All courses, whether lower-division or upper-division, are conducted largely or entirely in Spanish, unless otherwise specified.
SPA 101 SPANISH I
This beginning course offers students the opportunity to acquire communicative skills in Spanish and to develop an awareness and appreciation of Hispanic cultures. The course provides an integrated approach in which listening, speaking, reading and writing are developed. Basic thematic vocabulary and grammatical structures are covered. This course is intended for students with no prior coursework in Spanish. Prerequisites: None
Staff/Three Credits
SPA 102 SPANISH II
This course is the second part of the beginning sequence offering students the opportunity to expand their knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical structures. The course provides an integrated approach in which listening, speaking, reading and writing are developed. The course fosters awareness of Hispanic cultures through short readings and a variety of oral and written activities. Prerequisites: SPA 101, or one or two years of high school Staff/Three Credits
SPA 201 SPANISH III
Continued development of communicative competency in Spanish language and Hispanic culture including a variety of media. Prerequisite: SPA 102, or two or three years of high school Spanish, or equivalent. Media fee $15. (Fall and Spring)
Staff/Three credits
SPA 202 SPANISH IV
Integration of all skills. Reading skills using contemporary selections are developed through a process approach. Cultural topics present insights into the characteristics of Hispanic people, art, and literature. Prerequisite: SPA 103 or equivalent. (Fall and Spring)
Staff/Three credits
SPA 203 SPANISH V
This course helps develop oral language competency in Spanish, while increasing vocabulary and reviewing grammatical structures. The main objective is to enable students to understand lectures in the language, converse on everyday topics, read material of average difficulty, and express points of view on current issues with acceptable correctness. Prerequisite: SPA 104 or equivalent. (Fall and Spring)
Guerrero-Watanabe, Loustaunau, Staff/Three credits
SPA 204 INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE: SPANISH LANGUAGE
Designed for students to become active readers of literature and develop skills. The students are introduced to the form and structure of various genres of literature through the close reading and analysis of selections from Spanish and Spanish-American prose fiction, poetry, and drama. Prerequisite: SPA 120 or equivalent. This course fulfills the Core requirement in Literature. (Fall and Spring) Staff/Three credits
SPA 220 SPANISH COMPOSITION
Designed to develop skills in descriptive, narrative, and expository writing in Spanish, this course emphasizes the process of writing. It deals with strategies for generating and organizing ideas through pre-writing, composing, writing, and editing. Writing activities help expand and refine grammatical structures, range of vocabulary, and rhetorical techniques. Not open to students who have completed SPA 301. Prerequisite: SPA 140 or equivalent. (Spring)
Grijalva, Loustaunau, Staff/Three credits
SPA 225 BUSINESS SPANISH: MANAGEMENT
This course enhances the student’s ability to function effectively in an increasingly important commercial language locally, throughout the United States, and abroad. The course provides the student with a solid foundation in Spanish in the vocabulary and discourse used when dealing with the legal constitution of different types of companies; management; banking and accounting; property and equipment; the modern business office and communications; and human resources. The course will also develop the student’s geographic literacy and cultural understanding of the Spanish-speaking world, as these are essential to being able to conduct business successfully in Spanish. The course, to be conducted primarily in Spanish, will include translating and interpreting activities, cross- cultural communication skills used frequently in the world of business and of special importance for managers and leaders who must make informed decisions. Prerequisite: SPA 104 or equivalent.
Kercher/Three credits
SPA 226 BUSINESS SPANISH: MARKETING
This course enhances the student’s ability to function effectively in an increasingly important commercial language locally, in the United States, and abroad. It provides the student with a solid foundation in Spanish in the vocabulary and discourse used when dealing with goods and services, marketing, finance, foreign market entry, and import-export. The course also develops geographic literacy and cultural understanding of the Spanish-speaking world, as these are central to being able to conduct business successfully in Spanish. The course, to be conducted primarily in Spanish, will also include translating and interpreting activities, language skills frequently used in the world of business and of special importance for managers and leaders who must be able to communicate effectively and make well-informed decisions. Please note that SPA 125 and 126 are not sequential. Prerequisite: SPA 104 or equivalent.
Kercher/ Three credits
SPA 230 SURVEY OF SPANISH LITERATURE
A survey of Spanish literature. Students will be introduced to the study of peninsular literature through the reading and analysis of representative selections from the major works. Prerequisite: SPA 140. This course satisfies the Humanities requirement in the Core curriculum. Staff/Three credits
SPA 231 SURVEY OF LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE
A critical study of literary periods and movements in Latin America. Reading and analysis of representative selections from major works. Prerequisite: SPA 140. This course satisfies the Humanities requirement in the Core curriculum.
Grijalva/Three credits
SPA 302 ADVANCED SPANISH ORAL EXPRESSION
A systematic study of various forms of public discourse through discussion and debate on controversial issues. Designed for students with a sophisticated command of Spanish who seek to increase their fluency and develop cultural awareness. Prerequisite: any Spanish 200-level or higher.
Guerrero-Watanabe/Three credits
SPA 316 EMERGING MODERNITIES IN THE HISPANIC WORLD
This course focuses on the social and political events, artistic production, literary texts and culture of modern Latin America. Course materials include readings, films, music and the internet in order to develop a more complete understanding of the complex modes of cultural production that arose during this time period. Prerequisite: any Spanish 200-level or higher. This course satisfies the Humanities requirement in the Core curriculum. Guerrero-Watanabe/Three credits
SPA 317 BORDER IDENTITIES IN SPAIN
This course focuses on the multiplicity of identity in contemporary Spain in the context of political and social changes of the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries. Reading theory and culture, understood as texts and practice, we will examine literature, films, and mass media to consider the identities of nation, class, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity. Prerequisite: any Spanish 200-level or higher. This course satisfies the Humanities requirement in the Core curriculum.
Leone/Three credits
SPA 318 REBELLION AND REINVENTION IN MEXICO
This course explores contemporary Mexican literary and cultural production in response to socio-political rebellion and cultural reinvention. The course materials focus on four key moments in Mexican history: the Revolution of 1910, the student movement of 1968; the Zapatista rebellion of 1994; and the current implications of mass migration and the narco wars. Students analyze textual, visual, and musical works by a variety of authors from the 20th and 21st centuries in order to learn how these authors represent cultural, social, and political affirmation in a country known for its economic and political repression. We will consider the role of literature and art in the understanding of civic action and social power. The course is taught in Spanish. Prerequisite: Any Spanish 200-level or higher. This course satisfies the Humanities requirement in the Core curriculum. Loustaunau/Three credits
SPA 370 WOMEN WRITERS IN CONTEMPORARY SPAIN
This course focuses women’s contributions to literature and culture in twentieth- and twenty-first century Spain. The course takes a thematic approach to women’s experiences in Spain. Students analyze textual and visual works by a variety of women authors from the post-civil war period and Franco dictatorship (1939-1975) and from the democratic period (1980s to the present) in order to explore how these authors represent cultural, social, and political identities in 20th and 21st century Spain. Prerequisite: any Spanish 200-level or higher. This course satisfies the humanities requirement in the core curriculum. Leone/Three credits
SPA 380 LATIN AMERICAN CHRONICLES
In this course students will learn about how urban life, violence, and modern cities have been represented by journalist-literary writers in Latin America. We will discuss the relationship between literature and journalism, and between chronicles and other literary genres. In addition, students will examine some works of the “New Journalism” in the United States and its influence over Latin American writers. Intensive Spanish writing will be a major requirement. Prerequisite: any Spanish 200-level or above.. This course satisfies the Humanities requirement in the Core curriculum.
Grijalva/Three credits
SPA 384 MAGICAL REALISM AND THE LITERATURE OF THE FANTASTIC
Magical realism refers to a specific set of narrative works by Latin American writers in the second half of the twentieth century. This course will develop a more comprehensive understanding of this literary movement by analyzing a key number of primary texts along with all the pertinent literary criticism and theory. The textual strategies and techniques that help define these works include the use of rich, detailed language designed to create a realistic setting and characters in the story. The element of magic or the supernatural then enters or manifests itself in this seemingly “real” literary landscape. Although the texts incorporate these bursts of the unexplained, the main body of the text always follows a mimetic approach to fictional production. Our study of these fantastic texts will begin with a discussion of possible pre-cursors of the movement, such as the Argentineans Jorge Borges and Julio Cortázar, and then move on to more seminal texts like Cien años de soledad by Gabriel García Márquez and Eva Luna by Isabel Allende. In the last few weeks, students will have the opportunity to analyze more recent texts to see how magical realism affects current modes of literary production. Prerequisite: any Spanish 200-level or higher. This course satisfies the Humanities requirement in the Core curriculum. Guerrero-Watanabe/Three credits Guerrero-Watanabe/Three credits
SPECIAL TOPICS AND INDEPENDENT STUDY COURSES IN SPANISH:
SPA 250 SPECIAL TOPICS COURSE (LEVEL 250–299)
Staff/Three credits
SPA 300 SPECIAL TOPICS COURSE (LEVEL 3001) Staff/Three credits
SPA 410–419 INDEPENDENT STUDY IN SPANISH Staff/Three credits
Subject and/or authors studied to be chosen with approval of professor.