Global Arc

This course surveys how notions of what is sacred and profane inform the cultures of Latin America, Spain, and Latino communities in the United States. It explores how "Catholic" folk piety was established and developed in Spain, what happened to it when it transferred to its colonies, and its iterations today in Latin America and in the United States. It analyzes discursive and pictorial constructions of holiness and sinfulness, the use of religious symbols for political purposes, performative aspects of religion, sociocentrism, the role of women, and the juncture between piety and violence.

An introduction to 20th century Spanish modern art, this course will study modern artistic languages such as literature, painting, sculpture, film, photography, theatre, music and dance in their historical contexts. It will examine relations between artistic styles and contemporary Iberian history. The course's main objective is to provide students with a set of strong aesthetic, analytical, and linguistic skills, which will provide a great asset in studying 300-level literature and culture courses.

Since 2018 the feminist movement has massively and transnationally re-emerged. Particularly in the Spanish-speaking world, the enormous momentum of its struggle has generated profound political, social, and cultural transformations. In this course we will study the so-called 4th Feminist Wave from a varied number of media (literature, film, social media, archives, etc.) created by artists, intellectuals, and activists from the Spanish-speaking world. The aim of the course is to promote a rigorous knowledge of the recent history of feminism in The Americas and Europe and to encourage reflection on the relevance of its claims and achievements

Anthropologist Sidney Mintz famously explored connections between sugar, capitalism, and modern global history. This course borrows his approach to explore the ways that sugar - with reference to other commodities such as coffee and petroleum - have shaped societies in the Caribbean and Latin America (and, less obviously, Europe, Africa, and Asia). Through short stories, poems, archival documents, essays, novels, films, and art about sugar and its worlds, students will study histories of enslavement and marronage, environmental history, Cold War tensions, modernization, and major literary, filmic and artistic movements.

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.