2005-2006 University of Guelph Undergraduate Calendar

XII. Course Descriptions

Spanish Studies

School of Languages and Literatures.

Except where stated otherwise, all courses are conducted in Spanish (reading , writing and speaking), and literary texts are, at all levels, studied in the original language.

SPAN*1100 Introductory Spanish F,W (3-1) [0.50]
A course providing the basics of spoken and written Spanish for students with no previous studies in the language.
SPAN*1110 Intermediate Spanish F,W (3-1) [0.50]
A continuation of SPAN*1100 with emphasis on oral work.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*1100
SPAN*2000 Spanish Language I F (3-1) [0.50]
A course designed to develop facility in reading, writing, understanding and speaking Spanish. Conversation, grammar and language laboratory practice.
Prerequisite(s): OAC Spanish or SPAN*1110 (or equivalent)
SPAN*2040 Spanish Civilization F (3-0) [0.50]
An examination of the historical and cultural events that provided the background for the development of modern Spain, as well as a visual survey of Spanish culture.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*1110
SPAN*2990 Introduction to Hispanic Literary Studies W (3-0) [0.50]
An introduction to literary studies in Spanish. The course focuses on critical terminology and methods through a selection of prose, poetry and drama from Spain and Spanish America.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*1110 or permission of the instructor
SPAN*3080 Spanish American Culture W (3-0) [0.50]
A survey through selected readings, class discussion and audio-visual materials of the Spanish American countries, their histories, society, institutions and culture.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*1110
SPAN*3110 Spanish Literature F (3-0) [0.50]
This course will study the works of prominent 20th-century poets in the context of the artistic environment of Europe as reflected in the theatre, art and film of the first two decades of the 20th century. Focus will be on poets including: Garcia Lorca, Vicente Aleixandre, Gerardo Diego; painters Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso, and film director Luis Buñuel. (Offered in even-numbered years.)
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*2990 or instructor consent
SPAN*3120 Post-Civil War Literature and Film W (3-0) [0.50]
This course examines contemporary Spanish Literature and film from a socio-political perspective. It will focus on the following topics: the impact on narrative and theatre of socio-cultural upheavals in the aftermath of the civil war; the role in the aesthetics of both film and literature of the Franco dictatorship and censorship in particular; the importance of post-Franco liberalization on women's creative work. (Offered in odd-numbered years.)
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*2990 or instructor consent
SPAN*3130 Women in Modern Spanish Fiction W (3-0) [0.50]
A study of the representation of women in Spanish literature through the analysis and interpretation of Spanish 19th-century novels. (Offered in even-numbered years.)
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*2990 or instructor consent
SPAN*3160 Contemporary Latin American Fiction W (3-0) [0.50]
This course will examine, in English, why and how the leading figures, such as Borges, Cortazar, Garcia Marquez, Carpentier, Isabel Allende, and Luisa Valenzuela have "made" history, not only in the way they have recreated the Latin American historical reality, but also in the way they have reformed the Hispanic literature. Two lectures per week in English and one seminar per week in Spanish. Final essay and examination will be in English, short presentations and compositions will be in Spanish. (Offered in odd-numbered years.)
Restriction(s): HUMN*3160
SPAN*3170 Women, Virtue and Honour in Spanish Drama F (3-0) [0.50]
This is a topic-oriented course which will study, in English, major Spanish dramas: seventeenth-century works such as Lope de Vega's Fuenteovejuna, Calderon's Life is a Dream, Tirso de Molina's Don Juan, and twentieth-century plays such as Garcia Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba and Blood Wedding. In addition to the thematic focus, these texts will be studied for their artistic merit and for the specificity of the Spanish "comedia". Where appropriate, this course will also discuss the influence of Spanish themes on the European culture. Texts and examinations will be in English, but selected readings and assignments will be in Spanish. Students who select the course under the listing of HUMN*3170 will do assignments in English. (Offered in even-numbered years.)
Restriction(s): HUMN*3170
SPAN*3180 Cuento/Journalism Spanish American W (3-0) [0.50]
Most Latin American writers started their careers as journalists, and short stories by Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Gabriel Garcia Márquez, Elena Poniatowska, Luisa Valenzuela, and Isabel Allende were published in daily newspapers. One of the results of the close link between journalism and fiction is a deep sense of social responsibility in modern non-representational literature. This course will study twentieth-century Latin American short stories for their artistic merits, and for their other links to journalistic discourse. (Offered in even-numbered years.)
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*2010 or SPAN*2990
SPAN*3300 Modern Spanish American Prose F (3-0) [0.50]
A study, through selected texts, of the most important aspects of Spanish American Prose up to 1940. Authors studied may include Maria Luisa Bombal, Horacio Quiroga, Jorge Icaza, Romulo Gallegos and Ricardo Guiraldes. The course will emphasize themes such as rural life, the role of native peoples, and changing attitudes to concepts such as national identity, urbanization and literary technique. (Offered in odd-numbered years.)
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*2990 or instructor consent
SPAN*3310 The Modern Spanish American Short Story and Poetry F (3-0) [0.50]
A study of the modern Spanish American short story and an examination of the evolution of poetry among the leading Modernist and post-Modernist poets. (Offered in even-numbered years.)
SPAN*3500 Spanish Grammar and Composition I F (3-1) [0.50]
An advanced language course that focuses on the refinement of students' written and verbal communication skills in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*2010
SPAN*3530 Business Spanish W (3-0) [0.50]
A detailed study of the Spanish language as it is currently used in adminstration and business. It will cover areas such as administrative correspondence, reports, employment, business communication and advertising.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*3500
SPAN*3800 Directed Readings in Spanish Studies U (3-0) [0.50]
A reading course in Spanish or Spanish American literature designed according to the previous studies and the interests of the individual student. Normally, students will not be permitted to take more than two courses in the Directed Readings sequence.
Prerequisite(s): 1.00 credits in Spanish literature at the 3000 level
SPAN*3810 Directed Readings in Spanish Studies U (3-0) [0.50]
A reading course in Spanish or Spanish American literature designed according to the previous studies and the interests of the individual student. Normally, students will not be permitted to take more than two courses in the Directed Readings sequence.
Prerequisite(s): 1.00 credits in Spanish literature at the 3000 level
SPAN*3820 Directed Readings in Spanish Studies U (3-0) [0.50]
A reading course in Spanish or Spanish American literature designed according to the previous studies and the interests of the individual student. Normally, students will not be permitted to take more than two courses in the Directed Readings sequence.
Prerequisite(s): 1.00 credits in Spanish literature at the 3000 level
SPAN*3850 Revolutionary Poetry and Poetic Revolution in Spanish America F (3-0) [0.50]
This course studies the poetry that has emerged from revolutionary movements in Cuba, Nicaragua, Chile and elsewhere, situating this poetry in the context of the search for new poetic forms. (Offered in even-numbered years.)
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*2990 or instructor consent
SPAN*4170 Don Quixote and the Picaresque Novel F (3-0) [0.50]
This course will study, in English, the importance of this Spanish masterpiece in the development of the modern European novel, and it will examine the first European picaresque work, Lazarillo de Tormes, in the light of the picaresque tradition which followed in Europe and the Americas. The course will also concentrate on the notion of play and laughter (Bakhtin) as means of survival. Texts and examinations will be in English, but selected readings and assignments will be in Spanish. Students who select the course under the listing of HUMN*4170 will do assignments in English. (Offered in odd-numbered years.)
SPAN*4500 Spanish Translation and Composition I F (3-0) [0.50]
An advanced composition course, with intensive written and oral practice with an emphasis on translation.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*3530
SPAN*4520 Spanish Translation and Composition II W (3-0) [0.50]
A continuation of the work done in SPAN*4500, developing creative oral and written expression with an emphasis on translation.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN*4500
SPAN*4840 Research Paper in Spanish Studies U (3-0) [0.50]
A research paper in Spanish on any language or literature subject approved by the department. This paper will be the equivalent of a semester course.