2008–2009 Spanish Courses
Beginning Spanish
Level: Open
Semester: Year
The aim of this course is to achieve effective communication in Spanish. From the beginning, students will be immersed in the language, actively exploiting a wide variety of techniques. The combination of intensive listening comprehension with speech production exercises will secure the early development of conversational skills. Grammar will be introduced in a communicative/functional context, prioritizing oral interaction over abstract comprehension. The first semester will be devoted to the building and strengthening of a well-balanced linguistic competence. Absolute beginners should be placed at this level. Early in the second semester, students will have acquired the proficiency of advanced beginners, and the development of reading and writing skills will be specially targeted. Poems, short stories, children’s books, comics, and newspapers articles will be part of our reading list. We will also do work on the Web, view films, and watch a multiple-episode video. Class work will be intense and will be supplemented with weekly group conferences with the instructor. Students will also meet once a week with the language assistant, a mandatory component of the course.
Beginning.
Beginning Spanish
Level: Open
Semester: Year
Beginning Spanish is a fundamental course that conveys elementary Spanish grammar, syntax, and conversation while encouraging academic discipline, good study habits, and learning methods. During the semester, students will participate in an array of different activities: writing weekly movie reviews and compositions; taking dictation and making translations; giving oral expositions on literary texts and songs; and participating in group exercises, including oral presentations and dialogues. The course structure proceeds using parallel paths of in-class practices and gradual but intensive Spanish readings and grammar study. It is expected that after four weeks, the student will be able to read and verbally explain short poems, essays, and narratives. This course is for students who have never been exposed to the Spanish language. Knowledge of other languages, especially a Romance language, is usually an asset in Spanish language learning. The course is for those who love intellectual challenges, enjoy immediately undertaking the complexities of the Spanish verbal system, and are happy to work diligently to begin mastering the Spanish language.
Beginning.
Advanced Beginning Spanish
Level: Open
Semester: Year
This course is designed for students who have some knowledge of Spanish but need to review the fundamentals. The approach is eclectic but grounded in the development of communicative skills, complemented with a rigorous review of grammar. A graded selection of readings (stories, poems, short plays, articles, essays) will complement the textbook and ensure that students develop a wide-ranging vocabulary. Class work includes role-playing, skits, short presentations, a debate, etc. Students will write a short essay each week on a variety of topics and work toward consolidating vocabulary and developing a more idiomatic use of syntax. We will attend at least one play in Manhattan and generally take advantage of the cultural offerings in the area. Conference projects can range widely, from community service to close readings of texts. Students are also required to attend one-hour long weekly meetings with a language tutor. Taught in Spanish.
Open to any interested student, after placement test and interview with the instructor.
Intermediate Spanish I: Advanced Beginning Spanish
Level: Intermediate
Semester: Year
In this course, we will review and complete the presentation of basic Spanish grammar structures with special emphasis on oral communication, constant usage of new vocabulary, increased grammatical precision, and regular written practice. To contextualize the study of the language, we will read, discuss, and write about newspaper articles, poems, short stories, seáis, and films related to contemporary Iberian and Latin American culture, politics, and society. In conferences, students will have the opportunity to explore various cultural, political, and literary aspects related to the Hispanic world that appeal to their own interests. Classes will be taught entirely in Spanish, and weekly conversations with the language assistant will be a requirement for the course.
Intermediate I.
Intermediate Spanish II
Level: Intermediate
Semester: Year
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 to attain proficiency in the language. 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, etc. For conference, students will have a chance to explore various aspects and topics of the Hispanic culture and the arts. We will also take advantage of our local resources such as museums, libraries, and theatre. Weekly conversation with a language assistant will be required. The course will be taught completely in Spanish.
Intermediate II.
Intermediate Spanish III: Atlantic Crossings, Everyday Lives
Level: Intermediate
Semester: Year
This course is intended to review and perfect all four skills in Spanish, through exposure to different linguistic registers: literature, printed media, film, music. We will explore some of the most significant moments and authors in Spain and America from the mid-nineteenth century to contemporary authors—poets, novelists, playwrights—and artists and with them examine central issues on both sides of the Atlantic: immigration, nation formation, nationalism, identities, ideologies, representation/s. Simultaneously, grammar will be thoroughly studied in relation to the texts read as well as through appropriate exercises, while the readings aim to increase students’ vocabulary and provide much food for thought. The course should provide a solid basis for study abroad in immersion programs. Conference projects can range widely, depending on students’ curiosity and the instructor’s ability to guide students effectively. Students are expected to write one essay each week and also to meet with a language assistant in a small group for conversation. Taught entirely in Spanish.
Intermediate III.
Advanced Spanish: Hide and Seek: Playing with the Limits of the Imagination
Level: Advanced
Semester: Year
“And it is said that the Princess returned to her father’s kingdom. That she reigned there with justice and a kind heart for many centuries. That she was loved by her people. And that she left behind small traces of her time on earth, visible only to those who know where to look.”
—Pan’s Labyrinth
This course will focus on how imagination and fantasy serve not only as a way to escape reality but also to transform it. We will read a selection of short fiction, poetry, and theatre and see films by canonical and noncanonical authors of the Hispanic world, paying close attention to the process of crafting reality. To what extent do the conditions of childhood, war, political oppression, gender identity, disability, and immigration foster imagination? We will emphasize, through literary analysis, the formal and ideological aspects of the texts studied and films viewed, while improving lexical and grammatical skills. Special attention will be given to oral communication, participation, and written skills. Weekly meetings with the language assistant will also be a required part of the course.
Shortcuts in Fiction: The Spanish Language Novella
Level: Advanced
Semester: Year
The goal of this course is to explore the literary production of the Spanish-speaking world through a detailed study of its brief forms of fiction. During the fall semester, we will read novellas and short stories written in Spain and Latin America from 1950 onward. Special attention will be paid to literary works of the last fifteen years, focusing on authors such as Javier Marías, Javier Cercas, Roberto Bolaño, Mario Bellatin, and César Aira. We will examine the relationship between literature, technology, and the visual arts, studying forms that cannot be fully encompassed by traditional forms of writing. The central part of the semester will be devoted to the so-called golden age of Hispanic literary production in the twentieth century, analyzing works by Sender, Cela, Hernández, Carmen Laforet, Elena Garro, and Cortázar, among others. The reading of fictional forms will be complemented with the study of nonliterary pieces, including comics and Internet-produced works. We will visit literary blogs from all over the Spanish-speaking world, producing our own (Cortocircuitos). As the course of study progresses, we will look into more classical forms and periods. During the second semester, we will explore the literary production of the nineteenth century, slowly moving backward in time, and culminating with the study of one exemplary novella by Cervantes. Taught entirely in Spanish.
Courses in Related Disciplines
Philosophical Toys: Dolls, Automata, and Doubles in Latin American Literature
Level: Open
Semester: Year
The main objective of this course is to acquire a significant knowledge of twentieth-century Latin American literature. We will concentrate mainly on short stories, but will also consider novels and poems as possible subjects for conference work. Our reading list will include Jorge Luis Borges, Octavio Paz, Clarice Lispector, Julio Cortázar, Silvina Ocampo, Rosario Ferré, Carlos Fuentes, João Guimarães Rosa, Juan Rulfo, Marosa di Giorgio, and others. In particular, we will look into the role of dolls, automata, and doubles in Latin American “fantastic” literature and discuss how these “philosophical toys” serve to explore complex and elusive questions, such as the relation between death and creation, memory and desire, sexuality and fear. Students will be asked to write a considerable amount of short essays during the year as well as two conference final papers. The ability to do proper research, to incorporate bibliographical citations, to structure a paper, and to develop a working hypothesis will be emphasized throughout the year. Students will be asked to watch a film every week as a mandatory part of the course. This course will be taught in English.