Hispanic Studies (HISP)

“Africa begins in the Pyrenees." "Spain is Different." "America is in Spain." Ranging from derogatory stereotypes to snappy slogans, characterizations of Spain have varied over the centuries but remain consistent in their expression of Spain as a land caught somewhere between the Eastern and Western worlds and the Northern and Southern Atlantic, a cultural crossroads where Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas meet. This course will examine the long history of inter-cultural contact in the literature and culture of what we know as Spain today. Students will spend two weeks in Toledo, a UNESCO world heritage site known as "the city of the three cultures" due to the centuries of coexistence of its medieval Muslim, Christian, and Jewish populations. The course will also examine networks of migration, economics, and power associated with Spain's history as a global empire, the Spanish Civil War, and the present-day immigration boom from Africa and South America as depicted in Spanish works of literature, visual art, and film. As a travel course, students will participate in experiential learning through visits to a number of historical sites in Toledo and overnight excursions to Granada and Córdoba, and experience first-hand the architectural and cultural remnants of Spain's medieval inter-faith cohabitation. An excursion to Madrid will also allow students to experience contemporary life in Spain's major metropolitan capital, including a visit to the world-class Prado Museum. Students taking HISP 253 are not permitted to enroll in SPAN353. This course will be taught in English. C21:AE,EL,HU,OC.

A study of the conflictive process of modernization in Spain that concentrates on the clash between the progressive efforts to modernize and the traditionalist efforts to maintain Spain's unique social and cultural identity. This study abroad course in Spain includes visits to historical and cultural sites. Offered alternate years. C21:EL,GE,HU,OC.

This seminar provides intensive study of a literary, cultural, social, political, or linguistic movement, period, phenomenon, or current event, culminating in a major research paper or project. Throughout the capstone seminar, students will learn to situate their work within important frameworks, propose and identify research questions, organize research material, and critically discuss their own, as well as their classmates’ scholarship. Students will complete an original, coherent, accurate, well-documented, and persuasive project that applies the knowledge and skills related to the Hispanic Studies Program. Furthermore, students will integrate, extend, evaluate, and apply knowledge and skills from the Hispanic Studies major program. C21:CS.