Global Arc

This course is an introduction to crime fiction from early 20th-century "locked room" mysteries to 21st century narco-narratives. It examines short stories, novels, films and critical writings about detective and crime fiction in Latin America and Spain. Topics include the genre's links to high and low literature, to film and to historical contexts such as immigration, state crime, drug culture and globalization. Authors include Roberto Arlt, María Elvira Bermúdez, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Roberto Bolaño, Jorge Luis Borges, Alicia Giménez Bartlett, Leonardo Padura Fuentes, Ricardo Piglia, Fernando Vallejo, and others.

Major developments in Spanish literature and civilization from the Muslim conquest to the 17th century. Beliefs and attitudes underlying the rise of the Spanish empire and the ways in which the interaction (convivencia) of Christians, Jews, and Muslims brought about the cultural differentiation of Spain within the European context. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: 207 or higher, or instructor's permission.

Introduction to modern Latin American cultural and literary traditions with emphasis on the political uses of writing and art, national identity vis-à-vis popular and indigenous groups, memory and representation, the definition of modernity, and trans-American dialogues. The course may focus on national foundational fictions, the literary and artistic avant-gardes of the 1920s and 1960s, Mexican and Peruvian indigenismo, and memory art and cinema. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: SPA 207 or higher, or instructor's permission. Strongly recommended before 300-level courses.

An introduction to textual analysis and interpretation of Hispanic literatures. The course will be organized on discussions of various genre (narrative, poetry, drama, essay). Readings will include authors from early and modern periods from Spain and Latin America, such as Garcilaso de la Vega, Cervantes, Calderón de la Barca, Miguel de Unamuno, García Lorca, Sor Juana, José Hernández, Rubén Darío, Jorge Luis Borges, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Margo Glantz. Popular music and film will also be studied. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: 107 or 108, or instructor's permission.

An examination of key issues regarding 19th and 20th century Spanish culture in its connections with history and politics. Among the topics covered: Goya, nationalism and liberalism; the country and the city in 19th century literature; artistic vanguards (Buñuel, Dalí, García Lorca); cultural crossroads in Barcelona ("modernisme," Gaudí, Picasso); cultural responses to the Spanish Civil War; political protest against Franco in literature, film and music; the transition to democracy; Almódovar and the "movida;" history and memory in democratic Spain.

Discover the great tradition of the short story in modern Latin American literature. A wide range of short stories will be available to read, analyze and debate from modern and contemporary writers. Students will be encouraged to investigate the internal structure of this genre through critical and theoretical essays, many written by the authors themselves. Readings included works by Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Gabriel García Márquez, Silvina Ocampo, Felisberto Hernández, and Virgilio Piñera.

This course will focus on current political, social, and cultural issues in Latin America and/or Spain, including social movements, new artistic developments, economic changes, environmental debates, globalization and culture, politics of memory, immigration and cultural conflicts, nationalist movements, etc. Each semester, the course will focus on one of two particular regions and countries, such as the Southern Cone, the Andean region, Central America, Brazil, Mexico and the borderlands, Spain, etc. This course will also strengthen the students' conversational skills through team discussion and oral presentations.

This course explores the cultural, social, economic, and political history of modern Spain from the early 19th century to the present. It discusses the role of war, memory, collective identity, citizenship and utopia, as they appeared in Spanish film, literature, and the visual arts.

An overview of literary and cultural production in the Americas before and after the Spanish invasion. Topics include pre-Columbian visual and verbal expressions; discovery, invention, conquest, and resistance; the historiography of the New World; native depictions of the colonial world; gender, grammar and power. We read texts in a variety of genres that were written and performed in numerous linguistic and visual codes. The Native American chronicles will include texts written in alphabetic script as well as visual representations that draw elements from pre-colonial forms of iconic script.

This course provides a general introduction to Spanish history and contemporary issues which includes a mandatory field trip to Madrid and Barcelona during the spring semester break. Materials will include literature, art and films. Museums, urban history, Franco's dictatorship, the transition to democracy, the 2008 crisis and new social movements like Occupy will be among the topics addressed.