ESP: Spanish Literature and Culture

ESP 199. Spanish Literature and Culture Transfer Credits. 1-9 Credits.

Transfer Credits

Repeatable for credit.

ESP 300. Latin-American Culture and Civilization (In English). 3 Credits.

Cultural, geographic, literary, philosophical, and artistic manifestations of the Hispanic-American world. No knowledge of Spanish is required.

Gen Ed Attribute: Interdisciplinary Requirement, Spanish CC (select both), Writing Emphasis (select both)

Distance education offering may be available.

ESP 303. Convivencia: Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Medieval Spain. 3 Credits.

This course focuses on the culture of the southern portion of the Iberian Peninsula (today, Spain and Portugal), known as Al-Andalus, where Christians, Jews, and Muslims lived together from the 8th to the 15th centuries. Through the study of historical, religious, and artistic materials, political and social events, and architectural and literary works, the course examines the display of multicultural identities in Medieval Europe. All course materials are in English.

Gen Ed Attribute: Spanish CC (select both)

Distance education offering may be available.

ESP 305. Spanish Cinema. 3 Credits.

This course will investigate the ways in which films participate in and create debates about the relationship between national identification, class, and gender. No knowledge of Spanish is required; taught in English.

Gen Ed Attribute: Arts Distributive Requirement, Spanish CC (select both)

Distance education offering may be available.

ESP 306. Representations of the Spanish Civil War. 3 Credits.

A study of how political activism in and outside of Spain created debates about the relationship between national culture(s), society, politics, and "official" versions of history.

Gen Ed Attribute: Spanish CC (select both)

ESP 309. Latin America on Film (in English). 3 Credits.

This course explores contemporary Latin American film production in order to foster a better understanding of Latin American cultures and history while investigating complex power dynamics in Latin American societies. Films will be the points of departure to address critical issues such as history, culture, politics, economics, and religion; ethnic diversity, gender, class-based and racial conflicts; violence, dictatorship, and revolution; and the place of Latin America in an increasingly globalized world. No knowledge of Spanish is required.

Gen Ed Attribute: Arts Distributive Requirement, Diverse Community(select both), Spanish CC (select both)

Distance education offering may be available.

ESP 310. Latin American Narrative from the European Conquest to 1930s. 3 Credits.

This course is an overview of the literature of Latin America from the arrival of European conquerors through the early 20th century. Throughout the semester, students will focus on narratives of encounter and conquest, life in the Colonial period, early republican literatures in Spanish American countries, and life in Imperial Brazil, as well as texts from the first half of the 20th century. Students will reflect on geographic ideological perspectives on "America" and "Latin America," cultural and religious mixes (hybridism, syncretism), indigenismo, and the concept of identity in regional, national, ethnic, and gender matters.

Gen Ed Attribute: Spanish CC (select both)

Distance education offering may be available.

ESP 311. Contemporary Latin American Narrative. 3 Credits.

An examination of Latin American narrative (short story, novella, novel, and testimonial literature). Spanish- and Portuguese-language writers from South and Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean will be studied, from the period of magical realism (1950s and 1960s) through the present. They may include Isabel Allende, Jorge Amado, Miguel Angel Asturias, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Clarice Lispector, Elena Poniatowska, and Luis Rafael Sanchez.

Gen Ed Attribute: Spanish CC (select both)

Distance education offering may be available.

ESP 316. Latin American Avant-Gardes and Mass Media. 3 Credits.

An exploration of the groundbreaking avant-garde artistic practices and the technological innovations of mass media from the early 1900s to today in Latin America with a focus on structural inequality in the region. Course studies the historical origins and transformation of concepts such as "originality," "individuality," and "the new" to understand how they acquired political, economic, social, and cultural value in modern Latin America. No knowledge of Spanish is required.

Gen Ed Attribute: Diverse Community(select both), Interdisciplinary Requirement, Spanish CC (select both)

ESP 317. Utopia and Apocalypse in the Americas. 3 Credits.

What will the future hold in store for humanity: utopia or apocalypse? Toward what type of future society should we aim in the present? This course is taught from multiple perspectives and will foster thoughtful reflection on what it means to belong to a community as expressed in cultural texts and media from the Spanish-speaking Americas, including travel narratives to unknown lands, utopian treatises, science-fiction and fantasy stories, and real-world attempts to construct utopian societies. No knowledge of Spanish is required.

Gen Ed Attribute: Ethics Requirement, Interdisciplinary Requirement, Spanish CC (select both)

ESP 318. Speaking Spanish in the United States. 3 Credits.

A course on the different historical, social and cultural issues related to the use of Spanish in the United States alongside other languages, mainly English, including the centuries-long presence of the language, and phenomena such as bilingualism, code-switching, language shift and language death. This course is taught entirely in English.

Gen Ed Attribute: Spanish CC (select both)

Distance education offering may be available.

ESP 319. Cultural Realities of Spain. 3 Credits.

A study of the origins and evolution of Spanish character, tradition, and thought as a result of its multi-cultural past and present. The interrelationship of its history and arts. The scope of its contribution to Western culture. No knowledge of Spanish is required.

Gen Ed Attribute: Interdisciplinary Requirement, Spanish CC (select both)

ESP 324. Latinos in the U.S.. 3 Credits.

An interdisciplinary examination of Latinas/Latinos in the U.S. Course examines the changing cultural, historical, political, and economic situations of several Hispanic groups, including Central Americans, Cubans, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans.

Gen Ed Attribute: Diverse Community(select both), Interdisciplinary Requirement, Spanish CC (select both)

ESP 333. Latina Writing. 3 Credits.

An examination of the literary works produced by Latinas in the 20th century. The study of this literature will include a cross-cultural approach that will elucidate sociopolitical themes emerging from the texts. No knowledge of Spanish is required.

Gen Ed Attribute: Diverse Community(select both), Spanish CC (select both)

ESP 335. Latino Literatures in the US. 3 Credits.

This course examines the history of Latino groups (e.g., Mexicans, Cubans, and South Americans) in the U.S. through literary texts written by Latinos, and studies the cultural, economic, and political experiences leading to their acculturation or alienation in mainstream America.

Gen Ed Attribute: Diverse Community(select both), Spanish CC (select both)

Equivalent courses: CLS 335