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Graduate Course Descriptions

Click on the links for a complete list of graduate courses in Hispanic Literature, Hispanic Linguistics, and Portuguese.
Here are the projected courses for: Hispanic Literature

Fall 2011

Portuguese 408 – Brazil in Film and Fiction
The principal aim of this course is to introduce students to Brazilian culture through film and selected readings, by focusing on how film makers and writers represent key aspects of Brazilian society past and present: the colonization process; culture contact between Europeans and native Brazilians; slavery and the resistance to it; economic development; immigration and internal migration; life in the backlands; urban problems; the dictatorship and its aftermath. A second aim of the course is to study the development of Brazilian cinema through the past sixty years, especially the movement known as cinema novo. A third aim is to develop analytical skills and writing abilities. Course and readings are in English; films have English subtitles.

Portuguese 597M – Portuguese Island Literature
This course, open to graduate and undergraduate students, focuses on representative aspects of the literatures of the following Lusophone islands: Azores, Madeira, Cape Verde, São Tome and Príncipe, East Timor, and the “Tenth Island” (Immigrant and Ethnic literature in the US and Canada). Authors studied include Roberto Mesquita, Vitorino Nemésio, Pedro da Silveira, João de Melo, and Álamo Oliveira (Azores); Helena Marques, José António Gonçalves, and Maria Aurora Homem (Madeira); Manuel Lopes, Aurélio Gonçalves, Corsino Fortes, and Yoland Amarílis (Cape Verde); Francisco José Tenreiro, and Alda do Espírito Santo (São Tome and Príncipe); Onésimo Almeida, José Francisco Costa, Frank Gaspar, and Katherine Vaz (“Tenth Island”). Theoretical readings include studies on Nissology and immigrant/ethnic literature, as well as key works on post-colonialism, and more traditional approaches. Undergraduate students will be responsible for two take-home exams and a 7-10 page paper; graduate students will be responsible for a major research paper. Requirements include perfect or near-perfect attendance, class participation, and four 4-5 page papers for undergraduates, and a major paper (20-25 pages) for graduates.

Spanish 597J – Foreign Language Teaching Methodology
The purpose of this course is to review current language acquisition theories, examine various recent trends that have influenced teaching practice, and extract from these resources those elements that seem most relevant to the construction of future models for language teaching.

Spanish 697A - Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Theory
In this course, we study the contribution of specific linguistic theories to the description of second language representation and development, including Principles and Parameters, the Minimalist Program, and constraint-based non-transformational theories. We look at some examples of SLA research in Spanish and other languages, and discuss how theories shape the way researchers design experiments and interpret their data. During the course students are expected to develop individual projects in SLA, and by the end of the semester they have to share their findings with the class and write a complete research paper.

Spanish 697LS – Clarise Lispector and the Essential Categories of Fiction
Research seminar on Brazil’s most important female writer. An exploration of her unique poetic and of the classic notions of narratives (Narrator, Character, Epiphany/Satori, Referent, Koan and many more). Her works will be studied in its original language and/or in translation to other languages, including paintings and films. Aimed at students of Spanish, Portuguese, and Women's Studies; and also at those interested in mastering the anatomy of the novel and short-story, in knowing the roots of the Brazilian culture, in identifying the paradoxes of critical reception and, lastly, in enjoying the iconoclastic sense of Latin American literature as the heart of its culture. Requirements: Active participation in class discussion, oral presentations, book reviews and a final paper. Although the seminar will be given in Spanish, students may submit written work in Spanish and/or Portuguese.

Spanish 697WF – Women and Film
A close examination of the evolution of Spanish cinema by women directors through the viewpoint of gender and feminist film theories. This class will highlight women’s mainly gynocentric cinematic scope and engage several of the most recurrent topics that shape women’s films (such as violence against women, the depiction of the female body, and the rejection of traditional female roles, among others) in comparison with how these same themes surface in hegemonic cinema (i.e. both Hollywood and Spanish male-authored production). Furthermore this class will outline the historical evolution of female cinema: 1) Film-makers who worked before the Civil War and were silenced by Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, 2) Those who had to negotiate their production within the regime’s censorship, and 3) A third group that, in democracy, contributes to a “boom” of women behind the camera. By tackling the so-called gender-genre debate, this class will analyze how each group uses (or subverts) different male-dominated cinematic forms (such as neo-realism, the road movie, the film noir, etc.), this shaping a female discursive “difference” in each period. Taught in Spanish.

Spanish 797RM – Research Methods in Sociolinguistics
This seminar explores the challenges of being a sociolinguist. In this seminar the students will learn how to collect samples of naturally-occurring speech; understand some of the problems involved in recording speech interactions; be acquainted with some of the ethical issues involved in human-subjects research in general, and in sociolinguistic research in particular (obtain proper consent, interview people following ethical guidelines, and treat data confidentially). Students are expected to request IRB approval for further presentation and publication of research results.

Spring 2011

Portuguese 496A IS - Intensive Portuguese
The first half of the course will focus on the study of Portuguese with emphasis on the following skills: pronunciation, listening, reading, understanding, writing, and speaking. Since language is communication, oral proficiency will be specially stressed. In the second half of the course there will be readings from different Portuguese speaking countries in order to get a cultural, social, political and literary overview of these nations. Although the students will be required to go beyond the surface structure of the literary work or the chronicle (its aesthetic qualities), the course will still emphasize mainly language acquisition. In the second half, the course will also focus on conversation. Students pick a topic to be discussed in class, and they have the responsibility of leading the discussion. Students should use all available resources, including the web, to come up with topics. Graphics and use of technology to accompany the presentations make topic a lot more interesting. Purpose of conversation is to develop communicative skills in Portuguese and to get all students involved in discussing topics in Portuguese that they enjoy since they have personally chosen such topics.

Portuguese 597D - Contemporary Portuguese Poetry
Open to graduates and undergraduates and taught in Portuguese, this course is an in-depth general introduction to the two most widely acclaimed Portuguese poets of the twentieth century: Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935), and Jorge de Sena (1919-1978). Their thematically and formally wide-ranging poetry is representative of two broad tendencies in modern Portuguese and Western poetry: “dehumanization” (to use Ortega’s term) and depersonalization, on the one hand, and humanism, on the other. Pessoa is the universally minded Modernist who created a series of writers, mostly poets (the total number is over forty, although only five produced volume-sized works), lending each of them a particular worldview. These poets, to whom he assigned biographies and a body of critical writings, cultivated poetry in many respects radically different from one another. Very often, their poetry is thematically largely focused on depersonalization, as though centrifugal Pessoa were a chain reaction breaking up into poets who in turn break themselves up into smaller entities in a move toward some kind of entropic state. Jorge de Sena, a centripetal humanist poet for whom human life and human experience are the center of his poetic universe, attempted in a way to “heal” modern (Portuguese) poetry from the “dehumanization” and depersonalization brought about by Pessoa (and other modern poets). Sena bears witness to life, not only life in his times and around him, but also the “life” embodied in works of art. That is why he is the poet of the interrelations of the arts: poetry and music, poetry and the visual arts, poetry and cinema, poetry and the poetries of the Western, and even Eastern, traditions. For Jorge de Sena is one of the most erudite poets of modern times, at the same time that he is one of the most earthy, humane, and accessible. Even people who are unfamiliar with poetry will appreciate and derive much insight from reading these two poetic giants. Undergraduate students will be required to do two take-home exams and a series of presentations in class. Graduate students will write a major research paper (in Portuguese, English, or Spanish) and do presentations in class. Pre-requisites: ability and willingness to read and discuss Portuguese-language poetry.

Spanish 597T - Catalan Cinema
Spanish cinema started in Catalunya with two important schools: the realistic school led by Fructuós Gelabert; and the fantastic trend represented by Segundo de Chomón. After the silence forced upon Catalan cinema during Franco’s dictatorship in the 40’s and 50’s, it started to regain an important role in the film industry with the Barcelona School in the mid 60’s. Presently Catalan Cinema enjoys a strong recognition thanks to the works of well-known Catalan directors such as Bigas Luna, Ventura Pons and Isabel Coixet, among others. Class meets once a week for three hours. Students are in charge of twenty minutes film introductions and to moderate discussions. Attendance is mandatory. Films are shown in the original language (Catalan or Castilian) w/ English subtitles.

Spanish 597WP - Wisdom, Power and Authority in Early Modern Iberia
In this course we will read some of the most representative authors of the late Medieval and Early Modern Spanish literature (1500-1700). By focusing on the interplay of religion, philosophy and art that takes place in the representation(s) of power, authority and wisdom in selected Medieval and Spanish Golden Age texts, this course expects to offer an insight of the complex cultural connections that define and establish the power and gender of the representations to study. Thus, during the course we will also be studying mitografías, books of conduct, political treatises and paintings as a way to better understand not only the meaning and importance of these representations, but also the reasons for their lasting influence in the public sphere in the Two Worlds.

Spanish 697CF - Colonial Festivities
This course studies religious and civic celebrations in colonial Spanish America, in particular Corpus Christi, the inaugural entry of the new viceroy and those festivities following the announcement of the marriage, death and coronation of a monarch. We will focus on foud interrelated aspects: first, the images of the different ethnic groups projected during these festivals; second, the discourse of loyalty; third, the symbolic use of space in the ritualized procession; and fourth, the relationship between panegyric literature and censorship.

Spanish 697RM - Research Methods in Language Acquisition
This course is an overview of research methods used in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition. Students analyze the different types of research projects, and learn the necessary steps to prepare a research report, including how to formulate research questions and hypotheses, design a methodology for data gathering, code and analyze the data, and report their findings. We look at those issues both in quantitative and qualitative research. We discuss the different settings where second language research can be conducted and the implications for research validity and reliability.

Spanish 697SP - From Paper to Celluloid: Spanish Film
This class will study Spanish literary works and their cinematic adaptations. It will address the fundamental differences between written words and visual image, measure the fidelity of the recreation and reflect upon the implications of ideology and gender for reinterpretation. Movies include the two versions of María Lejárraja's Canción de cuna; Juan de Orduña's and Josefina Molina's recreations of Machado's La Lola se va a los puertos; and Gracia Querejeta’s controversial adaptation of Javier María’s novel Todas las almas, among others. We will read theoretical texts by James Naremore, Andrew Dudley, Brian McFarlane and Robert Stam, among others.

Fall 2010

Spanish 597J - Foreign Language Teaching Methods
The purpose of SPAN-597 is to review past and current language acquisition theories, examine various recent trends that have influenced teaching practice, and extract from these resources those elements that seem most relevant to the construction of future models for language teaching.

Spanish 597SN - The Spanish Novel
During the 19th century, liberalism and romanticism provided the grounds for the flourishing of "feminine writing" to the point that, between 1840 and 1860, women clearly were the protagonists of the literary landscape. Such predominance started to dissipate as the century advanced, and the feminine presence in the canon became more and more sporadic. This course will focus on the struggle of Spanish women throughout the 19th century to occupy a literary space from where to undermine the patriarchal construction of a female identity and from where to launch her own subjectivity, express her own desires, denounce the violence women must undergo, and ultimately search for the terms of her own identity.

Spanish 597AP - Introduction to Applied Linguistics
This course is an introduction to the field of Applied Linguistics. We start by examining the evolution of foreign language instruction since the 19th century. Then, we look into current issues in the field, such as: input and input processing, output and interactionist theories, form focused instruction, noticing and awareness in SLA, feedback techniques, and the development of communicative competence. We look at some of the current research projects and findings related to those issues, and how they can help influence the pedagogical practice of foreign language teachers.

Spanish 672 - Hispanic Dialectology
This course examines and compares synchronic survey of the dialects of Spain, Spanish America and Caribbean. Some theoretical approaches and methodologies to study the dialect classification will be considered. Also, the course revises the debates on the origins and historical development of Spanish dialects in Latin America as well as the most recent developments in the fields of Dialectology. Course objectives: (i)to familiarize the students with the methods used in dialectology in order to delimit major dialect zones; (ii) to offer the students a first approach to the knowledge of main characteristics of dialects spoken in the Spanish world; (iii) to discuss current trends in Hispanic Dialectology.

Spanish 797PL - The Long Poem in Latin America
Intensive seminar of poetic research. This seminar focuses on the long poem through the analysis and discussion of some of the most important Latin American poems of the 20th century. As a hybrid form that is essentially connected with Modernity, the long poem reveals a structural paradox since it rejects the epic structure and its didactic exposition, and at the same time it revisits the sources of tradition. We will explore the formal characteristics of that paradox (time and development, space representation, allegories of cultural tensions, status and role of the “self”, among other topics). We will include authors from Hispanic America and from Brazil (in bilingual versions Portuguese/Spanish). The first sessions will be dedicated to the theoretical problems of this particular literary form, its historic background and current research on this subject. Intensive participation is expected from students: there will be oral presentations, book reviews and a research paper on primary sources (15-20 pages). Among the possible readings are: Altazor by Vicente Huidobro, Muerte sin fin by José Gorostiza, O cão sem plumas (El perro sin plumas) by João Cabral de Melo Neto, El amor desenterrado by Jorge Enrique Adoum, Agua by Carmen Boullosa, Canto cósmico by Ernesto Cardenal, Últimos días de una casa by Dulce María Loynaz, Lamentación de Dido by Rosario Castellanos. Also representative texts of literary and cultural criticism. Latin American content: 95%

Spring 2010

Portuguese 597PL - Literature of the Portuguese Diaspora in North America
This course, open to undergraduate and graduate students, focuses on Portuguese- and English-language literature by Portuguese immigrants and ethnics residing in the US and Canada, which at the present moment number more than one million and a half. This literary corpus of what has been called the Portuguese North American Diaspora starts with the publication in 1915 of Charles Peter's Autobiography and includes, among many other immigrant and ethnic names, those of Alfred Lewis (novel, poetry), Laurinda Andrade (autobiography), Onesimo Almeida (short story, essay, popular theater), Joao Teixeira de Medeiros (poetry), Marcolino Candeias (poetry), Vasco Pereira da Costa (poetry), Jose Francisco Costa (short story, poetry), Rose Peters Emery (autobiography), Eduardo Mayone Dias (cronica or essay), Eduardo Bettecourt Pinto (novel, poetry, short story), the names of renowned mainstream American and Canadian writers of Portuguese descent such as prize-winning authors Catherine Vaz (novel, short story) and Frank X. Gaspar (novel, poetry), as well as Thomas Braga (poetry), Erika de Vasconcellos (novel), Charles Felix (memoir, novel), Julian Silva (novel), and the latest Portuguese-Canadian literary sensation Anthony de Sa (novel). The course will dwell briefly on the history of the Portuguese in the US and Canada, and the theory of immigrant literature. Undergraduate students will be required to write brief book reports and one paper; graduate students will be responsible for a major paper. Prerequisites are an excellent knowledge of Portuguese and English. Discussions of Portuguese-language texts will be conducted in Portuguese, while those of English-language texts will be discussed in English.

Spanish 597CL - Caribbean Short Story
This seminar focuses on the works of the masters of the Caribbean Short Story. This genre is the most popular literary genre in Latin America, and it is considered to be 'protean' due to its ability to morph into any number of forms. We will read selected representative texts by authors from Venezuela, Cuba, Costa Rica, Colombia, Puerto Rico, among others, in order to identify intersections between the aesthetic movements, the regional history, and the traditional conflicts with the peripheral Modernity. We will spend the first few sessions on the theory of the Short Story. Students will be expected to participate intensively in this seminar: there will be oral presentations, book reviews, a midterm exam, and a research paper on primary sources. The seminar is open to advanced students, graduate and undergraduate.

Spanish 597PG - Power and Gender in Early Modern Spain
This course looks at Early Modern Spanish history (1500-1700) through the lens of the complex connections between gender and other dimensions of power and culture (e.g. religion, class, sexuality, and race), by focusing on how gender differences/ expectations and women's agency were negotiated at the time. Including gender as a category of analysis not only helps us understand the impact of women in Early Modern Spain, but also forces us to rethink other important historical categories (e.g. power/ authority, private/ public). Objects of study include letters, legal texts, [auto] biographies, books of conduct, and political treatises, as well as paintings and movies.

Spanish 674 - Bilingualism and Language Contact
This course focuses on language contact situations in the Spanish speaking world. Important theoretical problems are addressed by the study of linguistic phenomena in bilingual and multilingual context as well as the role played by the contact language in the motivation of linguistic change processes. The proposed course intends to offer the students an approach to the knowledge of linguistic concepts as applied to the study of the live varieties of the Spanish spoken around the world. Fieldwork and analysis of live! real discourse are required.

Spanish 697GG - Constraint-Based Syntax
This course is an introduction to one specific syntactic framework called Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG). We will explore how a constraint-based lexicalist approach to syntax can handle different phenomena, such as inflection, agreement, sub-categorization, binding, raising, control, passive constructions, long-distance dependencies, and constraints on word order. We will examine how the descriptive mechanisms presented by the theory allow us to represent the interface between syntax and other dimensions of linguistic structure, such as the lexicon, semantics and pragmatics. Students are expected to use HPSG to analyze different linguistic phenomena in Spanish and other Romance languages, such as clitic licensing, subject-verb inversion, null-subjects (and objects), NP agreement, and unbounded-dependency constructions. One of the general goals of this course is to help students understand the differences and similarities in contemporary syntactic theory between derivation-based and constraint-based approaches.

Spanish 797CA - Cannibalism and Colonialism
The question we will address in this course is not so much whether cannibalism as a practice really existed (or still exists), but the fascination this topic has exerted on the European mind and the responses it has provoked among Latin Americans. The purpose of the course is twofold: first, to introduce the student to the study of the textual and iconographic representations of American "cannibalism" from the sixteenth until approximately the eighteenth century: chronicles, literature, legal discourses on the one hand, and map sheets, single drawings, book illustrations, on the other. The second objective will be to discuss the research produced by literary critics, anthropologists and within colonial postcolonial studies during the last two decades on cannibalism as a trope and as a discursive practice within colonialist discourse. A good reading knowledge of Spanish is required.

Spanish 797WF - Women Between Film Theory and Practice
This course involves a close examination of the evolution of Spanish cinema by women directors through the viewpoint of gender and film theories. We will tackle topics such as the female gaze, visual pleasure, pornography, the representation of the body, the female spectator and the question of authority. In particular we will address the validity of applying US filmic theory to Spanish cinema.