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Course Offerings for Spring 2008 Core Courses Elective Courses Core Courses ARTH 160 Survey of Latin American Art Professor Susan Aberth Schedule Tu Th 4:00-5:20 Olin 102 Distribution Analysis of Art/Rethinking Difference Cross-listed: LAIS Core Course A broad overview of art and cultural production in Latin America, including South and Central America, Mexico, and the hispanophone Caribbean. A survey of major pre-Columbian monuments is followed by an examination of the contact between Europe and the Americas during the colonial period, 19th-century Eurocentrism, and the reaffirmation of national identity in the modern era. On-line registration SPAN 302 Introduction to Latin American Literature Schedule M W 3:00-4:20 Olin 301 Distribution Foreign Language, Literature & Culture LAIS Core Course This course serves as an introduction to the interpretation of literary texts from Latin America. It covers a broad range historically—from pre-Conquest times to the present—and presents all literary genres, including poetry, short stories, novels, essays, and plays. This course is intended to prepare students for more advanced and specialized courses in Hispanic literature. A great deal of attention is paid to the development of critical skills, both verbally and in writing. Frequent essays with revisions; class discussions and presentations. Please note: Spanish 301 or 302 are Prerequisites for all 300-level literature seminars in Spanish. Prospective students must speak with instructor prior to registration. On-line registration Elective Courses ARTH/SPAN 239 Surrealism in Latin American Literature and Art Professors Melanie Nicholson, Susan Aberth Schedule M W 1:30-2:50 Olin 202 Distribution Analysis of Art/Rethinking Difference André Breton, founder and leader of the Surrealist Movement, first visited Mexico in 1938 and the Caribbean in 1941. Politically supportive of Latin America’s struggle against European imperialism, Breton was deeply interested in both its art and culture, and had a large personal collection of ethnographic artifacts. Surrealist journals and artists extolled “primitive” mythologies and were captivated by such “exotic” artists as Frida Kahlo and Wifredo Lam. This course plans to explore two areas: the rich and varied field of surrealism in both literature and the arts of Latin America and, to question the Surrealist fascination with non-Western culture. As numerous critics have noted, surrealism came alive in Latin America at the moment when it was waning in Europe, and continued to develop throughout the twentieth century. By looking through the double lens of art and literature, we will tease out answers to such questions as: What geographical, political, and/or social factors contributed to the widespread growth of Surrealism in Latin America? In what ways did cross-fertilization take place among the countries of Latin America, and between these countries and Europe? Did Latin American artists always feel comfortable being labeled “Surrealist” or was it viewed as another form of colonization? In what ways did the European Surrealists project their fantasies regarding the psychic power of the “primitive” onto Latin American creative production? Finally, we will examine the ways in which Surrealism and its influences survive in contemporary cultural production. Maximum enrollment: 25. On-line registration LAIS 110 Professor: Pierre Ostiguy Schedule: TuTh 4:00-5:20 Olin 309 Distribution: History/Rethinking Difference Cross-listed: History This course is an introduction to the history, politics, and societies of “Latin” America, from the time this hemisphere was “discovered” and first conquered by Christian Iberian men, to the long colonial era in the Indias, to the continental independence movements that carved out distinct nations in the early 19th century, to the rise of caudillos and the insertion of Latin America in the capitalist world economy and the creation of modern states. The course will start with the three main pre-Colombian civilizations; cover the conquest of what is now Mexico and Andean South America by daring and death-provoking Conquistadores in the 16th century, as well as the creation of Brazil; and deal with the stable (17th and 18th century) class and racial, as well as religious and administrative system of colonial Spanish America and Brazil, as well as the introduction of African slaves in the plantation economies. We then turn to Creole restiveness and the importation of Enlightenment ideas, the creation of the concept of “America” and the violent drive for independence in the early 19th century in racially hierarchical and unequal societies (with the leading role of Bolivar and San Martin), resulting in the creation of a myriad of countries in Spanish America, in contrast to monarchic continuity in Brazil. As many of Latin American specificities stem from the 19th century, we examine the lofty independence ideals, the later social and cultural emergence of macho caudillos, and conclude with the liberal era of constitutional rule, Latin America’s capitalist transformation as exporter of raw materials, and the novel yet fragile notions of elitist citizenship, individualism, and secularism under Liberal rule. On-line registration PS 253 Introduction to Latin American Politics Professor Pierre Ostiguy Schedule Mon Wed 3:00-4:20 Olin 202 Distribution Social Science/Rethinking Difference This course is a conceptual and historical introduction to the politics of Latin America. We will focus on the actors, regimes, and processes that have characterized and structured the agitated political life of Latin America. The course is divided into two complementary parts. The first focuses on the widely different political regimes that have marked the 20th century history of the continent, and on the reasons for the transition from one type of regime to another. It thus provides a broad picture of the contrasting political eras and regimes that have characterized Latin American societies. Students will become familiar with the realities of: “oligarchical liberalism”, “personalistic dictatorships”, “populism”, revolutionary socialism (pursued through guerrilla warfare), “bureaucratic-authoritarianism”, and liberal democracy. Since the return to electoral democracy in the 1980s, the region has undergone major sociopolitical shifts, first to the neoliberal right in the 1990s and then, this decade, to the left (in marked contrast to the US). We will pay attention to issues of inequality, class, race (or color), and representation, with the unifying theme of “the incorporation of the popular sectors”. The second part of the course examines the political history of some of the countries most representative of Latin America, from the most developed countries to the poorest and most subjugated ones. We will cover Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile or Colombia, Nicaragua or Cuba, and Venezuela (here, especially under Chavez). This section provides an overview of the broad political history of such countries during the 20th century, while highlighting some of the key political events that have contributed to making each of those countries well known politically.On-line registration SPAN 202 Intermediate Spanish II Professor TBA Schedule MTWTh 9:20-10:20 Distribution Foreign Language, Literature & Culture This course continues refining and perfecting the student’s mastery of speaking, reading, comprehending, and writing Spanish. Advanced study of grammar is supplemented by a video series and authentic readings on a wide variety of topics related to Spanish and Latin American history, literature, music, and art. Current topics in culture such as the Latin American military dictatorships or issues surrounding the Hispanic presence in the United States will be discussed. In addition to shorter readings, such as excerpts from Don Quixote and indigenous Mexican poetry, students may read a short modern novel. Prerequisite: Spanish 201 or permission of instructor. Prospective students must speak with instructor prior to registration. On-line registration SPAN 260 Writing Wrongs Professor Gabriela Carrion Schedule M W 10:30 – 11:50 am OLIN L.C. 120 Distribution Foreign Language, Literature, and Culture Cross-listed: Human Rights Perhaps no other event in Spain’s history has provoked more commentary than its Civil War (1936-1939). A conflict that took on international proportions, Spain’s Civil War was preceded by a number of promising social experiments and followed by an extended period of repression under Franco. Out of this period of social turmoil arose a number of artistic works ranging from Pablo Picasso’s Guernica to Robert Capa’s photographs documenting the war. This course focuses on the ways in which literary texts represent the events surrounding the Spanish Civil War. How do writers make sense of the senseless acts of violence that divided Spain into various ideological factions? What are some of the ethical concerns one encounters when representing war and its victims? And what are some of the issues involved in more recent attempts to remember victims of the war, regardless of their ideological affiliation? While we will focus on literary works in Spanish, we will also take into other artistic mediums such as painting and film, as well as accounts of the war from non-Spanish writers. Authors include: Camilo José Cela, Ramón J. Sender, Mercé Rodoreda, Pablo Neruda, and Javier Cercas. Conducted in Spanish. On-line registration SPAN 339 Staging Marriage in the Spanish Drama Professor Gabriela Carrion Schedule M W 3:00- 4:20 pm Olin 307 Distribution Foreign Language, Literature, and Culture Cross-listed: Gender and Sexuality Studies Stanley Cavell describes marriage as “a certain willingness for bickering” that strikes him as “a little parable of philosophy or of philosophical criticism.” How do Spanish playwrights reenact this “parable of philosophy” in their works? In what ways does the Spanish drama confirm or subvert the social conventions governing the institution of marriage? Why does wooing and wedding tend to be funny while being married inevitably lead to tragedy? Cuckolds, permanent bachelors (galán suelto), don Juans, educated women (culta latiniparla), wife murderers and defiant wives are some of the stock characters who are defined by their relationship to the conjugal bond. This course will examine these characters and the questions raised by the insitution of marriage in the works of Lope de Rueda, Lope de Vega, Tirso, Cervantes, Calderón and Sor Juana, among others. Conducted in Spanish. On-line registration Back to course list Back to top |
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