DEPARTMENT OF SPANISH & PORTUGUESE - UNDERGRADUATE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS SPRING 2022 - College of Arts and ...
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
DEPARTMENT OF SPANISH & PORTUGUESE UNDERGRADUATE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS SPRING 2022
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE MINOR IN SPANISH:
REQUIREMENTS FOR MINORS (18 HOURS)
CORE COURSES- 9 HOURS
• SPAN 3301W
• SPAN 3302 or AP-5
• SPAN 3303
ELECTIVE COURSES- 6 HOURS
LITERATURE COURSES- 3 HOURS
Note:
- Core courses must be completed at Vanderbilt University or Maymester;
- Minors can take abroad a maximum of 6 hours of SPAN.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE MAJOR IN SPANISH:
REQUIREMENTS FOR MAJORS (30 HOURS)
CORE COURSES- 9 HOURS
• SPAN 3301W
• SPAN 3302 or AP-5
• SPAN 3303
ELECTIVE COURSES- 9 HOURS
LINGUISTIC COURSE- 3 HOURS
LITERATURE COURSES- 9 HOURS
Note:
- Majors in Spanish may take ON CAMPUS one PORTUGUESE or
CATALAN Language course to count as ELECTIVE;
- Majors in Spanish may count a pre-approved directed INTERNSHIP in a
SPANISH speaking country as an elective;
- Core courses must be completed at Vanderbilt University or Maymester;
- Majors can take abroad a maximum of 12 hours of SPAN.
2NOTE:
Majors in Spanish may take one PORTUGUESE or CATALAN Language course
to count as ELECTIVE.
SPAN 3340- ADVANCED CONVERSATION. (MAJOR: Elective; AXLE: INT; Pre-req: SPAN
3301W and 3302 or equivalent)
01 TR 11:00-1:10
02 TR 1:15- 2:30
Dr. Chalene Helmuth (chalene.helmuth@vanderbilt.edu);
Advanced Conversation was designed for students with a substantive level of oral proficiency
who want to improve their communicative abilities in Spanish. The course combines a content-
based language instruction with an interactive approach organized around intercultural
communication. Students are expected to actively participate in a variety of small- and large-
group activities and assignments. These activities are designed to improve students’
conversational skills and practical knowledge of culture and language from across the Spanish-
speaking world, including communities in the United States.
15% Individual interviews, 20% Class participations, 20% Presentations, 10% Mesas
redondas, 25% Written work, 10% Vocabulary Quizzes
SPAN 3345- SPANISH IN BUSINESS AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. (MAJOR: Elective;
AXLE: INT; Pre-req: SPAN 331W and 3302 or equivalent)
Lori Catanzaro (lori.catanzaro@vanderbilt.edu); MWF 11:15-12:05
Este curso tiene por objetivo perfeccionar las destrezas lingüísticas escritas y orales para poder
comunicarse mejor en español en el mundo profesional empresarial. Asimismo, se espera que
los estudiantes adquieran una base de conocimientos de terminología y conceptos
fundamentales en el mundo de los negocios. Para llegar a este fin, se estudia vocabulario
especializado y temas relacionados a la economía global, la empresa, a la gerencia, la banca y
la contabilidad, los recursos humanos, los bienes y servicios, el marketing, las finanzas, la
importación y la exportación en el contexto de la actualidad económica global. También, los
estudiantes explorarán el desarrollo y la actualidad económica de Latinoamérica y España a
través de lecturas, noticias e investigación individual y estudiarán elementos y contextos
culturales para que el/la estudiante sepa responder y seguir el protocolo indicado en
determinadas situaciones profesionales.
En su preparación, el/la estudiante se encargará de preparar varias investigaciones y
presentaciones orales, documentos oficiales y traducciones, correspondencia comercial, una
entrevista ejecutiva y la creación de un plan y lanzamiento de un negocio nuevo.
Evaluación: Pronunciación EN TODO EL TRABAJO HABLADO: 5%; Participación/
tareas (noticiero diario/debate): 10%; El clima económico (contenido, gramática, pronunciación):
10%; Entrevista ejecutiva / (contenido y diseño): 10%; Pruebas (4): 40%; Perfil de empresa
(contenido, gramática, pronunciación): 10%; Proyecto final (contenido, gramática,
pronunciación): 15%
3SPAN 3355- Advanced Conversation through Film. (MAJOR: Elective; AXLE: INT; Pre-req:
SPAN 3303)
Miguel Herranz (miguel.a.herranz@vanderbilt.edu); TR 11:00-12:15
This course is an exploration of Spanish and Latin American cinema and other audiovisual works
that focus on narratives of destruction (of people, property, society and psyche) and restoration
during the 20th and 21st centuries. The goal for the course is to help students to advance their
conversation skills over the discussion of the way that these topics are portrayed in the selected
films. Through different presentations and in-class debate, students will enhance their oral
communication abilities while also learning about how terrorism, war, social conflicts, and
dictatorships are depicted through cinema. The course is not organized chronologically, but
rather focuses on common problems that surfaced in different countries throughout the 20th and
21st centuries. A tentative course of study includes the following movies: Volver a empezar (José
Luis Garci, 1982), La historia oficial (Luis Puenzo, 1985), El viaje a ninguna parte (Fernando
Fernán Gómez), 1986), La boca del lobo (Francisco José Lombardi, 1989), Días contados
(Imanol Uribe, 1994), Antes que anochezca (Julian Schnabel, 2000), Los lunes al sol (Fernando
León de Aranoa, 2002), También la lluvia (Icíar Bollaín, 2010), Biutiful (Alejandro González
Iñárritu, 2010), and El olvido que seremos (Fernando Trueba, 2020). Other supplementary
materials will be used in this course, such as El desencanto (Jaime Chávarri, 1975), Els nens
perduts del franquisme (Ricard Vinyes, 2002) or TV shows like El ministerio del tiempo.
SPAN 3375. Film and Culture in Latin America. (MAJOR: Elective; AXLE: INT; Pre-req: SPAN
3303)
Danielle Dorvil (danielle.m.dorvil@vanderbilt.edu); TR 9:30-10:45
This course offers an introduction to Southern Cone cinema from the 1980s until now, with a
special emphasis on Argentina and Brazil. We will watch La historia oficial (Luis Puenzo,
1985), O ano em que meus pais saíram de férias (Cao Hamburger, 2006), Machuca (Andrés
Wood, 2004), XXY (Lucía Puenzo, 2007), among others. We will trace and analyze some notable
historical periods (such as the dictatorships of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s as well as the return to
democracy) and artistic movements (such as the development of national and independent
cinema) and their influence on Southern Cone film production. We will examine how the
discourse, mise-en-scène, editing, and sound affect the circulation of ideas and ideologies
regarding issues of gender, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic classes, and political beliefs.
Throughout the course, students will learn and put into practice some basic tools used in
cinematographic analysis to enrich our conversations.
Evaluation:
Preparative and reflective assignments…...15%
Participation…………………………………..15%
Cultural context presentation……………….10%
Film review……………………………………10%
Mid-term exam………………………….……15%
Comparative essay………………..………...15%
Final project………………………….……….20%
4SPAN 3380- SPANISH, HEALTH, AND SOCIETY (MAJOR: Elective; AXLE: INT); Pre-req:
SPAN 3301-3302)
Lori Catanzaro (lori.catanzaro@vanderbilt.edu); MWF 10:10-11:00
El curso presenta al estudiante avanzado de español las herramientas lingüísticas y culturales
esenciales del estudio de la anatomía humana, las enfermedades crónicas y más comunes
(prevención, detección, síntomas y pruebas diagnosticas, tratamiento y seguimiento), además
de un estudio comprensivo, análisis y discusión del estado actual de salud de la población latina
en el país con respeto al bienestar físico y mental, la política publica y el sistema de cuidado
sanitario actual en Los Estados Unidos. Ofrece un profundo contexto cultural para que el futuro
proveedor de cuidado de salud pueda comunicarse con y tratar apropiadamente no sólo
lingüísticamente sino también culturalmente a su paciente latino. Gran parte de la experiencia
es el servicio a la comunidad, el cual ofrecerá al estudiante la oportunidad de observar, ayudar
e implementar sus destrezas tanto lingüísticas como culturales y aprender de la comunidad
hispana en Nashville por su interacción directa con pacientes en el contexto clínico. Evaluación
oral final (cumulativo): 10%; Informe presentado y escrito: 10%; Pruebas (4): 40%;
Investigaciones (2): 15%; Pronunciación y participación en clase: 10%; Reportajes orales y
escritos de su trabajo de servicio, asistencia y evaluación de su supervisor/a: 15%.
SPAN 3891-01- SPAN 3891-01 Special Topics in Hispanic Culture. Streaming Latin
America: Film and Culture" (MAJOR: ELECTIVE)
Sahai Couso (sahai.couso@vanderbilt.edu); MWF 11:15-12:05
What cinematic representations of contemporary Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking
America are available and circulating throughout the globe? This course will explore the
representations of Latin America's history and culture through films and series available through
monthly subscriptions to global streaming platforms. This course requires abundant student
participation in order to foster an understanding of socio-cultural realities in Latin America as well
as to promote comparative discussions of race, ethnicity, identity, class, language, sexuality, and
gender. Our shared goals include the development of a critical awareness of the intersections of
cultural representation and digital distribution as well as the acquisition of a critical vocabulary in
Spanish and tools of media and cultural analysis through contemporary Latin American cinema.
Every student is responsible for the individual viewing of 12 films from different countries,
including La dictadura perfecta (Luis Estrada, 2014), Ixcanul (Jayro Bustamante, 2015), Ya no
estoy aquí (Fernando Frías de la Parra, 2019), and original movies produced by streaming
studios like Netflix's Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018), and Fever Dream (Claudia Llosa,
2021). Brazilian films will have English subtitles. *Before you enroll, you should know that some
required course materials contain strong language, sexually explicit scenes, violence, and drug
use. * The class will be conducted entirely in Spanish so that students acquire analytical and
linguistic skills and get acquainted with trends, aesthetic elements, cinematic techniques, and
styles.
In addition to active and informed class participation and the viewing of all assigned materials
before each class, requirements include informal writing assignments, a take-home midterm, and
a final project.
5SPAN 3892-01-SPECIAL TOPICS LINGUISTICS- Afro-Hispanic Language and Linguistic.
(MAJOR: Linguistics)
Cynthia Wasick (cynthia.wasick@vanderbilt.edu); MWF 10:10-11:00
If you are interested in learning more about how African slaves brought African languages into
contact with Spanish and Portuguese in the fifteenth century and communicated with one another
in Latin America, then SPAN 3892 is the linguistics class for you. This course will explore the
major forms of Afro-Hispanic language found in the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America over the
last 500 years. It will provide information on how African slaves created their own language (while
they were learning Spanish, French, English, and Portuguese), and explain how they influenced
the Latin American dialects, such as Choquano and Choteño, spoken in linguistic enclaves by
their descendents today. We will delve into the process of language acquisition from pidginization
through creolization. From a theoretical point of view, many Afro-Hispanic dialects spoken across
Latin America are rich in constructions that would be considered ungrammatical in standard
Spanish. These dialects present phenomena that offer a challenge to current linguistic theory.
Most importantly, we will explore the Palenquero Creole language spoken in the north of
Colombia, a Spanish-based Creole created by runaway slaves, and the only survivor since the
seventeenth century. In addition to analyzing the socio-historical and sociolinguistic
characteristics of Afro-Hispanic dialects, this course will include discussion of African cultural
influence in art, music and religion in Latin America in order to assess the permanent impact of
the African diaspora in the Spanish of Latin America today.
Students will be evaluated based upon active participation, written personal reflections, a midterm
written exam, a research project and oral presentation, and a final take-home exam.
Required text: A History of Afro-Hispanic Language: Five Centuries, Five Continents. John M.
Lipski. 2009.
No previous knowledge of linguistics required.
Grade distribution / evaluation:
Exam I 20%
Final Exam 30%
Discussion, Class Participation, and attendance = 20%
Presentation and paper = 20%
Homework = 10%
SPAN 3893-01- SPECIAL TOPICS LITERATURE- CRITIQUE OF TECHNOLOGY:
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES FROM THE HISPANIC WORLD. (MAJOR: Literature)
Dr. Anna Castillo (anna.castillo@vanderbilt.edu); MWF 10:10-11:00
Informed citizens living in today’s world should be able to formulate their own articulate positions
about the role of technology in culture. This course gives students the tools to do so. Against the
trend towards a thoughtless celebration of all things technological, we will engage in critique in
the two senses of the term: as careful study of the cultural implications of technology and as
balanced, argumentative criticism. Can technology make life more meaningful, society more fair,
people smarter, and the world smaller? We will pay special attention to the insights that literature
and other arts can offer for reframing digital culture. Selections from fiction writers and filmmakers
(Cortázar, Sábato, Zambra, Rivera), philosophers and thinkers (Heidegger and Beller), as well
as recent popular works of social commentary. Assessments include: midterm (25%), response
papers (30%), participation/preparation (20%), and final paper (25%).
63893-02 SPECIAL TOPICS LITERATURE- Contemporary Mexican Literature and Culture.
(MAJOR: Literature)
Dr. Christina Karageorgou-Bastea (christina.karageorgou@vanderbilt.edu ); MWF 11:15-12:05
The course aims at creating an overview of Mexican history and society in the twentieth and
twenty first centuries from the perspective of the arts. Through artistic depiction, historical events
influence the elaboration of the social unconscious and the symbolic imagery of societies. From
the Mexican Revolution to today’s issues of immigration, Mexican art has dealt with social history
in intense ways. The course studies literary works and objects of different artistic expressions—
murals, performances, films—that tell an alternative history of Mexico in the twentieth and twenty
first centuries.
SPAN 3893-03 SPECIAL TOPICS LITERATURE- POLITICS OF IDENTITY IN LATINX
LITERATURE & CULTURE (MAJOR: Literature)
Dr. William Luis (william.luis@vanderbilt.edu); TR 1:15-2:30
This course explores Latinx, people of Hispanic descent born or raised in the United States, who
represent the fastest growing population in the United States, and the second largest Spanish-
speaking people in the world. Latinx literature and culture is at the vanguard of a new discipline,
one that erases differences between borders, cultures, and languages.
The class will focus on the writings of Latinx from the four largest groups: Chicanos, Cuban-
Americans, Puerto Rican- Americans, and Dominican Americas. The readings will include Gloria
Anzaldúa's Borderland/La Frontera, Junot Díaz's Drown, Gustavo Pérez Firmat's Next Year in
Cuba, and Juan Flores's The Diaspora Writes Back. It will also feature films such as The Mambo
Kings Play Songs of Love, In the Time of the Butterflies, and Zoot Suits, based on Latinx works
of the same name. Many of the works are written in English but the discussions will be conducted
in Spanish.
SPAN 4310- TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION (MAJOR: Linguistics; AXLE: SBS)
Cynthia Wasick (Cynthia.Wasick@Vanderbilt.edu )
01-MWF 12:20-1:10
02-MWF 1:25-2:15
Students will be introduced to the history and theory of translation and interpretation of English to
Spanish and Spanish to English with an emphasis on practical translation of written texts.
Students will work on various translation exercises from a variety of fields: business and
economics, commercial advertisements, legal documents, political campaign propaganda,
medical and scientific documents, instructional assembly manuals, newspaper articles,
entertainment industry, personal interviews, sports reports, public affairs announcements, travel
and tourism guides as well as literary texts. There will be individual translation and interpretation
exercises in addition to group projects. Prerequisites: SPAN 3301W, 3302, and 3303.
Evaluation: Quizzes:10%; Homework and Class Participation: 10%; Translations: 20%; Final
translation project: 20%; Exams (2): 20%; Final exam (Take home): 20%
SPAN 4420- SPANISH AMERICAN LITERATURE FROM THE CONQUEST TO 1900.
(MAJOR: Literature; AXLE: HCA; Pre-req: SPAN 3303)
Dr. Jose A. Cardenas Bunsen (jose.cardenas-bunsen@vanderbilt.edu ); TR 9:30-10:45
A survey of the development of the Latin American literary tradition of the Colonial period from
the encounter of Native Americans and Europeans to the birth of the modern national states.
Selections from the letters, travels logs and other writings by Christopher Columbus, Hernán
Cortés, Bartolomé de las Casas, Simón Bolívar, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, among others.
Evaluation: Five short responses during the semester; One final paper; participation.
7SPAN 4425- SPANISH-AMERICAN LITERATURE FROM 1900 TO THE PRESENT (MAJOR:
Literature; AXLE: P; Pre-req. SPAN 3303)
Dr. Anna Castillo (anna.castillo@vanderbilt.edu ); MWF 11:15-12:05
In this course, we examine different ways in which “literariness” and modernity mix through
studying Spanish American texts from the twentieth century up to the present moment. The
course has two objectives. The first is for students to acquire a panoramic vision of modern
Spanish American literature that accounts for the authors whose works have marked key
moments in the literary history of the region. The second is for students to practice reading the
Spanish American cannon a contracorriente (against the grain), with a critical approach to literary
history. As such, the corpus for this course is composed of primary readings (which all will read)
and secondary readings (which allow for student choice). By the end of the semester, students
will be prepared to participate in informed debates about the Spanish American literary cannon
and will themselves create an annotated timeline that demonstrates historical relationships
between the texts they have studied in and outside of class. Evaluation criteria: Daily preparation
(20%), discussion leader (15%), author presentation (5%), midterm review (10%), 3 short
analytical essays on secondary readings (25%), and annotated timeline (25%). Conducted in
Spanish.
SPAN 4550- THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF LITERARY TRANSLATION (MAJOR:
Literature; AXLE: HCA; Pre-req. SPAN 3303)
Dr. Earl. L. Fitz (earl.e.fitz@vanderbilt.edu ); TR 1:15-2:30 PM
This course focuses on both the theory and the practice of literary translation. Examples of the
theoretical questions taken up are the following: what happens in the process of translation?
What is lost, what is gained? Why? What are we really reading when we read a translation? Can
stylistic issues be legitimately discussed when working with a translated text? Why does Gregory
Rabassa regard the translator as a text's most discerning reader? What is the ultimate
justification of translation? While the first third of the course (the theoretical part) will be devoted
to a discussion of Steiner's After Babel: Aspects of Language and Translation, the remainder of
our time will be devoted to the actual translation of Spanish and Portuguese texts, primarily poetry
(traditionally regarded as the most difficult literary genre to translate successfully). Students will
be translating their own texts (from either Spanish or Portuguese into English) and then
discussing the process of their translation with the rest of the class. We will also discuss the
relative merits of extant translations of canonical Brazilian and Spanish American poetry. The
course will be taught in Spanish. Written work may be done in either Spanish or Portuguese. If
all written work is done in Portuguese, a student may request a variance to count it toward the
Spanish & Portuguese major or a Portuguese minor as a Portuguese course.
SPAN 4760- LITERATURE AND MEDICINE (MAJOR: Literature; AXLE: P; Prereq. SPAN 3303)
Dr. Benigno Trigo (benigno.trigo@vanderbilt.edu ); TR 11:15-12:05
What are some of the social meanings of the representation of disease in literature and in
medicine? We will answer this question by way of Puerto Rico, an un-incorporated territory of the
United States. We will trace the shifts in the configuration of four related public health crises on
that Caribbean island as they are represented in both medical literature and fiction from the
nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries: tropical disease, overpopulation, AIDS and Zika. We will
shift our focus from the concerns of military doctors with hygiene during the nineteenth century
to the disquiet of late-twentieth century psychologists and cultural anthropologists with the so
called Puerto Rican Syndrome. We will study disease as something more than a biological event,
putting it in the context of colonization, self-government, and modernization. And we will focus
on both literary and medical texts in Spanish to suggest the ways in which disease is both an
empirical and a symbolic event, the result of both biological causes and of socially determined
preconceptions and beliefs.
Evaluation: Three Essays (75%); One Class Presentation (10%); Attendance and participation
(15%)
8IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE MINOR IN PORTUGUESE:
REQUIREMENTS FOR MINORS (15 HOURS)
CORE COURSES- 9 HOURS
• PORT 2203
• PORT3301 or 3302
• PORT 3303
At least one of the following two courses (3 credits)
• PORT 4420 or PORT 4425
At least one course from among the following courses (3 credits)
• PORT 4350 or PORT 4420 or PORT 4425 or PORT 3892
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE MAJOR IN SPANISH & PORTUGUESE:
REQUIREMENTS FOR MAJOR (33 HOURS)
SPAN CORE COURSES- 9 HOURS
• SPAN 3301W
• SPAN 3302 or AP-5
• SPAN 3303
PORT CORE COURSES- 9 HOURS
• PORT 2203
• PORT3301 or 3302
• PORT 3303
At least two Spanish courses numbered between:
• 3320-3330, 3355-3385, 4400-4980 or 3835, 3891 or 3893.
At least two of the following Portuguese courses:
• 4350, 4420, 4425, 3892, 7070, 7071, and 9520.
One additional elective to be chosen from the courses listed previously.
9PORTUGUESE COURSES
PORT 2203- INTERMEDIATE PORTUGUESE. (MAJOR: Core; AXLE: INT; Pre-req. PORT
1103 or professor placement)
Dr. Benjamin Legg (benjamín.legg@vanderbilt.edu); MWF 10:10-11:00
Students in this course will continue to develop language skills obtained in Intensive Elementary
Portuguese, and gain more skill with writing, reading and higher-level grammar use. Students will
learn more about the various Portuguese-speaking communities of the world, and gain some
initial exposure to Brazilian literature through the reading and performance of a play. Grammar
content will be focused on different tenses and uses of the subjunctive as well as varied
composed verbal tenses.
Evaluation: Tests-30%, Compositions-20%, Oral Assignments-20%, Final Exam-15%,
Participation-10%, Online Homework-5%.
PORT 3302-BRAZILIAN POP CULTURE (MAJOR: CORE; AXLE: INT; Pre-req: PORT 2203)
Dr. Benjamin Legg (benjamín.legg@vanderbilt.edu); MWF 11:15-12:05
Port 3302 is a content-based course with emphasis on Brazilian Pop Culture as a tool for acquiring
advanced vocabulary, training conversational skills, and developing writing proficiency. This
course seeks to explore various aspects of Brazilian culture while practicing advanced level
grammar topics, discussing the readings, and engaging in the process of writing. Evaluation:
Midterm paper: 30%; Final paper: 30%; Class Presentations 20%; Class Participation 10%;
Attendance 10%.
PORT 4425-MODERN BRAZILIAN LITERATURE (MAJOR: Literature; AXLE: HCA; Pre-req:
PORT 3303)
Dr. Earl Fitz (earl.e.fitz@vanderbilt.edu); TR 9:30-10:45
This course focuses on the development of Brazilian literature from the Semana de Arte Moderna
to the present, with an emphasis on the modernist and postmodernist movements. Authors read
will include: Machado de Assis, Oswald de Andrade, Guimarães Rosa, and Clarice Lispector,
among others. Short papers (composite grade): 20%; Oral presentations (composite grade):
20%; Final paper: 60%.
10Contact: Director Undergraduate Studies: Maria Paz Pintané (maria.p.pintane@vanderbilt.edu) DEPARTMENT OF SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE FURMAN HALL VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY https://as.vanderbilt.edu/spanish-portuguese/ INSTAGRAM: #VUspanandport
You can also read
