a conversation session every week with our language assistant.

Faculty

• Danielle Dorvil

Intermediate/Advanced, Seminar—Spring | 5 credits

SPAN 3873

Prerequisite: Intermediate Spanish (SPAN 3501) or appropriate score on Spanish placement test

This course is designed for students who have reached a solid foundation in their Spanish language skills but have not yet fully applied context-based communicative practices. Using a discussion-based and hands-on methodology, students will strengthen their oral and written communication, expand vocabulary, and refine grammar while developing descriptive precision, analytical skills, and critical thinking in Spanish. Throughout the semester, we will examine the rise of manga aesthetics in Latin American comics, tracing early influences from 1990s animation and the spread facilitated by digital platforms such as Webtoon. Students will explore works across genres, including “shōjo” (for adolescent women), “shōnen” (for adolescent men), “BL” (focused on male-male relationships), and “mecha” (robot-centered action stories). Latin American productions blend Japanese manga, United States adventure and superhero traditions, and French-Belgian influences, while incorporating mestizo, Indigenous, and Afro-descendant cosmologies shaped by colonial and migration histories. Case studies from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Peru will illustrate regional trends, with students analyzing narrative, visual style, and cultural context to understand how these works negotiate identity, genre, and cultural memory across Latin America. Students will analyze narration, description, comparison, and argumentation while developing critical perspectives on semiotics methods, sequential art, and global entanglements. They will also engage with primary and secondary sources before each session and use class time for guided discussion, collaborative activities, and applied language practice. Throughout the semester and in biweekly conference meetings, students will also complete creative and research-based multimedia projects that foster multiliteracy and public humanities skills. The course will require attendance to one relevant public-facing activity (e.g.: museum, conference, convention, etc.), documented through a structured logbook and brief in-class presentation. In addition to class meetings, students will participate in weekly conversation sessions with a language assistant.

Faculty

• Javiera Irribarren Ortiz