2012-2013 Spanish Courses

This course is designed to enable students with no previous exposure to Spanish to achieve essential communication skills, while providing the basic grammatical, lexical, and syntactical structures to do so effectively. From the start,we will stress oral interaction in class, reinforced through pair or small-group activities. Students are required to meet with the instructor in small groups for one hour each week (small-group conference) and to attend a weekly conversation session with a language assistant.  Course conducted in Spanish. Placement test is not required. Students should attend the scheduled orientation meetings and interview during registration week.

This course is designed for students who have had some Spanish but have forgotten most of it or never quite had a chance to consolidate the basics. Grounded in a thorough overview of essential grammatical, lexical, and syntactical structures, students will work with short texts, videos, and songs by a broad array of authors and artists from both Spain and Latin America, such as Jorge Luis Borges, Eduardo Galeano, Julio Cortázar, Elena Poniatowska, Carlos Fuentes, Lorca, and others. In addition to a basic textbook, we will often use journalistic texts, blogs, and online media to familiarize students with  Hispanic culture and current events and to develop communicative and reading strategies. The objective is to expose students to the diversity of the Spanish-speaking world on both sides of the Atlantic and, as much as possible, to “real” rather than “textbook” language. Much of the work in the class will focus on communication, while grammar exercises will be integrated with the texts being read as much as possible. Through role-play and guided group activities, students will gain increased language proficiency in Spanish. Weekly one-hour meetings in small groups with a language tutor are required, and students will have to attend some film screenings. We will also try to take advantage of some of the cultural opportunities in the New York City area, as available. This class is taught entirely in Spanish. It is strongly recommended that interested students take the Spanish Placement Test in addition to interviewing with the instructor.

Through a series of short stories, poetry, theatrical texts, films, and music, we will explore the cultural and linguistic diversity of the Hispanic community in New York. We will take advantage of the cultural resources that New York City has to offer, such as museums, theatre, restaurant visits, and excursions to Hispanic neighborhoods. This course is designed to provide a solid foundation in the four language skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—along with cultural awareness. The primary goal is to help students further develop the necessary skills to communicate proficiently in Spanish and to function effectively within Spanish-speaking cultures in real-life situations and within a cultural context. The methodology used in the course will be primarily communicative; that is, actually using what we learn and presenting material in authentic contexts. This course is taught entirely in Spanish. Students are strongly urged to take the Spanish placement test online during registration week, in addition to interviewing with the instructor.

This course is intended for students who have already mastered the basics of Spanish and wish to continue a more advanced study of the grammar and vocabulary and to develop a more complex level of oral and written discourse, emphasizing subjective expression. Written and oral skills will be strengthened by oral presentations, class participation, and frequent essays (which include film reviews), based on a broad array of materials related to contemporary Latin American and Iberian culture. We will attempt to cover various sources: short stories, poems, novels, films, music lyrics, newspaper articles, etc. For conference, students will have a chance to explore various aspects and topics of Hispanic culture and the arts. We will take advantage of our local resources such as museums, libraries, and theatre. Weekly conversation with a language assistant will be required. This course is conducted entirely in Spanish. A placement test is recommended for students who have not taken Spanish at Sarah Lawrence College.

The purpose of this course is a systematic review of fundamental Spanish grammatical structures and the improvement of the student’s conversational and writing skills. Students will learn about a variety of perspectives on race, gender, and identity, as they were articulated in Spanish America since the colonial period. Apart from the cultural analysis of the texts, students will be presented with a variety of tasks and activities designed to improve their language proficiency. Among the ideas on race to be studied is negrismo in the Caribbean, José de Vasconcelos’ view on mestizaje in Mexico, and Peruvian indigenismo. These discussions will be examined in conjunction with relevant cultural productions of the time, such as the poetry of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Nicolás Guillén; the narrative of Inca Garcilaso, Andrés Bello, and Simón Bolívar’s nation-building discourses; the indigenista intellectuals; and the visual perspective of the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. These discussions, as well as the viewing of film and different forms of visual culture, will enrich our analyses of language and culture. This course is taught entirely in Spanish. Interested students are strongly urged to take the Spanish placement test online in addition to interviewing with the instructor.

This course is the continuation of the Intermediate III class taught in the fall semester. Language work will resume at exactly the same point where it was left at the end of the previous semester. Thematically, we will focus on the multiple uses of Spanish to be found in the virtual world, with a strong emphasis on exploring the blogosphere. We will identify and follow the most important blogs from Latin America and Spain. Literature will be one of our main concerns, but not the only one. All forms of culture will be incorporated into the course of study during our exploration of the virtual space. Art, film, music, photography, theatre, science, politics, comics, video games, gastronomy—all forms and manifestations of culture, high or low, will be the object of our attention, as long as their vehicle of expression is Spanish. Nothing will be excluded, with the exception of printed matter. The class will be encouraged to make use of all sorts of resources put at our disposal on the Internet. Along with blogs, newspapers published all over the Spanish-speking world will be continuously consulted. Work with the language assistants will be crucial, since part of the coursework will be monitored by them in close coordination with the instructor. The syllabus will be jointly created by all of us on a weekly basis. Students are expected to locate materials suitable to be integrated into the syllabus, which later will be exploited in class. There will be a short admission test in order to make sure that those wishing to register for this class have the adequate level. Permission of the instructor is required.

With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Cuba entered what many consider the worst crisis of its history. Without Soviet financial support, all of its economic indicators collapsed. The once mighty Cuban publishing industry was also affected, and publications within Cuba were reduced virtually to zero. One of the few positive aspects of this phenomenon was the great diffusion of Cuban literature since the mid-1990s. Many publishing houses from Spain and also Latin America began to publish works of Cuban authors, and many of the best Cuban writers are now regularly published abroad. This course will emphasize how this international projection introduced thematic diversity, along with enriching new approaches. The close reading and analysis of a range of texts since the ’90s will enable us to understand that what has happened was not a mere change of venue but, rather, a unique situation that has catalyzed the irruption of subjects never before discussed in modern and contemporary Cuban literature. This course is taught entirely in Spanish. Interested students are strongly advised to take the Spanish placement test online in addition to interviewing with the instructor.

This seminar will focus on the literary production of Spain between the 1830s and today. Our journey will start in the early decades of the 20th century, when three teenagers destined to become artists of universal stature attended the same college in Madrid and became friends: Federico García Lorca, Salvador Dalí, and Luis Buñuel. After reading prose works by each of them, we will conduct a selective exploration of the Spanish poetic canon, from medieval ballads to the latest manifestations by contemporary authors. Two philosophers, José Ortega y Gasset and Miguel de Unamuno will help us map the intricacies of Spanish cultural history. The most important segment of the class will be devoted to the study of the Spanish narrative tradition, with an emphasis on women novelists. The course will acknowledge the cultural and linguistic diversity of Spain, a country with four distinct literary traditions in as many languages: Castilian, Basque, Galician, and Catalan. Authors under study will include a significant number of canonical writers from the recent and not so recent past, such as Ana María Matute, Carmen Laforet, María Zambrano, Pedro Salinas, Ramón Gómez de la Serna, and Benito Pérez Galdós. Students interested in this course must have a very solid command of the language. This course is taught entirely in Spanish. Permission of the instructor is required. All interested students who have not taken at least Intermediate III at Sarah Lawrence College are strongly urged to take the Spanish Placement Test in addition to interviewing the instructor.

Friction: n. 1. A state of conflict or opposition between persons, ideas, or interests. 2. The resistance encountered when one body is moved in contact with another.

This course will explore how the intertwining of the notions of friction and fiction have shaped Latin American culture. We will analyze several topics: (post)coloniality, revolutions and dictatorships, political violence, representations of gender and sexuality, construction of contemporary subjectivities, politics of representation, tensions between oral and written cultures, and migration, among others. Starting with an overview of Latin American history and the introduction of some key theoretical concepts, the course will focus on the cultural productions of the 20th and 21st centuries in Latin America, especially of the Andean region, Mexico, and the Southern Cone. We will emphasize, through literary and cultural analysis, several aspects of literary texts, films, paintings, and photographs in relation to their social and historical contexts, while improving oral communication, grammatical, and written skills. Evaluation will be based on active participation in class discussions, preparedness for class, short response papers, brief presentations, and individual conference projects. Weekly meetings with the language assistant are a requirement.  This course will be taught entirely in Spanish. It is strongly recommended that students take the Spanish placement test in addition to interviewing with the instructor.

This course is designed to enable students with no previous exposure to Spanish to achieve essential communication skills, while providing the basic grammatical, lexical, and syntactical structures to do so effectively. From the start,we will stress oral interaction in class, reinforced through pair or small-group activities. Students are required to meet with the instructor in small groups for one hour each week (small-group conference) and to attend a weekly conversation session with a language assistant.  Course conducted in Spanish. Placement test is not required. Students should attend the scheduled orientation meetings and interview during registration week.

This course is designed for students who have had some Spanish but have forgotten most of it or never quite had a chance to consolidate the basics. Grounded in a thorough overview of essential grammatical, lexical, and syntactical structures, students will work with short texts, videos, and songs by a broad array of authors and artists from both Spain and Latin America, such as Jorge Luis Borges, Eduardo Galeano, Julio Cortázar, Elena Poniatowska, Carlos Fuentes, Lorca, and others. In addition to a basic textbook, we will often use journalistic texts, blogs, and online media to familiarize students with  Hispanic culture and current events and to develop communicative and reading strategies. The objective is to expose students to the diversity of the Spanish-speaking world on both sides of the Atlantic and, as much as possible, to “real” rather than “textbook” language. Much of the work in the class will focus on communication, while grammar exercises will be integrated with the texts being read as much as possible. Through role-play and guided group activities, students will gain increased language proficiency in Spanish. Weekly one-hour meetings in small groups with a language tutor are required, and students will have to attend some film screenings. We will also try to take advantage of some of the cultural opportunities in the New York City area, as available. This class is taught entirely in Spanish. It is strongly recommended that interested students take the Spanish Placement Test in addition to interviewing with the instructor.

Through a series of short stories, poetry, theatrical texts, films, and music, we will explore the cultural and linguistic diversity of the Hispanic community in New York. We will take advantage of the cultural resources that New York City has to offer, such as museums, theatre, restaurant visits, and excursions to Hispanic neighborhoods. This course is designed to provide a solid foundation in the four language skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—along with cultural awareness. The primary goal is to help students further develop the necessary skills to communicate proficiently in Spanish and to function effectively within Spanish-speaking cultures in real-life situations and within a cultural context. The methodology used in the course will be primarily communicative; that is, actually using what we learn and presenting material in authentic contexts. This course is taught entirely in Spanish. Students are strongly urged to take the Spanish placement test online during registration week, in addition to interviewing with the instructor.

This course is intended for students who have already mastered the basics of Spanish and wish to continue a more advanced study of the grammar and vocabulary and to develop a more complex level of oral and written discourse, emphasizing subjective expression. Written and oral skills will be strengthened by oral presentations, class participation, and frequent essays (which include film reviews), based on a broad array of materials related to contemporary Latin American and Iberian culture. We will attempt to cover various sources: short stories, poems, novels, films, music lyrics, newspaper articles, etc. For conference, students will have a chance to explore various aspects and topics of Hispanic culture and the arts. We will take advantage of our local resources such as museums, libraries, and theatre. Weekly conversation with a language assistant will be required. This course is conducted entirely in Spanish. A placement test is recommended for students who have not taken Spanish at Sarah Lawrence College.

The purpose of this course is a systematic review of fundamental Spanish grammatical structures and the improvement of the student’s conversational and writing skills. Students will learn about a variety of perspectives on race, gender, and identity, as they were articulated in Spanish America since the colonial period. Apart from the cultural analysis of the texts, students will be presented with a variety of tasks and activities designed to improve their language proficiency. Among the ideas on race to be studied is negrismo in the Caribbean, José de Vasconcelos’ view on mestizaje in Mexico, and Peruvian indigenismo. These discussions will be examined in conjunction with relevant cultural productions of the time, such as the poetry of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Nicolás Guillén; the narrative of Inca Garcilaso, Andrés Bello, and Simón Bolívar’s nation-building discourses; the indigenista intellectuals; and the visual perspective of the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. These discussions, as well as the viewing of film and different forms of visual culture, will enrich our analyses of language and culture. This course is taught entirely in Spanish. Interested students are strongly urged to take the Spanish placement test online in addition to interviewing with the instructor.

This course is the continuation of the Intermediate III class taught in the fall semester. Language work will resume at exactly the same point where it was left at the end of the previous semester. Thematically, we will focus on the multiple uses of Spanish to be found in the virtual world, with a strong emphasis on exploring the blogosphere. We will identify and follow the most important blogs from Latin America and Spain. Literature will be one of our main concerns, but not the only one. All forms of culture will be incorporated into the course of study during our exploration of the virtual space. Art, film, music, photography, theatre, science, politics, comics, video games, gastronomy—all forms and manifestations of culture, high or low, will be the object of our attention, as long as their vehicle of expression is Spanish. Nothing will be excluded, with the exception of printed matter. The class will be encouraged to make use of all sorts of resources put at our disposal on the Internet. Along with blogs, newspapers published all over the Spanish-speking world will be continuously consulted. Work with the language assistants will be crucial, since part of the coursework will be monitored by them in close coordination with the instructor. The syllabus will be jointly created by all of us on a weekly basis. Students are expected to locate materials suitable to be integrated into the syllabus, which later will be exploited in class. There will be a short admission test in order to make sure that those wishing to register for this class have the adequate level. Permission of the instructor is required.

With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Cuba entered what many consider the worst crisis of its history. Without Soviet financial support, all of its economic indicators collapsed. The once mighty Cuban publishing industry was also affected, and publications within Cuba were reduced virtually to zero. One of the few positive aspects of this phenomenon was the great diffusion of Cuban literature since the mid-1990s. Many publishing houses from Spain and also Latin America began to publish works of Cuban authors, and many of the best Cuban writers are now regularly published abroad. This course will emphasize how this international projection introduced thematic diversity, along with enriching new approaches. The close reading and analysis of a range of texts since the ’90s will enable us to understand that what has happened was not a mere change of venue but, rather, a unique situation that has catalyzed the irruption of subjects never before discussed in modern and contemporary Cuban literature. This course is taught entirely in Spanish. Interested students are strongly advised to take the Spanish placement test online in addition to interviewing with the instructor.

This seminar will focus on the literary production of Spain between the 1830s and today. Our journey will start in the early decades of the 20th century, when three teenagers destined to become artists of universal stature attended the same college in Madrid and became friends: Federico García Lorca, Salvador Dalí, and Luis Buñuel. After reading prose works by each of them, we will conduct a selective exploration of the Spanish poetic canon, from medieval ballads to the latest manifestations by contemporary authors. Two philosophers, José Ortega y Gasset and Miguel de Unamuno will help us map the intricacies of Spanish cultural history. The most important segment of the class will be devoted to the study of the Spanish narrative tradition, with an emphasis on women novelists. The course will acknowledge the cultural and linguistic diversity of Spain, a country with four distinct literary traditions in as many languages: Castilian, Basque, Galician, and Catalan. Authors under study will include a significant number of canonical writers from the recent and not so recent past, such as Ana María Matute, Carmen Laforet, María Zambrano, Pedro Salinas, Ramón Gómez de la Serna, and Benito Pérez Galdós. Students interested in this course must have a very solid command of the language. This course is taught entirely in Spanish. Permission of the instructor is required. All interested students who have not taken at least Intermediate III at Sarah Lawrence College are strongly urged to take the Spanish Placement Test in addition to interviewing the instructor.

Friction: n. 1. A state of conflict or opposition between persons, ideas, or interests. 2. The resistance encountered when one body is moved in contact with another.

This course will explore how the intertwining of the notions of friction and fiction have shaped Latin American culture. We will analyze several topics: (post)coloniality, revolutions and dictatorships, political violence, representations of gender and sexuality, construction of contemporary subjectivities, politics of representation, tensions between oral and written cultures, and migration, among others. Starting with an overview of Latin American history and the introduction of some key theoretical concepts, the course will focus on the cultural productions of the 20th and 21st centuries in Latin America, especially of the Andean region, Mexico, and the Southern Cone. We will emphasize, through literary and cultural analysis, several aspects of literary texts, films, paintings, and photographs in relation to their social and historical contexts, while improving oral communication, grammatical, and written skills. Evaluation will be based on active participation in class discussions, preparedness for class, short response papers, brief presentations, and individual conference projects. Weekly meetings with the language assistant are a requirement.  This course will be taught entirely in Spanish. It is strongly recommended that students take the Spanish placement test in addition to interviewing with the instructor.