SPAN 290 - Topics in Latin American Culture and Literature

Credits: 4
Planned Offering: Spring

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.

Spring 2015 topic:

SPAN 290A: Topics in Latin American Culture and Literature: Instrospección, Reflexión y Activismo Social en el Cine Documental Contemporáneo (4). Documentary filmmaking has a strong tradition in Latin America going back to the 1930s and becoming a remarkable form of denunciation in the 1960s and 1970s. Since its origins, and in most cases, a commitment to socio-political causes has motivated the nonfiction productions in the region. In the past two decades, though, there has been a tendency to use documentaries as a means of connecting and understanding personal and historical realities, as well as a mode of advancing social causes through the participation of the social actors in the filmmaking process. This course introduces students to nonfiction films with specific attention given to the documentary practices that emerged in Latin America in the past two decades. Botta. Spring 2015

SPAN 290B: Latin America through Film (4). This spring term abroad course offers an overview of key aspects of Latin American culture, with a special focus on Argentina, as seen through film, with supporting material drawn from music, poetry, and news articles. Students view, discuss, and analyze movies from Latin American countries such as Argentina, México, Cuba, and Peru, in order to develop an understanding of Latin American cultures, and of issues that have shaped their societies today, including: the foundation of national identities in the period immediately following independence; the political struggles and dictatorships of the 20th century; women and society; and immigration and globalization. Students develop tools to analyze movies in their thematic content and cinematic aspects, write movie reviews, and enact selected scenes from the movies discussed. Readings and guided field trips enhance students’ understanding, along with a daily Spanish language class emphasizing listening, speaking, reading, and writing. (HU) Pinto-Bailey. Spring 2015