2018-2019 University Catalog 
    
    Apr 19, 2024  
2018-2019 University Catalog archived

Course Descriptions


 

Sociology & Anthropology

  
  • SOAN 290 - Special Topics in Sociology


    Credits: 3 in Fall or Winter, 4 in Spring


    A discussion of a series of topics of sociological concern. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Spring 2019, SOAN 290-01: Special Topic: Belonging in College (4). This seminar explores the questions of what does it mean to belong” in college and how does academic institutional structure shape who gets to “fit in” and who “belongs”. All college students face the problem of belonging. College is a transformative but nerve-wracking transition. The traditional student experience involves entering a new environment without the comfort and protection of former social ties. On the one hand, severing old ties provides students freedom to explore new identities and perhaps even reinvent themselves. On the other hand, this state of detachment is stressful as students compare themselves to their peers and ask: “How do I measure up?”, “Do I fit in?”, and “do I belong”? We explore the structural, interactional, and emotional barriers that all students face, and we examine the additional barriers for inclusion for “nontraditional” students. Understanding the struggles “traditional” and “non-traditional” students have in feeling like they belong is of utmost importance for developing successful inclusion interventions on campuses. Chin.


  
  • SOAN 291 - Special Topics in Anthropology


    Credits: 3-4


    A discussion of a series of topics of anthropological concern. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Winter 2019, SOAN 291A-01: Anthropology of Disability (3). To what extent is disability culturally defined? How do understandings of being “dis-” or “differently” abled vary across time and space? In what ways is impairment “not simply lodged in the body, but created by the social and material conditions that ‘dis-able’ the full participation of those considered atypical” (Ginsburg and Rapp)? This course explores these issues through a trio of lenses: Virginia (c. 1830-1980), the contemporary United States, and case studies from diverse cultures around the world. Virginia offers powerful insight into cultural constructions of disability as it was an epicenter of the eugenics movement: the compulsory sterilization of at least 8,000 citizens whom authorities considered “defective” and “unfit” to reproduce because of their “criminality, pauperism, degeneracy, idiocy, insanity, and various forms of maladjustment.” How are perceptions of disability currently changing in the United States? Can deafness or autism be considered cultures? How do framings of disability articulate with race, gender, and sexuality? How do people around the world conceptualize relationships between different abilities, cultural norms, religion and spirituality? Bell.

    Spring 2019, SOAN 291-01: Cults (3). An exploration of the phenomenon of cults (also known as new religious movements [NRMs]). We examine the development of cults, how they operate, and the experiences of those who participate in them. Topics of discussion include brainwashing, gender, violence, sexuality, child rearing, and the possibility of objectivity on the part of the researcher. We structure the term around a visit from Marsha Goluboff Low (Professor Goluboff’s aunt), who will talk about the 18 years she spent in Ánanda Márga. Goluboff.

    Spring 2019, SOAN 291-02: Land in O’odham Culture Economics and History (4). A seminar on the cultural, economic, and historical dimensions of the O’odham Indians’ ties to their lands as expressed in their pre- and post-reservation lifeways. Students address three major themes: 1) O’odham land and cosmology; 2) land and economy in O’odham history; and 3) contemporary cultural and economic issues among O’odham peoples. The class spends 8 days in the Sonoran Desert region of Southern Arizona to visit sites and meet with speakers in and around the Tohono O’odham Nation. (SS4) Markowitz and Guse.

    Fall 2018, SOAN 291A-01: Anthropology of Death (3). An overview of death practices from prehistory to the present. Death is, of course, universal - “it is appointed for all once to die” - but cultural understandings of death vary enormously. We consider such questions as whether Neanderthals intentionally buried their dead, why early farmers built houses over the deceased, and how monumental works like pyramids and mounds express relationships between the living and the dead. Discussion includes diverse beliefs about the afterlife, the nature of the soul, and proper dispositions of the body. We pay special attention to contemporary changing death ways in the United States with the rise in cremation, green burials, celebratory funerals, idiosyncratic gravestones, and online memorials. Bell.

     


  
  • SOAN 367 - Seminar: 9/11 & Modern Terrorism


    (HIST 367) FDR: HU
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing. Terrorism is a form of collective violence famously illustrated in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington on September 11, 2001. This course provides an intensive interdisciplinary examination of the origins of the 9/11 attacks and the terrorist organization that launched them. The course also addresses the impact of the attacks and the future prospects of mass violence against civilians, as well as the role of the media in covering (and dramatizing) terrorism. Much of the course focuses on the social divisions and conflicts that lead to terrorism and its increasingly lethal nature over time. Topics include “old terrorism” (as seen in Northern Ireland and Algeria), “new terrorism” (such as that associated with Al Qaeda), the logic of terrorist recruitment, and the nature of and spread of weapons of mass destruction. Senechal.


  
  • SOAN 370 - Theorizing Social Life: Classical Approaches


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SOAN 101, SOAN 102, and at least junior standing. Sociologists and anthropologists have traditionally approached their role as students of social and cultural phenomena from two different paradigmatic starting points: a so-called “Galilean” model and an “Aristotelian” model. Practitioners were thought that they could eventually arrive at covering laws as powerful as those of physics or, falling short of this ideal, arrive at significant generalizations about human phenomenon. This class explores the trajectory of this paradigmatic split among some of the founders of sociology and anthropology and how these theorists utilized their chosen paradigms to make sense of social and cultural life. We also explore the assumptions about human nature, society, and culture that informed each of these theorists approaches and the wider historical contexts influenced their thought. Staff.


  
  • SOAN 371 - Theorizing Social Life: Contemporary Approaches


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SOAN 101, 102, and at least junior standing. This course is an introduction to selected recent theoretical work in anthropology and sociology. Our two disciplines are not the same but they overlap. The best scholars in each discipline tend to read in both. We take such an approach in this course, looking at examples of (and opportunities for) cross-pollination. Staff.


  
  • SOAN 390 - Special Topics in Sociology


    Credits: 3


    Prerequisite: May vary by topic. A discussion of a series of topics of sociological concern. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

     


  
  • SOAN 391 - Special Topics in Anthropology


    Credits: 3

    Permission of the department required. Topics and prerequisites to be arranged. A discussion of a series of topics of anthropological concern. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff.


  
  • SOAN 395 - Senior Seminar in Social Analysis


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SOAN 102 as well as completion of Group 3 Methods Requirements for the SOAN major. This course is designed as a capstone experience for majors with the sociology emphasis. Students, utilizing their knowledge of sociological theory and research methods, design and execute independent research projects, typically involving secondary analysis of survey data. Working on a subject of their choice, students learn how to present research questions and arguments, formulate research hypotheses, test hypotheses through univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses (utilizing appropriate statistical packages such as SPSS), and write research reports. Jasiewicz.


  
  • SOAN 396 - Senior Seminar in Anthropological Analysis


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SOAN 101 and completion of Group 3 Methods requirements for the SOAN major. In this course, senior SOAN majors with an emphasis in anthropology review, augment, and synthesize their understandings of anthropological theory, methods, substantive findings, and ethical issues. To do so, we share common readings on research methods and the integration of anthropological method and theory, and we sustain a term-long workshop focused on students’ research projects and papers. Each student identifies a topic of interest. Consulting with peers and the instructor, each student considers analytical methods and theoretical orientations, identifies appropriate sources, and proposes a course of research and writing. Once the proposal is vetted, students pursue their research designs and circulate partial drafts for peer and instructor review. They produce a final paper and present their findings orally with visual accompaniment to the class. Staff.


  
  • SOAN 401 - Directed Individual Study


    Credits: 1

    Prerequisite: Permission of the department. A course for selected students, typically with junior or senior standing, who are preparing papers for presentation to professional meetings or for publication. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different. Staff.


  
  • SOAN 402 - Directed Individual Study


    Credits: 2

    Prerequisite: Departmental consent required. A course for selected students, typically with junior or senior standing, who are preparing papers for presentation to professional meetings or for publication. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different. Staff.


  
  • SOAN 403 - Directed Individual Study


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: Departmental consent required. A course for selected students with junior and senior standing, especially for honors students, with direction by different members of the department. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different. Staff.


  
  • SOAN 421 - Directed Individual Research


    Experiential Learning (EXP): YES
    Credits: 1

    Prerequisite: Instructor consent. Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. A course for selected students with direction by different members of the department. May be repeated for degree credit with department consent and if the topics are different.


  
  • SOAN 422 - Directed Individual Research


    Experiential Learning (EXP): YES
    Credits: 2

    Prerequisite: Instructor consent. Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. A course for selected students with direction by different members of the department. May be repeated for degree credit with department consent and if the topics are different.


  
  • SOAN 423 - Directed Individual Research


    Experiential Learning (EXP): YES
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: Instructor consent. Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. A course for selected students with direction by different members of the department. May be repeated for degree credit with department consent and if the topics are different.


  
  • SOAN 493 - Honors Thesis


    Credits: 3-3

    Honors Thesis.



Spanish

  
  • SPAN 111 - Elementary Spanish I


    Credits: 4

    Enrollment limited. Preference given to first-year students with no prior preparation in Spanish. Emphasis on listening comprehension and speaking, with gradual introduction of reading and writing. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 112 - Elementary Spanish II


    Credits: 4

    Prerequisites: SPAN 111 or the equivalent language skills and departmental permission. Limited enrollment. Emphasis on listening comprehension and speaking, with gradual introduction of reading and writing. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 161 - Intermediate Spanish I


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: Departmental permission as a result of placement examination for entering students. Preference given to returning students completing SPAN 112 and to entering first-years prior to the fall term drop/add period. Intensive, concentrated course in review grammar and reading, with practice in listening and speaking. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 162 - Intermediate Spanish II


    FDR: FL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 161 or equivalent language skills and departmental permission. Intensive, concentrated course in review grammar and reading, with practice in listening and speaking. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 164 - Advanced Intermediate Spanish


    FDR: FL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SPAN 112 or departmental permission as a result of placement examination. Students with credit in SPAN 164 may not receive subsequent credit in a lower numbered Spanish course. Students may not receive degree credit for both SPAN 162 and 164. Emphasis on reading and composition skills, with extensive practice in speaking and listening through class discussion. Some grammar review. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 200 - Service Learning Practicum in Spanish


    Credits: 1

    Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. An obligatory corequisite to Spanish courses when the course instructor deems it appropriate. The course comprises activities outside the classroom conducted in conjunction with the academic focus of the corequisite course with which it is taught. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 201 - Supervised Study Abroad: Costa Rica


    Credits: 4

    Prerequisite: SPAN 162, 164, or equivalent and instructor consent. Spring Term Abroad course. Direct exposure to the language, people, and culture of Costa Rica. Designed to improve grammar and vocabulary of the advanced student through intensive training in Spanish with special emphasis on oral proficiency. The program also includes a home-stay with a Costa Rican family, excursions to local and national sites of interest, cultural activities, and a service-learning component at the local elementary school, hospital, law and accounting firms, or other community agencies. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 204 - Conversational Skills


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SPAN 162 or 164 or equivalent. Development of speaking skills for communication in Spanish. Acquisition and use of practical vocabulary and development of pronunciation skills. Fall 2018 has an ESOL community-based learning component and EXP designation. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 205 - Spanish for Healthcare Professionals


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SPAN 162, 164 or equivalent. This course is for students with an advanced intermediate level of Spanish who are considering professions relating to healthcare including physicians, nurses, physical therapists, paramedics, firefighters, law enforcement, health policy, workers, medical attorneys, and hospital administrators. The course emphasizes oral comprehension while examining a diversity of factors influencing the health of Hispanic patients. A primary goal is to learn to conduct a complete medical interview in Spanish via a blend of readings, discussions, films, role-playing, and writing assignments. Students develop their ability to read, write, and converse in Spanish using information and vocabulary pertaining to the medical sciences and healthcare, and they gain cultural awareness and insights into Hispanic peoples and cultures. Michelson.


  
  • SPAN 209 - Intro to Hispanic Linguistics


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SPAN 162, 164, or equivalent. This course provides a broad view of major subfields of linguistic study with a particular focus on data drawn from the Spanish language. Class discussions begin with broader questions, such as “What is language?” and “How do language and human behavior intersect?”; throughout the term students revisit those questions in light of topics presented in class. By the end of the course, students demonstrate an understanding of the many facets of the Spanish language and also the linguistic principles as can be applied to any language. The course covers major concepts in Spanish phonology and phonetics, Spanish morphology and syntax, and lastly, Spanish dialectology. Reyes.


  
  • SPAN 210 - The Road to Santiago


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 4

    Prerequisites: SPAN 162, 164 or equivalent, and instructor consent. Spring Term Abroad course. A study of Spanish culture and language conducted entirely in Spain. During the first three weeks of the course, students live in Madrid with Spanish-speaking families and study language at Estudio Internacional Sampere. At the same time, students engage in an in-depth study of the history and legend of the eight-centuries-old pilgrimage to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela, the burial site of St James, apostle of Christ. During the last week of the course, students travel to northwestern Spain to visit and study the monuments associated with the Santiago pilgrimage as well as experience the art, architecture, and culture of pilgrimage as they hike the last portion of the trail. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 211 - Spanish Civilization and Culture


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SPAN 162, 164 or the equivalent in language skills. A survey of significant developments in Spanish civilization. The course addresses Spanish heritage and the present-day cultural patterns formed by its legacies. Readings, discussions and papers, primarily in Spanish, for further development of communication skills. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 212 - Spanish-American Civilization and Culture


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SPAN 162, 164 or equivalent. A survey of significant developments in Spanish-American civilizations. The course addresses Spanish-American heritage and the present-day cultural patterns formed by its legacies. Readings, discussions and papers primarily in Spanish for further development of communication skills. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 213 - Seville and the Foundations of Spanish Civilization


    FDR: HU
    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 4

    Prerequisite: SPAN 162, 164, or the equivalent. This course takes place in Seville, Spain, and uses this privileged location to study the cultures of Foundational Spain. Primary focus is on the medieval and Renaissance periods, from the troubled co-existence of Muslims, Jews, and Christians to the Christian reconquest and subsequent Empire. Significant cultural currents are examined through texts (literary, historical, and religious), direct contact with art and architecture through site visits, and with hands-on exposure to early and contemporary cuisine. Students live in homestays, attend daily classes, participate in site visits, and engage with the local culture independently and through planned activities. Bailey.


  
  • SPAN 214 - Contemporary Spain in Context: (Re)searching Spanish Identity and Culture in the 21st Century


    FDR: HU
    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 4

    Prerequisite: One 200-level Spanish course and instructor consent. This course examines contemporary social issues in Spain through lectures and interviews with local subjects in Spain. Lectures provide a formal understanding of contemporary Spanish society, while interviews of local subjects provide data for further analysis by the students that may challenge, complement or further develop their understanding of current social issues. Reyes.


  
  • SPAN 216 - Living on the Edge: Identities in Motion in Argentina and Uruguay


    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 4

    Prerequisite: SPAN 162 or 164 and instructor consent. Conducted in Spanish in Argentina and Uruguay, this course comprises a study of Argentine culture, language, and identity. Students live in Buenos Aires with Spanish-speaking families while pursuing coursework on identity in local, national, and international contexts. What does geography have to do with identity? How might a nation redefine its policies and peoples over time? Where does the line exist between an economic system and its individual constituents? And what insights can art offer into domestic and international conflict? This course engages such questions through the study of Argentine historiography, literature, economics, and art. Coursework is accentuated by visits to sites of cultural importance in Argentina and Uruguay, including museums, banks, literary presses, political centers, meat markets, parks, and tango houses. Michelson.


  
  • SPAN 220 - Introducción a la literatura española


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SPAN 162 or 164 or equivalent. Spanish literary masterpieces from the Poema del Cid through the present. Readings and discussions are primarily in Spanish. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 240 - Introducción a la literatura hispanoamericana


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SPAN 162 or 164 or equivalent. Spanish-American literary masterpieces from colonial times through the present. Readings and discussions are primarily in Spanish. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 270 - The Contemporary Latin American Press: Journalistic Writing & Analysis


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 4

    Prerequisites: Three credits from any 200 level Spanish course or instructor consent. The public space in Latin America is a complex site where ideological negotiations and social changes constantly take place. Researchers and journalists have compared the archives of the press produced by different countries to grasp the most recent dynamics in the region. Thanks to the simultaneity and globalization provided by the Internet, people can capture the pulse of the planet from home and in real time. This phenomenon can be described as the institutionalization of the global village. This course aims to take advantage of the epistemologies of global communication created by new technologies in order to feel the pulse of Latin America as portrayed by the local press. This is an advanced course in composition in which students improve their writing skills and acquire tools to understand contemporary Latin American politics, economy. and society. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 275 - Introducción al análisis literario


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SPAN 220 or 240. Preparation for analysis of Hispanic literature. Composition develops style and method for analyzing prose, poetry, and drama in Spanish. Conversation continues vocabulary building and concentrates on discussion of literary themes. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 290 - Topics in Latin American Culture and Literature


    Credits: 4

    Prerequisite: May vary with topic. This course offers students the opportunity to further their knowledge of the culture and literature of a specific Latin American country, and their awareness of Latin America in general, through the study of special cultural and literary topics. Readings, discussions, and assignments occur primarily in Spanish. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.


  
  • SPAN 295 - Special Topics in Conversation


    Credits: 3 in fall, winter; 4 in spring

    Prerequisite: SPAN 162, 164, or equivalent. Further development of listening and speaking skills necessary for advanced discussion. Acquisition of both practical and topic-specific vocabulary. Appropriate writing and reading assignments, related to the topic, accompany the primary emphasis on conversational skills. Recent topics include: Hispanic Cinema and La Prensa. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.


  
  • SPAN 296 - Topics in Hispanic Culture and Expression


    Credits: 3 in fall or winter, 4 in spring

    This course offers students the opportunity to further their understanding of Hispanic cultures and their expression by focusing on a relevant cultural, linguistic or literary topic, on an historical period, or on a region of Spain, Latin America or the U.S. Readings, discussions, and assignments are primarily in Spanish. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Spring 2019, SPAN 296-01: Topics in Hispanic Culture and Expression: Comparative Critical Race Theory and the Early-Modern Creation of Race (3). Prerequisite: One 200-level Spanish course. Have you ever wondered why you should bother to read 16th- and 17th-century literature? What does Bartolomé de las Casas have to do with Thomas Jefferson? How can Francisco de Vitoria help us to better understand the United States or, even more locally, the Virginia of 2019? This course comprises a survey of theorizations of race and ethnicity in Hispanophone literary and cultural studies, performance studies, visual studies, and philosophy. The course engages with the body of critical literature that examines the construction of race in a variety of different social, political, legal, and economic settings in the West, from the15th century Western Mediterranean to early-modern Spanish-American colonies to the United States of the 20th and 21st centuries. Accordingly, students gain the tools with which to examine their own beliefs and attitudes surrounding race, and with which to engage with the many, diverse people whom they encounter in the complex world of 21st century America. We seek to historicize the context of race and to understand the ways in which people have constructed and made use of race for particular purposes. Spragins.


  
  • SPAN 308 - Power and Ideology: (Critical) Discourse Perspectives


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SPAN 215 or 275. This course explores different theoretical approaches to account for the relationship of language and power, and therefore the relationship between language use and social processes. In particular, it observes how meaning is constructed and reconstructed in discourse, especially by the dominant classes with access to public discourse: politicians, academics, journalists, etc., whose messages generally reach and influence large audiences. For this reason, political discourse is an important source of data to observe how social actors employ specific linguistic choices to achieve political goals. Reyes.


  
  • SPAN 309 - History of the Spanish Language


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SPAN 275 and an additional three credits at the 200 level. An introduction to the field of historical linguistics and to the genealogy and development of the Spanish language. It begins with an introduction to the field of historical linguistics: essentially, what it means to study the history of a language, the concept of linguistic change, and the types of language families. This is followed by the study of the genealogy and the development of the Spanish language from its Latin origins to present-day Spanish. These include the examination of the structures and peculiarities of Latin, the cultural and historical events that have influenced the shaping of the Spanish language, the properties of medieval Spanish, the most stubborn linguistic myths, and the development of Spanish outside the Iberian Peninsula, especially in Spanish America. Bailey.


  
  • SPAN 312 - Medieval Spanish Cultures in Context


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 4

    Prerequisite: SPAN 211 or 220 and instructor consent. Spring Term Abroad course. Muslims, Jews, and Christians co-existed for eight-hundred years on the Iberian Peninsula. This course examines these diverse cultures through the texts (literary, historical, religious, and philosophical), the art, and the architecture from the period prior to the arrival of the Arabs in 711, up to and beyond the expulsion of the Jews in 1492. The objective of the course is to glean from the remnants of the experience of their co-existence insights into their distinctive characteristics and how they understood and influenced each other. Bailey.


  
  • SPAN 320 - Don Quijote


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 220 and SPAN 275. Close reading and discussion of this Early Modern novel. May include close reading and discussion of additional narrative and poetic genres of the Golden Age, as represented in or contributing to the Cervantine work Campbell.


  
  • SPAN 322 - Spanish Golden-Age Drama


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 220 and SPAN 275. Close reading and discussion of a variety of selected Golden Age dramas of the 17th century. Representative dramatists may include Calderón de la Barca, Tirso de Molina, Lope de Vega, and María de Zayas.
      Campbell.


  
  • SPAN 323 - Golden Age Spanish Women Writers


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SPAN 220 and SPAN 275. A study of the comedia and the novela corta and the manner in which the secular women writers inscribe themselves within and beyond these genres. Close reading and discussion of representative works that may include the short stories and plays by María de Zayas, Ana Caro, Leonor de Meneses, Mariana de Carvajal, and Angela de Azevedo. Campbell.


  
  • SPAN 324 - Visions of the Nation: Romanticism and the Generation of 1898


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 220 and SPAN 275. A study of the contrasting identities of Spain, her land and peoples, as represented by Romanticism and the Generation of 1898. From the romantic period students read the popular and folkloric “romances” of Duque de Rivas and the works of Mariano José de Larra. Works from the more philosophical Generation of 1898 include: El árbol de la ciencia by P’o Baroja, the poetry of Antonio Machado, and various texts of Miguel de Unamuno. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 326 - Modern Spanish Prose Fiction


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 220 and SPAN 275. The development of the Spanish novel from the late 19th century through the present day. Representative authors may include Galdos, Baroja, Unamuno, Cela, Martín Gaite, and Mayoral. Mayock.


  
  • SPAN 328 - Contemporary Spanish Poetry


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 220 and SPAN 275. A study of Spanish poetry within its historical context from Romanticism until the present day. Special emphasis is given to the generations of 1898 and 1927, the poetry of the Spanish Civil War and the Franco period. Representative authors include Antonio Machado, Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti, and Gloria Fuertes. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 333 - El Cid in History and Legend


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 220 and SPAN 275. A study of the most significant portrayals of the Castilian warrior Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, El Cid (1045-1099), from his 12th-century biography Historia Roderici to the Hollywood blockbuster El Cid. Epic poems, late medieval ballads, and Renaissance drama all recreate the legendary life of El Cid. This course examines the relevant narratives in an effort to determine the heroic values and attributes recreated by authors and their audiences for nearly a thousand years. Bailey.


  
  • SPAN 340 - Spanish-American Short Story


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 240 and SPAN 275. A study of the Spanish-American short story with special attention to the works of Quiroga, Borges, Cortázar, and Valenzuela. Barnett.


  
  • SPAN 341 - 20th-Century Mexican Literature: Beyond Revolution


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: SPAN 240 and either SPAN 215 or 275. This course examines the artistic reaction to the 1910 Mexican Revolution and seeks to understand its aesthetic impact on 20th-century Mexican artists from a variety of genres. Seminal works from narrative, poetry, and essay as well as the visual arts reveal how some artists promoted the ideals of the Revolution, others became disenchanted, and still others invented revolutionary styles of expression in order to convey a new cultural self-perception and worldview. Barnett.


  
  • SPAN 342 - Spanish-American Narrative: The Boom Generation


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 240 and SPAN 275. Readings in the contemporary Spanish-American narrative of the second half of the 20th century with special emphasis on the members of the “Boom” generation, such as Rulfo, Fuentes, García Márquez, Vargas Llosa, Carpentier, and Puig. In addition to short narrative pieces, the readings include El Tunel (Ernesto Sábato), El Amor y Otros Demonios (García Márquez), Aura (Carlos Fuentes), Los Pasos Perdidos (Carpentier), and Casa de Los Espiritus (Allende). The class meets once a week for three hours so that we may maximize our time with each novel.
      Barnett.


  
  • SPAN 343 - Spanish-American Colonial Literature


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 240 and SPAN 275. This course examines the Latin American Colonial period by reading the most important Spanish, Creole, and indigenous texts of the period, and by reflecting on the violent cultural dynamics that created the problematic notion of continental “America.” The questions this course examines are related to how identity discourses are produced in Colonial America, and who are the main agents involved in this process. By analyzing the different sides of the Latin American colonial experience, the student will be able to critically approach many “given” paradigms that inform our understanding of the Americas and of the world. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 344 - Spanish-American Poetry


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 240 and 275. Analysis of the most relevant poetic texts of Spanish-America, including U.S. Hispanic poetry, beginning with precursors of 20th-century poetry and spanning to contemporary works. Representative works include those by Octavio Paz, Gabriela Mistral, Pablo Neruda, Nicanor Parra, Ernesto Cardenal, Raúl Zurita, among others. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 345 - Spanish-American Modernist Poetry


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 240 and SPAN 275. Considered the literary movement that achieves the “linguistic independence” of Latin America from Spain, Modernismo is the first “original aesthetic” which exercises an influence on the poetic production of Europe. This course studies the movement through the poems and works by four of its principal writers: the Nicaraguan Ruben Dario, the Mexican Manuel Gutierrez Najera, the Peruvian Manuel Gonzalez Prada, and the Cuban Jose Marti. By contrasting their literature to the “paradigm of modernity” which surrounded its production, the course distinguishes the dialectics between the artists and their respective geopolitical circumstances. By analyzing the literature of writers from different regions, we visualize and distinguish the divergent modernities which emerged in Latin America during the 19th century and the diverse artistic reactions and consequences. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 346 - Poetry in Prison: Immigration. Empathy, and Community Engagement


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 240 and 275. This course emphasizes community-engaged learning through readings of Spanish-American poetry, critical theory, and philosophy on empathy for otherness and immigration across the Hemispheric Americas, in concert with a series of intensive, weekly poetry workshops in the most restrictive maximum-security detention center in the United States for undocumented, unaccompanied youth from Mexico and the Northern Triangle. Invoking and testing insights from the texts in the syllabus, undergraduates work with and for the incarcerated children in term-long partnerships, collaborating in the poetry workshops to respond to a diversity of writing prompts examining the intertwined themes of borders and belonging. Students maintain a writing journal wherein they individually engage in sustained reflection on community needs, course objectives, current events, theorizations of justice, concepts of belonging, empathic philosophies, and affective politics. In this manner, students develop their ability to read, write, and converse in multiple regional varieties of Spanish and gain cultural awareness and insights into Hispanic peoples and culture. Michelson.


  
  • SPAN 347 - Poetry and Power


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 240 and 275. This is a course about reading. We read Spanish-American poetry on power and violence as a way of engaging and investigating the multifaceted and layered historiographies of the region. To intensify our reading, we also “read” a diversity of complementary cultural production, including paintings, murals, and music. Through these self-conscious acts of reading–that is, acts of identifying, evaluating, and critiquing form as much as content–we enhance our ability to analyze and debate ways of defining power in the Americas from within, without, and in liminal zones. Recurring motifs include sexism, racism, classism, and fascism. Michelson.


  
  • SPAN 348 - Spanish-American Women Writers


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 240 and SPAN 275. An examination of the role of women writers in the development of Spanish- American literary history, including U.S. Hispanic writers. Textual and cultural analysis of readings from multiple genres by authors such as Poniatowska, Ferré, Bombal, Mastretta, Gambaro, Lispector, Valenzuela, Castellanos, Cisneros, Esquivel, Peri Rossi, and Allende, among others. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 350 - The Cuban Story


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 240 and SPAN 275. A multigenre examination of 20th-century Cuba as its own “story.” Beginning with the first European account of Columbus, to insights from slaves, to finally more recent writers who question its future, the course presents the development of Cuban society as its own narrative. Major readings by Manzano, Barnet, Marti, Carpentier, Castro, Guevara, Garcia, and Hernandez Diaz, among others. Shorter anthologized works by Guillen, Lezama Lima, Valdes, Novas Calvo, Cabrera Infante, and Sarduy, among others. Films by Guitiérrez Alea, Vega, Solas, and Tabio, among others. Barnett.


  
  • SPAN 354 - Spanish-American Theater: 20th Century to the Present


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 240 and SPAN 275. This course provides a panoramic view of the theatrical traditions that have emerged in Spanish-American theater, beginning with the independent theater movement of the 1930s and concluding with the most recent trends in theatrical practices. In particular, the plays are studied as vehicles that reveal how theater practitioners engaged with their historical and cultural contexts in aesthetic terms. Therefore, the focus is also on the plays as performative texts. In order to develop this objective, students are expected to read, discuss, and analyze the dramatic texts, as well as perform scenes from the plays. This course includes works from playwrights such us Arlt, Triana, Diaz, Gambaro, Carballido, Castellanos, and Berman, among others. In addition, we study the political and aesthetic theories of theater developed by Enrique Buenaventura and Augusto Boal. Botta.


  
  • SPAN 380 - Spanish Grammar Rules: The Making of a Language


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: Two Spanish courses at the 200 level or instructor consent. This course analyzes areas of the Spanish language that are problematic for non-native speakers of Spanish. At the same time, students explore the processes involved in the standardization of a language, in particular the Spanish language, as a social and political construct. Reyes.


  
  • SPAN 390 - Topics in Latin American Culture and Literature


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 4

    Prerequisite: SPAN 212 or 240 and instructor consent. This course offers students the opportunity to further their knowledge of the culture and literature of a specific Latin American country, and their awareness of Latin America in general, through the study of special cultural and literary topics. Readings, discussions, and assignments occur primarily in Spanish. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. (HL)


  
  • SPAN 392 - Spanish Language Theory and Practice


    Credits: 3


    Prerequisite: Varies with topic. A topics course that approaches language study through theories of language use and meaning, as well as their practical application through extensive writing exercises. Topics may include translation theory, analysis of theoretical approaches to language study, and advanced grammar. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Fall 2018, SPAN 392-01: Spanish Language Theory and Practice (3). Prerequisite: SPAN 275. An advanced Spanish seminar devoted to the reinforcement of Spanish grammar and the analysis of theoretical themes surrounding Spanish grammar and translation. Students complete a review and analysis of complicated Spanish grammar points, applying this knowledge to grammar exercises, advanced composition and translation, oral presentation, and a community translation project. Special thematic attention is paid to the idea of “living in translation” in United States Latina/o/x communities. Mayock.


  
  • SPAN 393 - Workshop in Literary Translation


    Credits: 4

    Prerequisite: Three credits from any SPAN 200-level course. An intensive workshop devoted to the practical application, methods, and theories of literary translation. Students collaborate to produce artistic renderings of literary texts into the target language in a workshop-style setting. Preliminary attention is given to English-to-Spanish narrative as well as Spanish-to-English poetry. The primary activity involves the collaborative production of an original translation of a previously non-translated Spanish short story into English. Barnett.


  
  • SPAN 397 - Peninsular Seminar


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: SPAN 220 and SPAN 275. A seminar focusing on a single period, genre, motif, or writer. The specific topic will be determined jointly according to student interest and departmental approval. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.


  
  • SPAN 398 - Spanish-American Seminar


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3


    Prerequisites:SPAN 240 and SPAN 275. A seminar focusing on a single period, genre, motif, or writer. Recent topics have included “Spanish American Women Writers: From America into the 21st Century,” “20th Century Latin America Theater,” and “Past, Memory, and Identity in Contemporary Argentina’s Cultural Products.” May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

     


  
  • SPAN 401 - Directed Individual Study


    Credits: 1


    Prerequisites: At least nine credits of 300-level Spanish and permission of the department head. Taught in Spanish. Nature and content of course to be determined by students’ needs and by instructors acquainted with their earlier preparation and performance. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Fall 2018, SPAN 401-01: Directed Individual Study:Pluma (1). Literary creation and editing. The student creates a call for creative works in Spanish, manages a team of young editors, selects and edits creative works, and produces a literary magazine. Mayock. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 402 - Directed Individual Study


    Credits: 2

    Prerequisites: At least nine credits of 300-level Spanish and permission of the department head. Taught in Spanish. Nature and content of course to be determined by students’ needs and by instructors acquainted with their earlier preparation and performance. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 403 - Directed Individual Study


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: At least nine credits of 300-level Spanish and permission of the department head. Taught in Spanish. Nature and content of course to be determined by students’ needs and by instructors acquainted with their earlier preparation and performance. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff.


  
  • SPAN 493 - Honors Thesis


    Credits: 3-3

    Prerequisites: Senior standing, honors candidacy, and instructor consent. Interested students should see a member of the Spanish faculty by winter term of their junior year. May not count towards fulfillment of the major requirements.



Student Summer Independent Research

  
  • SSIR 481 - Student Summer Independent Research


    Credits: 1

    Prerequisites: Grant funding and dean’s consent. Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. W&L-funded support for students to pursue their own research or creative interest, with the mentorship of a faculty member. Students work 18-35 hours per week for no fewer than four weeks and prepare a research report. Staff.


  
  • SSIR 482 - Student Summer Independent Research


    Credits: 2

    Prerequisites: Grant funding and dean’s consent. Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. W&L-funded support for students to pursue their own research or creative interest, with the mentorship of a faculty member. Students work 18-35 hours per week for no fewer than four weeks and prepare a research report. Staff.


  
  • SSIR 483 - Student Summer Independent Research


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: Grant funding and dean’s consent. Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. W&L-funded support for students to pursue their own research or creative interest, with the mentorship of a faculty member. Students work 18-35 hours per week for no fewer than four weeks and prepare a research report. Staff.



Theater

  
  • DANC 201 - Artistic Identity in Contemporary European Dance


    Credits: 2

    This course provides an introduction through video and text to influential European dance artists. We explore the contemporary aesthetics of these artists, how their particular culture and society influences, their movement choices, and the ways in which society adapts to their new forms of expression. We examine how art is produced, challenged, and transformed. We study the ways in which these cultures interact and affect one another through dance, examine hybrid styles, and explore ethnic and national identity in a global society. This class provides a framework for further exploration in the Spring term course, DANC 202: Dance Europe Davies.


  
  • THTR 100 - Introduction to Theater


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3

    An introduction to drama and the theater arts, including a brief historical survey, selected examples of dramatic literature, and a sequence on theater disciplines such as acting, designing, and directing. Staff.


  
  • THTR 109 - University Theater


    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 1

    Prerequisite: Instructor consent. Participation in a university theater production for a minimum of 40 hours. A journal recording the production process is required. May be repeated for degree credit with permission. Maximum seven credits for students with a major or minor in theater, eight credits for others. Staff.


  
  • THTR 121 - Script Analysis for Stage and Screen


    (FILM 121) FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    The study of selected plays and screenplays from the standpoint of the theatre and screen artists. Emphasis on thorough examination of the scripts preparatory to production. This course is focused on developing script analysis skills directly applicable to work in production. Students work collaboratively in various creative capacities to transform texts into productions. Sandberg, Levy, Collins, Evans.


  
  • THTR 131 - Fundamentals of Theater Art


    FDR: HA
    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 3

    Corequisite: THTR 132 An introduction to modern theater practice involving two hours of lecture per week and participation of approximately 45-60 hours of work in a large-scale production spread throughout the term. A practical course, emphasizing scene-craft, stage lighting, and prop making. The student applies the methods and theories discussed in class to work on actual productions. Laboratory course with THTR 132. Staff.


  
  • THTR 132 - Laboratory for Fundamentals of Theater Art I


    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 1

    Corequisite: THTR 131. An introduction to modern theater practice involving four hours of laboratory work per week. A practical course, emphasizing scenecraft, stage lighting, and prop making. The student applies the methods and theories discussed in class to work on actual productions. Staff.


  
  • THTR 141 - Stage Acting I


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3

    An introduction to acting for the stage. In this hands-on class, students learn and develop physical and vocal techniques for text-based and improvisational performance, focusing on relationships, objectives, and actions. Work includes in-class scene presentations from modern scripts. Levy, Mish.


  
  • THTR 180 - FS: First-Year Seminar


    Credits: 3

    First-year seminar. Prerequisite: First-year standing. First-year seminar.


  
  • THTR 181 - FS: First-Year Seminar


    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: First-Year standing. First-Year seminar. Topics vary by term and instructor. Staff.


  
  • THTR 202 - Supervised Study Abroad


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 4

    Prerequisite: Instructor consent. A Spring Term Abroad course. An intensive exposure to English theater and the current season in London. In addition to a full schedule of theater attendance, the course includes a study of theater training, production techniques and representative styles and periods of English drama. Collins, Martinez.


  
  • THTR 203 - Preparation for Study Abroad; Swedish Theater


    Credits: 1

    Graded Pass/Fail only. This course is designed to enable students to participate successfully in the Spring term study abroad course in Sweden. During the weekly class meetings, students examine the historical, social, political, and artistic qualities that make Sweden unique, arming them with knowledge for their time in Sweden. Studying abroad, which promotes encountering cultural difference and, hopefully, crossing cultural boundaries, can be expected to be uncomfortable and even incomprehensible some of the time. As a result of this course, students will be open to exploring and enjoying those cultural differences. Evans.


  
  • THTR 204 - Study Abroad in Swedish Theater


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 4

    This course provides a broad impact on student’s cross-cultural skills and global understanding, enhancing their worldview. Students have the opportunity to acquire critical intercultural knowledge, appreciation of cultural and social differentness, and exposure to perspectives critical for global leadership. The course focuses on examining cultural differences between Sweden and United States through the exploration of the arts; however, because of the size of the class students are encouraged to examine Swedish culture from their own disciplinary interest. Evans.


  
  • THTR 209 - Stage Management


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3

    Stage management is an essential position for all theatrical productions. Students develop personal management style through the study of techniques and skill sets necessary to manage and run stage and film productions. Students hone their management techniques by applying management solutions to specific production problems of a theatrical, dance, or film project produced by the department. Students are required to participate in a production in a stage-management capacity. Evans.


  
  • THTR 210 - Ancient and Global Theater


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3


    This course examines the history of theater and dramatic literature from its foundations in ancient world cultures through the Renaissance. Since this history course covers over 2000 years of time, class meetings sometimes move at a fast pace. Students gain a general world-wide cultural understanding of the art and history of the theater from its beginnings, and how theater spread as a phenomenon across the globe. Since theater is primarily a cultural institution, we simultaneously examine politics, philosophy, religion, science, and other factors that influence how the art form is created, maintained, and culturally preserved. We also examine history itself as an important cultural tool for assessing the events of the past.

     

     

      Sandberg, Levy.


  
  • THTR 211 - Western Theater History


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    This course examines theater from the Renaissance period up to the modern era. Students read, analyze, and perform texts from this period, studying in detail how the theater is culturally created and maintained. The goal of the course is to gain a general overview of how the theater came to be what it is today. Since theater is primarily a cultural institution, we simultaneously examine politics, philosophy, religion, science, and other factors that influence how the art form is created, maintained, and culturally preserved. We also examine history itself as an important cultural tool for assessing the events of the past. Sandberg, Levy.


  
  • THTR 215 - Modern Drama


    FDR: HL
    Credits: 3

    This course explores the principal movements and aesthetics in the modern period in European and American theater history from the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. Significant plays, playwrights, theatre artists and theorists are studied in context of the successive waves of modern movements: realism, symbolism, expressionism, surrealism, epic theater and theater of the absurd. Oral presentations, short research papers and performance projects will be required.


  
  • THTR 216 - Contemporary Drama


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3

    This course explores European and American theater and drama from the late 20th century to the present. Significant plays, playwrights, theater artists and theorists are studied alongside the issues of postmodernism, capitalism, feminism, diversity and the emerging global economy and culture. Dramatic works under review also include solo and performance art, as well as fringe and political theatrical forms. The current state of theater is also a focal point for class discussion. Oral presentations, short research papers and performance projects are required.


  
  • THTR 220 - Playwriting


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisite: Instructor consent. An introductory workshop in creative writing for the theater that will focus on traditional forms of scene and script writing. Opportunities for collaborative writing and devised theater may be included. Weekly writing and reading assignments are required. Limited enrollment.


  
  • THTR 227 - Discover Scotland: History and Culture through Theater


    (HIST 227) FDR: HU
    Experiential Learning (EXP): Yes
    Credits: 4

    Spring Term Abroad. For a small nation of just over 5 million, Scotland looms remarkably large in our historical, cultural, and artistic imagination. This course travels to Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the Highlands to allow students to go beyond the mythologizing and romance to discover Scotland as it has been experienced and performed by the Scottish people. Using Scotland’s vibrant and remarkably political theater scene as our jumping-off point, we study this country’s history and culture, examining the powerful intersections of myth and reality that shape Scottish identity past and present. We pay particular attention to the dichotomies – Highland and Lowland; urban and rural; separatist and unionist; poor and rich; Protestant and Catholic, etc. – that make modern Scotland such a fascinating subject of historical and artistic inquiry. Brock, Levy.


  
  • THTR 236 - Special Effects for Theater


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 4

    Additional course fee required, for which the student is responsible after Friday of the 7th week of winter term. In this hands-on, project-based course, students apply the process of iterative design and use critical thinking to provide creative solutions to solve the artistic effects required to tell stories in theater. Starting with textual analysis of given scripts, students develop the parameters required for various effects, figure out a process to create those effects, and make them. Collins.


  
  • THTR 238 - 3D Printing & Desktop Manufacturing for the Theater


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3

    Desktop manufacturing has revolutionized the design and prototyping of objects. This course is an introduction to the use of desktop manufacturing technologies. Students learn how to create digital designs, publish them electronically and create physical versions of those digital ideas. The course concentrates on how these technologies can be used in theater design and technology. Collins.


  
  • THTR 239 - Total Theater


    FDR: HA
    Experiential Learning (EXP): Y
    Credits: 4

    Prerequisite: Three credits in theater or dance and instructor consent. A practical study of design, directing, production and acting problems in a specific style of dramatic literature, culminating in a public theatrical production. Staff.


  
  • THTR 241 - Stage Acting II


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3

    Prerequisites: THTR 141 and instructor consent. A studio course continuation of THTR 141 with greater emphasis placed on research techniques and performance. Levy.


  
  • THTR 242 - Musical Theater


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3

    Students learn, through study of seminal texts and video clips of performances and interviews with performers, a basic history of the American musical theater as an art form, combining the talents of composers, lyricists, directors, choreographers, set and costume designers, and others. Students research musical dramatic literature and apply musical and acting skills in the development and performance of excerpts from distinctive musicals of various eras. Students develop constructive, critical methods in the process of practicing and viewing musical theater performance. Mish.


  
  • THTR 245 - Talk to Us: How to Make Friends and Influence People


    FDR: HA
    An investigation, using theatre, film, television, performance art, and stand-up comedy, of the ways in which speaking directly to an audience can or should influence them. In particular, we talk about the use of rhetoric to make an argument, and the relationship between performer/speaker and audience. Students evaluate the use of direct address in various media, and the class includes some domestic travel to attend live events. The course culminates with a public performance by the students. Levy.


  
  • THTR 250 - Women in Contemporary Theater


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3

    This course explores the contemporary theater scene, investigating its plays, playwrights, directors and actors. The representation of women in theatrical art, as well as the unique contributions of contemporary women as artists, theorists and audiences, provides the principal focus of study. Traditional critical and historical approaches to the material are complemented by play reading, play attendance, oral presentations, writing assignments, journal writing and the creation of individual performance pieces.


  
  • THTR 251 - Introduction to Performance Design


    FDR: HA
    Credits: 3

    An introduction to the history, fundamentals and aesthetics of design for theater and dance with an emphasis on the collaborative nature of the design disciplines. Design projects are required. Lab fee required Collins, Evans.


 

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