Spanish Courses

Winter 2025

See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.

Elementary Spanish II

SPAN 112 - Kuettner, Dick

Emphasis on listening comprehension and speaking, with gradual introduction of reading and writing.

Intermediate Spanish II

SPAN 162 - Bailey, Matthew

Intensive, concentrated course in review grammar and reading, with practice in listening and speaking.

Intermediate Spanish II

SPAN 162 - Konstantinova, Iana

Intensive, concentrated course in review grammar and reading, with practice in listening and speaking.

Intermediate Spanish II

SPAN 162 - Dominicci-Buzo, Jose

Intensive, concentrated course in review grammar and reading, with practice in listening and speaking.

Intermediate Spanish II

SPAN 162 - Reino, Jayne

Intensive, concentrated course in review grammar and reading, with practice in listening and speaking.

Intermediate Spanish II

SPAN 162 - Barnett, Jeff

Intensive, concentrated course in review grammar and reading, with practice in listening and speaking.

Advanced Intermediate Spanish

SPAN 164 - Botta, Monica

Emphasis on reading and composition skills, with extensive practice in speaking and listening through class discussion. Some grammar review.

Conversational Skills

SPAN 204 - Dominicci-Buzo, Jose

Development of speaking skills for communication in Spanish. Acquisition and use of practical vocabulary and development of pronunciation skills.

Conversational Skills

SPAN 204 - Michelson, Seth

Development of speaking skills for communication in Spanish. Acquisition and use of practical vocabulary and development of pronunciation skills.

Intro to Hispanic Linguistics

SPAN 209 - Reyes, Antonio

This course provides a broad view of major subfields of linguistic study with a particular focus on data drawn from the Spanish language. Class discussions begin with broader questions, such as "What is language?" and "How do language and human behavior intersect?"; throughout the term students revisit those questions in light of topics presented in class. By the end of the course, students demonstrate an understanding of the many facets of the Spanish language and also the linguistic principles as can be applied to any language. The course covers major concepts in Spanish phonology and phonetics, Spanish morphology and syntax, and lastly, Spanish dialectology.

Spanish Civilization and Culture

SPAN 211 - Mayock, Ellen

A survey of significant developments in Spanish civilization. The course addresses Spanish heritage and the present-day cultural patterns formed by its legacies. Readings, discussions and papers, primarily in Spanish, for further development of communication skills.

Spanish-American Civilization and Culture

SPAN 212 - Nery Mora, Aroldo

A survey of significant developments in Spanish-American civilizations. The course addresses Spanish-American heritage and the present-day cultural patterns formed by its legacies. Readings, discussions and papers primarily in Spanish for further development of communication skills.

Introducción a la literatura hispanoamericana

SPAN 240 - Nery Mora, Aroldo

Spanish-American literary masterpieces from colonial times through the present. Readings and discussions are primarily in Spanish.

Introducción al análisis literario

SPAN 275 - Botta, Monica

Preparation for analysis of Hispanic literature. Composition develops style and method for analyzing prose, poetry, and drama in Spanish. Conversation continues vocabulary building and concentrates on discussion of literary themes.

Spanish Grammar Rules: The Making of a Language

SPAN 380 - Reyes, Antonio

This course analyzes areas of the Spanish language that are problematic for non-native speakers of Spanish. At the same time, students explore the processes involved in the standardization of a language, in particular the Spanish language, as a social and political construct.

Literature of Spain Seminar: Representaciones de la Guerra Civil Española

SPAN 397D - Mayock, Ellen

This course examines the fundamental importance of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) in literary and visual texts of the Franco and contemporary periods of Spain.  Through readings of these literary and visual texts, we will come to understand the evolution of often conflicting histories, ideologies, obsessions, and artistic notions surrounding the war itself and its consequences.  After a review of the events leading up to the Spanish Civil War and of the prelude to the Second World War, we will observe how the themes and issues of the war manifest in fiction, poetry, film, and other visual texts.  We will pay particular attention to the Franco regime, the pact of silence, and the desire to uncover the past in myriad ways.  Literature includes works by Federico García Lorca, Jaime Gil de Biedma, Carmen Laforet, Alberto Méndez, and Mercè Rodoreda.  Visual texts include posters, newspapers, letters, government documents, documentaries, fictional films, and NO-DO reels from the Franco era.

Spanish-American Seminar:The writing of the self in the cultural production of Latin America

SPAN 398G - Botta, Monica

The course examines the practices of self-representation through the study of literary and non-literary works, oral narratives, testimonies, and documentaries from the early 19th century to today. In addition to our primary sources (i.e. Juan Francisco Manzano, Alfonsina Storni, Rigoberta Menchú, Gloria Anzaldúa, Albertina Carri, among others), the course involves reading and analyzing a variety of critical texts from different disciplines.

Fall 2024

See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.

Elementary Spanish I

SPAN 111 - Kuettner, Dick

Emphasis on listening comprehension and speaking, with gradual introduction of reading and writing.

Intermediate Spanish I

SPAN 161 - Bailey, Matthew

Intensive, concentrated course in review grammar and reading, with practice in listening and speaking.

Intermediate Spanish I

SPAN 161 - Reyes, Antonio

Intensive, concentrated course in review grammar and reading, with practice in listening and speaking.

Intermediate Spanish I

SPAN 161 - Dominicci-Buzo, Jose

Intensive, concentrated course in review grammar and reading, with practice in listening and speaking.

Intermediate Spanish I

SPAN 161 - Konstantinova, Iana

Intensive, concentrated course in review grammar and reading, with practice in listening and speaking.

Advanced Intermediate Spanish

SPAN 164 - Nery Mora, Aroldo

Emphasis on reading and composition skills, with extensive practice in speaking and listening through class discussion. Some grammar review.

Advanced Intermediate Spanish

SPAN 164 - Botta, Monica

Emphasis on reading and composition skills, with extensive practice in speaking and listening through class discussion. Some grammar review.

Conversational Skills

SPAN 204 - Michelson, Seth

Development of speaking skills for communication in Spanish. Acquisition and use of practical vocabulary and development of pronunciation skills.

Conversational Skills

SPAN 204 - Reyes, Antonio

Development of speaking skills for communication in Spanish. Acquisition and use of practical vocabulary and development of pronunciation skills.

Introducción a la literatura española

SPAN 220 - Mayock, Ellen

Spanish literary masterpieces from the Poema del Cid through the present. Readings and discussions are primarily in Spanish.

Introducción a la literatura hispanoamericana

SPAN 240 - Michelson, Seth

Spanish-American literary masterpieces from colonial times through the present. Readings and discussions are primarily in Spanish.

El Cid in History and Legend

SPAN 333 - Bailey, Matthew

A study of the most significant portrayals of the Castilian warrior Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, El Cid (1045-1099), from his 12th-century biography Historia Roderici to the Hollywood blockbuster El Cid . Epic poems, late medieval ballads, and Renaissance drama all recreate the legendary life of El Cid. This course examines the relevant narratives in an effort to determine the heroic values and attributes recreated by authors and their audiences for nearly a thousand years.

Seminar: Let Her Will Be Done: Women in Golden Age Iberia

SPAN 397C - Dominicci-Buzo, Jose

This course immerses students into the literary representations of women in Spain from the 15th to the 17th centuries. Through a panoramic and chronological journey that encompasses examples ("exemplum"), poetry, dialogues, prose, and theater, it explores how the socio-cultural context of the time influenced the creation of female characters in literature. A wide range of representative models of women is analyzed, including daughters, wives, widows, lovers, nuns, queens, and courtesans, paying special attention to the various and passionate discourses, both in favor of and against female participation in society and its corresponding literary representation. The course particularly focuses on the diverse and passionate debates surrounding women's involvement in society and how their image is portrayed in literary fiction. The first part of the course exposes students to religious, philosophical, and medical debates surrounding the juxtaposition between "the good woman" and "the bold woman," which emerged during the medieval era, to contextualize the origins of the early Modernity mindset. The second part of the course delves into the Renaissance mindset, exploring the short stories of Miguel de Cervantes and María de Zayas, the dialogued novel of Francisco Delicado, the poetry of the Songbooks, the female picaresque of Alonso Gerónimo de Barbadillo, and the Baroque theater of Ana Caro Mallén and Félix Lope de Vega. 

Spanish-American Seminar: The Poetics of Wetlands in Latin America

SPAN 398F - Nery Mora, Aroldo

Since the drainage of Mexico-Tenochtitlan from the sixteenth century onwards to the recent intermittent fires around the Paraná River Delta in the twenty-first century, wetlands, swamps, fens and bogs have challenged hegemonic narratives of progress. This course examines how these amphibious locales inform social and material relations through Latin American and Caribbean literature, fine arts, photography, podcasts, and audiovisual narratives. The objective of the course is to examine modes of socio-ecological coexistence enabled by this ecosystem, which has been the subject of debates in and outside academia that call attention to how communities are defined. We will situate wetlands in a broader Latin American literary tradition in comparison to, for example, “the jungle novel”. By doing so we will also analyze the narrative strategies that place wetlands at the core of our current environmental crisis. Class will be conducted in Spanish. 

Spring 2024

See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.

Contemporary Spain in Context: (Re)searching Spanish Identity and Culture in the 21st Century

SPAN 214 - Reyes, Antonio

This course examines contemporary social issues in Spain through lectures and interviews with local subjects in Spain. Lectures provide a formal understanding of contemporary Spanish society, while interviews of local subjects provide data for further analysis by the students that may challenge, complement or further develop their understanding of current social issues.