Course Descriptions - Undergraduate Calendar 2011-2012

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S P A N I S H

Notes

  1. Students with a knowledge of Spanish not acquired in an academic institution must write a placement test before enrolling in a language course. Students with OAC Spanish or 4U Spanish should enrol directly into SPAN 201A. Students possessing an intermediate level in Spanish will enrol in SPAN 210. Advanced native Spanish speakers should contact the Undergraduate Advisor to arrange for a placement test.
  2. The Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies reserves the right to refuse admission to, and/or credit for, any of its language courses to a student who has, in the view of the Department, a level of competence unsuited to that course.
  3. Course descriptions for course numbers with a suffix of “W” are available on the Wilfrid Laurier University website.

SPAN 100s


SPAN 101 LAB,LEC 0.50Course ID: 008783
Introduction to Spanish 1
This course is for students with no previous knowledge of Spanish. The basic elements of Spanish grammar will be studied, with emphasis on group and individual oral practice. Focus will be given to the development of skills in listening/comprehension, speaking, reading and writing. Multimedia exercises accompany each chapter of the textbook. Students will be expected to use them in the multimedia language centre and at home.
[Note: SPAN 101 is not open to students with native, near-native or similar advanced ability.]
Antireq: OAC or 4U Spanish
Also offered Online

SPAN 102 LAB,LEC 0.50Course ID: 008786
Introduction to Spanish 2
A continuation of SPAN 101.
[Note: SPAN 102 is not open to students with native, near-native or similar advanced ability.]
Prereq: SPAN 101.
Antireq: OAC Spanish or 4U Spanish
Also offered Online

SPAN 200s


SPAN 201A LEC,TUT 0.50Course ID: 008791
Intermediate Spanish 1
For students with some knowledge of Spanish. Seeks to reinforce the language, both oral and written, through selected texts and grammar review. Language laboratory also used to increase understanding and speaking skills.
Prereq: SPAN 102 or OAC Spanish or 4U Spanish.
Antireq: SPAN 210

SPAN 201B LEC,TUT 0.50Course ID: 008792
Intermediate Spanish 2
A continuation of SPAN 201A.
Prereq: SPAN 201A.
Antireq: SPAN 210

SPAN 210 LEC 0.50Course ID: 012753
Intermediate Spanish for Native Speakers
This is an intensive course designed for students of Spanish speaking background (native or near-native) who have not received formal language training. The course focuses on a comprehensive study of Spanish grammar. It includes a critical analysis of colloquial Spanish, or anglicized vocabulary, and influences of other languages on modern Spanish. A major component of the course is the acquisition and development of writing skills and oral discourse at the academic level. The course further develops listening comprehension and reading skills.
[Note: Classes and written work are in Spanish.]
Department Consent Required
Antireq: SPAN 201A, 201B

SPAN 217 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008804
Latin American Civilization 1
This course will introduce and expose students to the history, cultures, and civilizations that embody Latin America. We will look at the meanings of colonization from the varying perspectives of the indigenous peoples in Latin America, as well as from the perspectives of a variety of descendants of Europeans and Africans. Through our study of colonial, social, economic, and political relations we will examine how the meanings of these categories changed over time and how indigenous peoples, Africans, and Europeans contributed to the ethnically diverse regional societies that continue to characterize Latin America today.
[Note: Taught in English.]

SPAN 218 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008805
Latin American Civilization 2
This course will introduce and expose students to the varied and complex geographical, ethnic, social and historical forces that have shaped contemporary Latin America such as European-Asian-New World interactions, racial mixtures, military takeovers, U.S. intervention in the region, and migratory experiences. This will be attained through contrasting and comparing the contemporary and diverse cultural manifestations of the peoples living in Latin America, and the cultural transformation of Latin Americans who have emigrated to other parts of the world.
[Note: Taught in English.]

SPAN 227 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008810
Introduction to Latin American Poetry and Drama
This course presents an introduction to Latin American poetry and theatre produced since pre-Columbian times. Through the study of representative works the course covers the most important periods and movements of Latin American poetry and theatre, and introduces the student to literary analysis by paying special attention to questions of terminology, genre, and literary history.
Prereq: SPAN 201B or 210

SPAN 228 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008811
Introduction to Latin American Prose
This course presents an introduction to Latin American prose produced since pre-Columbian times. Through the study of representative works the course covers chronicles, essays, and short stories, and introduces the student to literary analysis by paying special attention to questions of terminology, genre, and literary history.
Prereq: SPAN 227

SPAN 300s


SPAN 301A LEC,TUT 0.50Course ID: 008812
Composition and Conversation 1
The purpose of this course is to consolidate language skills acquired in SPAN 201A, 201B, 210 and to bridge the gap between intermediate and advanced courses. By incorporating innovative techniques that focus on applying and strengthening previously obtained grammatical skills, students will be offered ample opportunities to improve their reading, oral, aural, and written skills.
[Note: Formerly SPAN 251A.]
Prereq: SPAN 201B or 210.
Antireq: SPAN 261W

SPAN 301B LEC,TUT 0.50Course ID: 008813
Composition and Conversation 2
A continuation of SPAN 301A.
[Note: Formerly SPAN 251B.]
Prereq: SPAN 301A.
Antireq: SPAN 262W

SPAN 322 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008828
The Generation of '98: Fiction
From the turn of the century until the Civil War, Spanish literature enjoyed an artistic explosion the likes of which had not been seen since the Golden Age. This course analyzes a selection of the writers of this period, such as Valle Inclán, Azorín, Baroja, and Unamuno, both in terms of literary innovation and relationship to the ideological trends and social reality in early 20th century Spain.
Prereq: SPAN 223W

SPAN 326 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008833
The Spanish Golden Age: Drama
A general introduction to the 16th and 17th Spanish literature, with detailed study of representative works of the period. The plays will be studied from various points of view, including historical importance, themes and technique.
Prereq: SPAN 223W

SPAN 333 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008837
Modern Latin American Poetry
An in-depth study of major poets and movements from Modernism to Vanguardism, post-Vanguardism and Surrealism. Examples of the poets studied in this course are Ruben Dario, Ramon Lopez Velarde, Gabriela Mistral, Cesar Vallejo, Nicolas Guillen, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, among others.
Prereq: SPAN 228

SPAN 334 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008838
Narrating Place and Ethnicity in Nineteenth Century Latin America
This course will provide insight into Latin American political and cultural history by viewing key nineteenth and early twentieth-century texts in the context of ideas about nation, nation-building processes and the emergence of the modern nation-state. We will explore political attempts to forge a nation in the wake of Independence, the social and cultural implications of these efforts for communities within the former colonies, and the widening gap between "state" and "nation". A critical examination of the texts will reveal these tensions and the existence of diverse notions of nation and ethnicity. These issues will also be viewed in the context of aesthetic developments in Latin America.
[Note: This course is taught in Spanish.]
Prereq: SPAN 228

SPAN 344 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008839
Special Topics in Hispanic Studies
Special topics in Hispanic studies, as announced by the department.
[Note: This course is repeatable for credit up to three times, subject to different content.]
Department Consent Required
Prereq: Level at least 3A

SPAN 345 RDG 0.50Course ID: 013958
Directed Studies
Study in a limited field under tutorial guidance.
Department Consent Required

SPAN 366 LEC 0.50Course ID: 009915
The Latin American Short Story
A study of selected stories by Latin American writers. The chosen stories are part of a literature in which the themes of "magical-realism", exile, national identity, history, metaphysical fantasy and social struggle never stop flourishing. Some of the authors studied in this course are Juan Rulfo, Jorge L. Borges, Carlos Fuentes, G. Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende.
Prereq: SPAN 301B

SPAN 387 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008848
Latin American Women Writers
A study of selected works by women writers from the Baroque to the 20th century. This course will focus on the artistic and literary quality of the selected material and on the analysis of valuable works that are not yet part of the traditional anthologies. Some of the authors studied are Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, Gabriela Mistral, Maria Luisa Bombal, Lydia Cabrera, Rosario Castellanos, Elena Garro, Luisa Valenzuela, Rosario Ferre, Elena Poniatowska and Isabel Allende.
Prereq: SPAN 228

SPAN 388 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008849
Contemporary Latin American Theatre
A study of the most important dramatists of Latin America. Particular attention will be paid to the political, historical, cultural and aesthetic context which inform the works studied.
Prereq: SPAN 228

SPAN 390 LEC 0.50Course ID: 009916
Introduction to Spanish Business Translation
This course is designed for students enrolled in their third year of the General or Honours program in Spanish. A strong command of Spanish and English is required. Intense concentration of the Spanish language through oral and written work will focus on business-oriented fundamentals of communication, such as letter writing, as well as the translation of primary source materials such as newspapers and business documents.
Prereq: SPAN 301B

SPAN 400s


SPAN 400 LEC 0.50Course ID: 011349
Latin American Testimonial Literature
A study of the emergence of testimonial discourse in Latin America in relation to the socio-political turmoil that has characterized Latin American life in the past decades. Contemporary fictional and non-fictional texts, as well as documentaries and movies, will be discussed in order to establish the grounds of testimonial discourse as a genre.
Prereq: SPAN 228

SPAN 401A LEC,TUT 0.50Course ID: 008842
Advanced Composition and Conversation 1
This course is aimed at intense development of written and oral skills. Written assignments emphasize grammatical style and structure; oral class conversations are based on selected themes or topics relating to Spain and Latin America.
[Note: Formerly SPAN 351A. Offered alternate years at WLU as SP 351.]
Prereq: SPAN 301B

SPAN 401B LEC,TUT 0.50Course ID: 008843
Advanced Composition and Conversation 2
A continuation of SPAN 401A.
[Note: Formerly SPAN 351B. Offered alternate years at WLU as SP 352.]
Prereq: SPAN 401A

SPAN 410 LEC 0.50Course ID: 013341
Visual Culture in the Contemporary Hispanic World
This course explores the expressive avenues opened up by the confluence of verbal and visual representation in contemporary Hispanic cultural production. Through a close analysis of representative visual and literary works from Latin America and Spain covering a variety of genres and media, including poetry, novel, short story, theatre, painting, photography, and film, the many ways in which words and images interact with each other and make meaning will be examined.
Prereq: SPAN 228

SPAN 418 LEC 0.50Course ID: 013889
Modernity and the Colonial Encounter in Latin America
This course will explore the divergent consequences of the colonial "encounter" for the indigenous cultures and for the Western world. Students will analyze colonial cultural productions (literary texts, paintings, urban architecture, maps, etc.) in order to understand the role of the colonial experience in the economic development of Western Europe, as well as the underdevelopment of Latin America. This possibility has to do not only with inverting a model to suggest the primacy of some historical actors over others, but above all with the need to think about the origins of our modernity. Authors included are Columbus, Las Casas, Hernán Cortés, Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Bernardo de Balbuena, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Francisco Javier Clavijero, and Carrió de la Vandera.
Prereq: SPAN 228

SPAN 430 LEC 0.50Course ID: 010352
Literary Women in Early Modern Hispanic Culture
This course will examine works by and about women in early modern Hispanic culture (16th and 17th centuries), with particular attention to engagements with and subversions of patriarchal culture in theatre, prose, and poetry. Authors to be discussed may include, among others, Santa Teresa de Avila, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Maria de Zayas, and Ana Caro.
[Note: Taught in English.]
Antireq: SPAN 330/430
(Cross-listed with WS 430)

SPAN 445 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008850
History of the Spanish Language
This course presents a detailed study of the external and internal history of the language. Topics treated include a brief outline of factors involved in linguistic evolution and language formation. The main features of the phonetic evolution from Latin to Spanish are studied with emphasis on the formation of speech sounds and the factors that spearheaded the mutations.
Prereq: One of SPAN 352W, 362W, 401B

SPAN 450 LEC 0.50Course ID: 011660
Theory and Practice of Translation
This course will examine the theory of translation, combined with intense practical experience. The students will continue the review of Spanish and English grammar in a practical context as a basis for translation between the two languages. The course will also enhance the students' lexical and semantic knowledge of the Spanish language through direct experience in translation.
[Note: Students may be required to complete 2 hours of translation practice within the KW community.]
Prereq: One of SPAN 351W, 361W, 390, 401A

SPAN 490 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008856
Advanced Translation
This course is designed for students enrolled in third and fourth year of the General or Honours program in Spanish. Fluency in both Spanish and English is required. The objective of this course is to refine translation techniques in order to enable the student to provide accurate and idiomatic translations of English texts in Spanish and vice versa.
Prereq: One of SPAN 352W, 362W, 401B

SPAN 497 LEC 0.50Course ID: 008858
The Novel in Latin America
A study of the 20th-century novel and its development from the 1930s to the present through representative authors. While special attention will be paid to the individual works in the last half century, the individual works will be analyzed for their value as the expression of social and historical reality.
Prereq: SPAN 228