Courses & Requirements 2009-2010
All students who begin the study of a new foreign language at Union are encouraged to pursue it for at least three terms. Students who take 100-level courses in more than one foreign language will receive credit for the second 100-level course only upon completion of the 101-level course in at least one of the two languages. Students continuing a foreign language previously studied will be assigned to the proper course level by the department. Placement will be made on the basis of secondary school record and testing scores. Students may construct full majors or interdepartmental majors in French, German, and Spanish. Students in Chinese, Japanese, and Russian have the option of an interdepartmental major with any other field. Minors are possible in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Students of Chinese and Japanese have the option of the major or interdepartmental major in East Asian Studies.
Requirements in All Languages
Requirements for Honors: A candidate for Honors in the Department shall achieve an index in departmental courses of not less than 3.5 and an overall index of not less than 3.3. The candidate shall have achieved a grade of a full “A” in three courses in the department. (For complete details concerning the specific requirements for the candidate’s specific degree, the candidate should consult with a departmental advisor). For the full majors in French, German, and Spanish, for example, we require at least one of the “A’s to be achieved in a course above the Intermediate Language Sequence, with at least an “A-minus” achieved in two 400-level courses. For the interdepartmental majors in Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, the candidate shall have achieved an “A-minus” in no fewer than three courses above the Intermediate Language Sequence, and one in an MLT course. For the full major, the honors candidate shall complete, in the language studied, a project of a literary and/or cultural nature which achieves a grade no lower than “A-minus” For the interdisciplinary major, the project should be written in the language deemed appropriate by the faculty advisor and normally should reflect the candidate’s chosen disciplines. When declaring candidacy for honors, a student shall present to the faculty member chosen to supervise the honors project, as well as to the chair of the department, a written statement outlining the nature and scope of the project. The candidate’s proposal must meet with the approval of both faculty members. The completed project shall be approved or disapproved for honors by its director and at least one other member of the department, and then given a grade by the director.
Requirements for Secondary School Certification:
PSY 246, and “Structured Field Experiences” (EDS 500A, 500B, and 500C each a non-credit course). Requirements within the major include:
(1). Twelve courses in the same language sequence (French, German, Spanish), including FRN 303, GER 202 or SPN 203, a civilization/culture course, a survey course, three courses at the 400 level, and 450.
(2). Participation in at least one of Union’s Terms Abroad in an appropriate country as required. Additional experiences in foreign cultures, intensive language programs, and/or terms abroad are highly recommended.
(3). Interdepartmental, interdisciplinary, and dual majors must complete all requirements listed for the individual major to qualify for the program.
(4). MLL majors are encouraged to take courses in more than one language and also to seek certification in more than one language. A student must complete a full major in each language in which certification is sought. Students seeking certification in more than one language are recommended to complete the combined degree program which will allow for greater flexibility in course selection as well as the possibility for two terms abroad.
French Requirements
Requirements for the Major in French: A minimum of 10 courses beyond the 101-level, including two 300-level courses, three 400-level courses, and 489 (Senior Project). Participation in a Union Term Abroad program is normally expected. Courses listed under “Literature in Translation” may or may not count toward the major, interdepartmental major, or minor. One term of related history, one term of philosophy, and one term of English literature are strongly recommended, as well as relevant courses in art history in the major.
Requirements for the Interdepartmental Major in French: A minimum of seven courses beyond the 101-level, including two 400-level courses and either 489 or a project that integrates the two disciplines.
Requirements for the Minor in French: A minimum of six courses, including two 300-level courses.
German Requirements
Requirements for the Major in German: A minimum of ten courses beyond the 101-level, including three 300 level, and two 400 level, and 489 (Senior Project). Majors are normally expected to take one Term Abroad and are encouraged to improve their language skills by living in the German House, attending the weekly German Table, and participating in other extracurricular activities. Students have the option of taking one MLT course (Literature in Translation) for German credit. In addition, majors are urged to take other courses related to German culture and history in other academic fields such as English, history, philosophy, music, art history, and political science.
Requirements for the Interdepartmental Major in German: A minimum of seven courses beyond the 101-level, including two courses at the 300 level and one course at the 400 level if the senior project course 489 in German is chosen; or it can include, in addition to two 300 level courses, two courses at the 400 level if the thesis (with a considerable German component) is written in the second field. Students have the option of taking one MLT course (Literature in Translation) for German credit. Interdepartmental majors are urged to take the Term Abroad and are encouraged to improve their language skills by living in the German House, attending the weekly German Table, and participating in other extracurricular activities.
Requirements for the Minor in German: A minimum of six courses for those who begin with 100, or a minimum of five courses for those beginning at the 101-level or above, including at least two 300-level courses. Minors are strongly encouraged to take a Term Abroad. Minors have the option of taking one MLT for German credit if they have participated in the German Term Abroad.
Spanish Requirements
Requirements for the Major in Spanish: A minimum of ten courses beyond the 101-level, including two 300-level courses (from different clusters; see listing of clusters below), and four 400-level courses, one of which must be taken with WS designation in the Spring term of the senior year. Students who seek and qualify for departmental honors must take SPN 489 (Honors Senior Seminar), which will count as one 400-level course with WS designation. Courses listed under “Literature, Culture, and Cinema in Translation” do not count toward the major, interdepartmental major, or minor. Majors are expected to participate in a Term Abroad program. Elective courses pertinent to the major/minor in Spanish from other humanities and social sciences areas such as history, philosophy, literature, political science and art history, etc. are strongly recommended.
Requirements for the Interdepartmental Major in Spanish: A minimum of seven courses beyond the 101-level, including two 300-level courses (from different clusters; see listing of clusters below) and two 400-level courses; one of the 400-level courses must be taken with WS designation in the Spring term of the senior year unless the student writes a thesis in the other department that integrates the two disciplines. Students who seek and qualify for departmental honors must take SPN 489 (Honors Senior Project), which will count as one 400-level course with WS designation. ID majors seeking honors must fulfill honors requirements in both departments/programs.
Requirements for the Minor in Spanish: A minimum of six courses for those who begin with 100 or a minimum of five courses for those beginning at the 101-level or above. All minors must take two 300-level courses (from different clusters; see listing of clusters below). No more than three 300-level courses can be counted for the minor. In place of one of the 300-level courses, one MLT course (on Peninsular Spanish or Latin American literatures and cultures) can be counted towards the minor.
Chinese, Japanese, and Russian Requirements
Requirements for the Interdepartmental Major in Chinese, Japanese, or Russian: A minimum of seven courses beyond the 101-level, including two courses on the 300-level and one MLT course, or a third course at the 300-level. 4 courses beyond the 101-level are required if combined with participation in a Union Term Abroad to China or Japan, or a study abroad in Russia.
Requirements for the Minor in Chinese, Japanese, or Russian: A minimum of 7 courses, starting at the 100-level, including one MLT course. If combined with participation in the Term Abroad in China, Japan, or study abroad in Russia, students may complete a minor in Chinese, Japanese, or Russian with 3 additional courses (making the total six courses).
Modern Literature, Culture, and Cinema in Translation
(Taught in English)
Chinese
MLT 200. Modern Chinese Literature (Not offered 2009-10). An introduction to a wide variety of Chinese literature. Students will study aspects of the function of history, memory, and the global/local in the Chinese context. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 201. Chinese Cinema (Fall; Zhang). From the glitzy production studios of 1930s Shanghai to the contemporary hinterlands of China, the backstreets of Hong Kong, and the towns of Taiwan, this course examines the development and transformation of Chinese cinema. It will explore questions of aesthetics, Chinese identity, transnationalism, and representation. GenEd: LCC
MLT 202. Gender and Sexuality in Modern China (Not offered 2009-10). An examination of representations by and about women in 20th-century China through and understanding of the concepts Woman and Modernity. We will take into account women’s and men’s relationship to literature, selected genres, opinions on literary creativity, character representation, and social engagement to explore short stories, essays, diaries, poetry, and film. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 203. Asian American Film and Performance (Not offered 2009-10). An examination of topics in Asian American studies through film and performance by and about Asian Americans. Class material will draw from feature and documentary films by well-known and independent filmmakers, theatrical and artistic performance, as well as theoretical and critical texts on culture and diversity, the diaspora, and ethnicity. GenEd: LCC
MLT 204. Literary Traditions in East Asia (Not offered 2009-10). Literary developments in East Asia, looking closely at the aesthetic and philosophic foundations of its varied literature through poetic genres, story forms, oral storytelling, travel literature, and drama. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 205. Perspectives in Modern East Asian Literature (Winter; Zhang). The literary and artistic developments in East Asia since the mid-19th century. It will consider questions of tradition, culture, modernity, globalism, and technology by examining cultural artifacts — novels, short stories, plays, paintings, architecture, music, and film. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 207. China’s Cultural Revolution (Not offered 2009-10). An interdisciplinary approach to examine the historical, political, and artistic preconditions and ramifications of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). HuL, LCC
MLT 209. The New Wall of China (Not offered 2009-10). An interdisciplinary overview of the cultural, historical, and artistic attributes of a region in China whose geo-political landscape has been dramatically impacted by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. In providing a context to the construction, students will be introduced to the intricate connections between all the above factors and engineering, technology, and the environment. GenEd: LCC
French
MLT 210. The Artist as Hero (Also FRN 420) (Not offered 2009-10). The reaction of the artistic temperament to its times, and of the times to the artistic temperament, as expressed in the works of Goethe, Balzac, Flaubert, Zola, Mann, Joyce, and Gide. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 211. Histoire de la danse, Danse de l’histoire / History of Dance, Dance of History (Also FRN 421, ADA 053) (Not offered 2009-10). Examination of Western European dance and dance texts as revelatory of broader historical and cultural patterns, with special analyses of dance as a key tool of nation-building (as with the court of Louis XIV) and/or a central medium of artistic creation (as in 1920s Paris). Primary focus on France as creator, user, and potential abuser of dance’s power, but some attention given other European models (Berlin, St. Petersburg, London). Readings from theoreticians, historians, and dance littérateurs (Molière, Gautier, Cocteau). GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 212. Sex Lives and Videotape: Casting Sexuality in French and Francophone Film (Also FRN 402) (Winter; Chilcoat). Analysis and critique of films whose focus is the “sexual orientation” of its characters. Films may include La Cage aux folles, Les Diaboliques, French Twist, Sitcom, Ma Vie en rose, Woubi Chéri. Theoretical and critical works by authors such as Michel Foucault, Monique Wittig, Simone de Beauvoir, Susan Hayward, Laura Mulvey, Sigmund Freud, and Kate Bornstein will inform our study of these films. Readings in both French and English. All films subtitled. GenEd: LCC
MLT 213. West African Oral Literature (Also FRN 430) (Not offered 2009-10). West-African oral genres with a focus on tales and epics in their form and ideologies. Through a study of the oral literature of the region, we will explore the socio-cultural structures of ancient West Africa, their collapse through religious and colonial implications, and their vestiges in today’s Africa. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 215. What is French Cinéma?/Qu’est-ce que le cinéma français? (Also FRN 312) (Not offered 2009-10). This course moves from an introduction to the earliest examples of French and world cinema, to an in-depth study of widely recognized classics of French cinema, considered in chronological order from 1933 to 1985, so as to develop an appreciation for the history, genre, and particular theme(s) of each film, as well as its originality. Students will learn how to talk about and write analytical papers on the films according to critical, cultural, and technological considerations, in order to determine what, if anything, is particularly “French” about French cinema. The course is taught in English, but students taking the course for French credit will read all materials in French, and assignments will be written in French. GenEd: LCC
German
Open to all students; no knowledge of the German language required, unless the course is taken for German credit. Students seeking language credit for the German Major should register for the corresponding German course number (see GER 330-334) and must complete a considerable part of their course-work in German. Prerequisite for German credit in the MLT courses is the completion of at least German 201.
MLT 230. Forging a Nation – German Culture and Society I (1750-1914) (Also GER 330) (Not offered 2009-10). Study of the social, political and cultural challenges of building a unified German identity and nation—including religious tolerance, imperialism, sexual politics, industrialization and urbanization. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 231. Guns, Jazz & Politics—German Culture and Society II (1914-1933) (Also GER 331) (Not offered 2009-10). Study of how violence, economic and political volatility, technology, and changing moral codes affected German society and culture (literature, visual arts, film, music) from the onset of the First World War to the rise of Hitler. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 232. Identity after the Holocaust – German Culture and Society III (1945-Present) (Also GER 332) (Not offered 2009-10). Study of the cultural, political, and social impact of WWII’s mass violence on modern Germany, focusing on issues such as deNazification and reeducation, rebellious youth, the ‘Historian’s debate,’ and reunification. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 233. Metropolis Berlin: Cultural Representations of Germany’s Capital (Also GER 333) (Not offered 2009-10). An exploration of how the city Berlin has been constructed and contested as a political and cultural as well as physical site. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 234. Femmes fatales? Women in 19th- and 20th-Century German Culture and Society (Also GER 334) (Not offered 2009-10). An examination of female sexuality as one of the central controversies of modern German culture. In addition to analyzing cultural artifacts (plays, films, paintings), we will discuss such diverse social phenomena as the Women’s movement, morality crusades, psychoanalysis, and sexology. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 235. Voices from Abroad: German Exile Culture, 1933-1990 (Also GER 335) (Not offered 2009-10). This course, taught in translation, is designed for both Germanists and other students of literature interested in exploring notions of exile and the particular cultural artifacts, including novels, films, essays and poetry, that bear witness to the struggle of artists exiled from WWII Germany and Austria. The class additionally examines texts by current émigrés to Germany and incorporates theoretical assessments of exile, considering works by Said, Milosz and others. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 336. The Thrill of Victory: Reading German Sports (and) Culture (Also GER 336) (Not offered 2009-10). This course traces the ways that Sports have reflected and influenced German culture through the 20th century, analyzing links between athleticism and conceptions of gender, nationhood, individuality and race set out in literary texts, films, and visual arts. Exploring notions of victory, physical perfection, and spectatorship, we will consider works by some of Germany’s greatest authors and artists, including Kafka, Schnitzler, Brecht, Riefenstahl, Kirschner and Handke. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 339. The Shoah in Film: Cinematic Treatments of Holocaust Trauma and Memory (Not offered 2009-10). The course examines cinematic representations of the Holocaust in the films of German, German-Jewish, and other European filmmakers. Comparing and contrasting a variety of film genres and cinematic techniques, we explore fundamental questions about the relationships between art and history, representation and experience and memory and responsibility. By considering theoretical and historical readings as well, we situate the films within significant intellectual and historical contexts. GenEd: LCC
Japanese
MLT 250. Japanese Sociolinguistics (Spring; Ueno). This course will focus on societal aspects which are represented in the characteristics of language. Discussions will include gender differences, formality, and communication strategies. This course will be taught in English and no prior Japanese language knowledge is required. GenEd: LCC
Russian
MLT 260. The Vampire as Other in East European and American Culture (Not offered 2009-10). We will discuss the present distribution of the East European peoples, their prehistory, and their relation to other peoples of Europe and Asia. We will also survey their early culture, including pagan, animistic, and dualistic religious beliefs, and Christianization. Our focus will be the myth of the vampire, which has had enduring power not only in Eastern European folk belief but also in American popular culture right up to the present day. Gen Ed: HuL, LCC
MLT 261. Cinema, Crimes, and Punishment. (Not offered 2009-10). Investigates the irrational in our human psyche and inquires into the problems of desire, suffering, violence, and death. Films by Truffaut, Bergman, Hitchcock, Balabanov, and Mikhalkov are studied. Gen Ed: LCC
MLT 262. Russia: Magnificence, Mayhem, and Mafia (Not offered 2009-10). Through analysis of literature, film, and visual arts we will discuss the Russian impact on the world with all its manifestations, constructive and destructive, and we will also attempt to “imagine” Russia in the future. Do you want to know more about Dostoevsky, communist and post-communist Russia, and, most importantly, the Russian Mafia? GenEd: HuL LCC
MLT 263. Nationalism and Empire: Russian Music and Art of the 19th Century (Not offered 2009-10). The philosophical tenets of Romanticism and Nationalism as depicted in Russian music and art of the mid-19th century. We will concentrate on the interaction between music and art to explore methods by which Russian artists and composers manipulated canvases and scores to express issues of Nationalism. The course is thematically organized to explore such topics as identity politics, ethnicity, and nation and empire. Class material will draw from documentary films, and theoretical and critical texts on culture, identity, nationalism and romanticism. GenEd: LCC
MLT 264. Illness and Its Representation: Madness, Disease and Death in 19th- and 20th-Century Russian Culture (Not offered 2009-10). In this course we will investigate illness and its various representations in 19th and 20th century Russian culture. Specific emphasis will be placed on madness, disease and death in our discussion of various literary and historical madmen. The course will be conducted as a combination of lectures and class discussion. An occasional film will be shown. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 265. Soviet and Russian Film Revolutions: Political, Social, Cultural. (Spring; Arndt). At its inception, Soviet film was intertwined with political revolution. In masterpieces such as Eisenstein’s The Battleship Potemkin and Pudovkin’s Mother, film directors sought to portray the Bolshevik take-over as a legitimate and inevitable response to oppression. Who could imagine that the same country would produce Little Vera, a film about the sexual revolution of the 1980s or Brother, a hero-story about assassins? This course will follow the trajectory of Soviet and Russian cinema from the 1917 Revolution to the present day, as it was used to chronicle social and cultural upheavals. GenEd: LCC
Spanish
MLT 270. The Way of St. James: An Interdisciplinary Study (Also AAH 212) (Not offered 2009-10). Prerequisite to the course “Hiking the Trail in Spain.” Teaches the history, literature, art, and architecture of the route to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. Readings include selections from Berceo, the Songs of Mary, and various texts on Romanesque art and architecture. GenEd: HuL,LCC
MLT 271T. Hiking the Trail in Spain (Also AAH 213T) (Not offered 2009-10). Students who take this “mini-term” abroad must have taken MLT 270 on campus. The course takes place in Spain, where students will walk a portion of the actual route to Santiago de Compostela. GenEd: LCC
MLT 272. Art and Politics in Spain: From the Civil War to Postfrancoism and Postmodernity(Not offered 2009-10). The impact that political events of this century in Spain have had on Spanish society and culture, as manifested in the arts in general and in literature in particular. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 273. Re-Viewing Spanish Cinema: From Dictators, Bullfighters and Flamenco to Nationalisms and Globalization(Not offered 2009-10). This course examines the works of such well known artists/filmmakers as Medem, Almodóvar, Bigas Luna, de la Iglesia, Aménabar, among others, who often directly engage with questions of “Spanishness,” of the nature of regional and ethnic diversity and identities within Spain, and the place of these identities in the wider framework of filmmaking in Europe. Furthermore, it will also study popular cinema which has been successful in a national context under the Franco regime and since the coming of democracy in the 1970s. GenEd: LCC
MLT 274. Trash and Transgression: Spanish Surrealism and Popular Culture in Dalí, Lorca and Buñuel (Not offered 2009-10). This course studies the work of a group of young Spanish poets, playwrights, filmmakers and painters, generally known as the Group of ’27, who constituted the most important Spanish renaissance of the last centuries, and which was broken abruptly by the Civil War of 1936. We will examine the popular roots of some of their works as well as some of their most distinct contributions to Surrealism, as exemplified by Buñuel’s cinematic innovation and its religious conflictions and repressed sexual longings. Gen.Ed. HuL, LCC
MLT 280. The Nobel Laureates of Latin America. (Not offered 2009-10).An analysis of aesthetic, philosophical, and political problems in Latin American literature as expressed in the writings of five laureates — Gabriela Mistral, Pablo Neruda, Miguel Angel Asturias, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Octavio Paz. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 281. Screening Identities in Latin American Cinema (Not offered 2009-10). A survey of the main trends in film production in Latin America since the 1950s (Mexican Golden Age Cinema, Brazilian Cinema Novo, Cuban Imperfect Cinema, Mexican New Wave, the 1990’s and beyond). Readings and discussions on issues of film history, aesthetics, representation and reception will frame our critical reflection on the construction of identities (inner-city youth, gender roles, masculinities, race and ethnicity, and US Latinos). GenEd: LCC
MLT 282. North/South Relations and Diasporic Politics (Not offered 2009-10). This course explores the cultural and political interaction between North and South that historically has helped to define the geography of the Americas. As an interdisciplinary course, North/South will draw students into ongoing debates about linguistic and intercultural exchange and conflict within hemispheric politics. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 283. Beyond the Sunny Paradise: Literature and Politics in the Caribbean (Not offered 2009-10). An interdisciplinary study of Caribbean literature focusing on the political history of the region from 1898 to the present. Pan-Caribbean literary survey (Alvarez, Arenas, Bosch, Cartagena-Portalatin, Zobel, Danticat, Ferre, Kincaid, Naipaul, Santos-Febres, Ana Lydia Vega, among others). Besides the literary texts, films and substantive readings will contribute to an examination of five main topics: Legacies of Colonialism; Race and Ethnicity; Constructed Identities; U.S. Dominance and Interventionism; and Caribbean Diaspora. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 284. Popular Religion and Politics in Latin America (Not offered 2009-10). In this course we will examine the connection between politics and popular religions in Latin America, taking a critical view of several of their manifestations without losing track of the language and “sciences” historically used to describe them. We will engage biblical, anthropological, videographic, ethno-historical and cultural theory texts as well as oral histories and collective memories. The final goal is to tease out those ideas that have traditionally defined the terms in which we understand and explain the “popular” in religious behavior; to understand better the conflicted relationship between “popular” cultural and institutional spaces; and finally to understand why the evolution of popular religions in Latin America cannot be examined without also taking into account their political economy. GenEd: LCC
MLT 285. From Virgin to Sex Goddess: Re-Envisioning the Chicana Experience Through Art and Literature (Not offered 2009-10). In “Guadalupe the Sex Goddess,” Sandra Cisneros gives the Virgin of Guadalupe an “extreme makeover.” She undresses the sacred image and envelops her in a cloak of contemporary sexual politics. In the same vein, other Chicana artists and writers re-examine, re-present, and re-write traditional practices to define the experience of the Mexican-American woman in the late 20th century. This course presents students with the resisting and affirming powers of Chicana works of art. It introduces them to the Mexican-American civil rights movement and to myths and archetypes in order to allow for a reevaluation of gender identities through installation art, muralism, poster art, and painting. Issues of sexuality, language, ethnicity, race, and class will be examined through these visual art forms as well as in narratives and essays by authors as influential as Ana Castillo, Gloria Anzaldúa, Tey Diana Rebolledo, and, of course, the creator of the sex goddess herself, Sandra Cisneros. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 286T. Gender and Identity in Contemporary Brazilian Cinema (Not offered 2009-10). This course offers an interdisciplinary study of contemporary Brazilian cinema focusing on issues of representation, reception and spectatorship, and construction of (national, cultural, gender, and racial) identity. Besides the films, reviews and substantive readings will contribute to an examination of five main topics: 1) Constructions of Gender; 2) Representations of National Identity; 3) Race and Class; 4) Queer Images; and, 5) Imagining Marginality. All films studied in class will link two or more of these topics. GenEd: LCC
MLT 287. Filming Margins: Cinema Verité and Social Realism in Latin America (Not offered 2009-10). This course studies different styles of documentary and realist film making from Latin America. It looks critically and with a “film-eye” at the aesthetics and socio-political meanings of conventional and experimental documentary films dealing with marginalized peoples and their representation, such as Buñuel’s Los Olvidados (1950), Hector Babenco’s Pixote (1981) and Fernando Meirelles’ City of God (2002), and others. GenEd: LCC
MLT 288. Torture and Dictatorship in Latin American Literature (Not offered 2009-10). This course is an exploration of Latin-American literature in the twentieth century with a particular focus on the Dirty War in Argentina (1976-1983) and the early years after the military coups in Uruguay and Chile during the same time period. Readings include texts by writers who stayed in Argentina and Chile and who wrote under the confines of censorship, texts by exiled writers and essays theories of violence, torture and censorship. The class will also include viewings and analysis of films related to the events in those countries. We will also discuss the gendering of nation, the government and the victims—and will study the phenomenon of nation and people as the feminine “body” on which the male government exacts its control and punishment. We will also analyze the contrasts between literature written under the constraints of censorship, and that of exile. GenEd: HuL, LCC
MLT 289. Literature of the Mexican-American Border(Not offered 2009-10). This is a class in literature, film and essays from both sides of the Mexican-American border. This course is designed to give students an understanding of the complexities of the history, culture and sense of identity of residents from both sides. The class will be discussion based and will focus on the close readings of novels, poems, short stories and plays. GenEd: HuL, LCC
Course Offerings in Individual Languages
Arabic Language Sequence
ARB 100. Basic Arabic 1 (Not offered 2009-10). Basic skills for students who begin with no knowledge of Arabic.
ARB 101. Basic Arabic II (Not offered 2009-10). A continuation of Arabic 100. Prerequisite: Arabic 100 or permission of instructor.
ARB 102. Basic Arabic III (Not offered 2009-10). A continuation of Arabic 101. Prerequisite: Arabic 101 or permission of instructor.
ARB 200: Intermediate Arabic I (Not offered 2009-10). Review and continued development of all skills in Arabic. Prerequisite: Arabic 102 or permission of the instructor.
Chinese Language Sequence
CHN 100. Basic Chinese I (Fall). Basic skills for students who begin with no knowledge of Mandarin.
CHN 101. Basic Chinese II (Winter). A continuation of Chinese 100. Prerequisite: Chinese 100 or permission of instructor.
CHN 102. Basic Chinese III (Spring). A continuation of Chinese 101. Prerequisite: Chinese 101 or permission of the instructor.
CHN 103. Chinese for the Term Abroad (Not offered 2009-10). An introduction to Chinese language, combining Basic Chinese I and culture components. Open to students going on the term abroad or those with general interest in learning Chinese. Students who took CHN 100-102 sequence cannot take this course.
CHN 200. Intermediate Chinese I (Fall). Review, and continued development of all skills in Mandarin.:
CHN 201. Intermediate Chinese II (Winter). Continuation of Chinese 200. Prerequisite: Chinese 200 or permission of instructor.
CHN 202. Intermediate Chinese III (Spring). Continuation of Chinese 201. Prerequisite: Chinese 201 or permission of instructor.
CHN 204T, 205T. The Chinese Language Studied Abroad (Fall term in Shanghai). See International Programs.
CHN 250T, 251T. The Chinese Language Studied Independently Abroad.
CHN 300. Advanced Chinese I (Fall). Continued formal study of the Chinese language. Prerequisite: Chinese 202 or equivalent.
CHN 301. Advanced Chinese II (Winter). A continuation of Chinese 300. Prerequisite: Chinese 300 or permission of instructor.
CHN 302. Advanced Chinese III (Spring). A continuation of Chinese 301. Prerequisite: Chinese 301 or permission of instructor.
French: Language Sequence
FRN 100. Basic French I (Fall, Winter). Basic skills for students who begin with no knowledge of French.
FRN 101. Basic French II (Winter, Spring). A continuation of French 100. Prerequisite: French 100 or two years of secondary school French.
FRN 102. Basic French III (Fall, Spring). A continuation of French 101, with introduction of readings. Prerequisite: French 101 or three years of secondary school French
FRN 200. Intermediate French I (Fall, Winter). Intensive review and development of all language skills, with emphasis on vocabulary building, conversation, and composition. Prerequisite: French 102 or equivalent.
FRN 201. Intermediate French II (Winter, Spring). Continuation of extensive review and development, vocabulary building, conversation, and composition. Prerequisite: French 200 or equivalent.
FRN 204T-207T. The French Language Studied Abroad (Fall term in Rennes).
FRN 250T, 251T. The French Language Studied Independently Abroad.
FRN 303. Advanced French (Spring; Ndiaye). Advanced language training for students who have completed the term abroad in Rennes or who have had similar experience. Examination of finer points of grammar, stylistics, and phonetics. Prerequisite: FRN 204T or equivalent.
French and Francophone Studies
(Prerequisite for 300-level courses listed in this section is French 201 or another 300-level course. Prerequisite for all 400-level courses is a 300-level course.)
FRN 208T. Contemporary France (Fall term in Rennes). See Terms Abroad program. Gen Ed: LCC
FRN 300. Modern France/La France actuelle (Spring; Ndiaye). Studies of contemporary French culture through authentic material — texts, films, radio, and television broadcasts dealing with current historical, political, sociological, and aesthetic issues. Prerequisite: French 201, any 300-level or permission of instructor. GenED: LCC
FRN 301. A Survey of French Literature I (Not offered 2009-10). The evolution of French literature from the earliest writings through the age of Enlightenment. Readings of major works from each period to illustrate trends. Prerequisite: French 201, any 300-level or permission of instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
FRN 302. A Survey of French Literature II (Not offered 2009-10). Selected works representing literature and society from the late eighteenth century to the present. Readings of works from each period to illustrate cultural, historical, and artistic trends. Prerequisite: French 201, any 300-level or permission of instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
FRN 304.Studies in the French Caribbean (Fall; Ndiaye). Exploration of how French colonialism has informed artistic expression in the French Antilles. Taking Martinique as a point of departure, we will examine how colonial and post-colonial subjects represent and are represented through literary, theatrical, and musical productions. Themes to include notions of négritude, créolité, and bilingualism, as well as issues of class and gender. Prerequisite: French 201, any 300-level or permission of instructor. Gen-Ed: HuL, LCC
FRN 305T. Mini-term in Martinique (Not offered 2009-10). See Terms Abroad Program. Continuation of the themes of FRN 304, studied and experienced on the island of Martinique. Prerequisite: FRN 304. Gen Ed: LCC
FRN 306T. Readings in French and Francophone Culture (Fall term in Rennes). See Terms Abroad Program. France and the French of today as reflected in selected literary works from various genres and periods. Prerequisite: French 201, any 300-level or permission of instructor. Gen Ed: HuL, LCC
FRN 307. Negritude Movement: Point of Departure in Black African and Afro-Caribbean Literatures in French (Not offered 2009-10). This study of the Black diaspora in French in the 1930s examines a variety of political and literary strategies developed in reaction to French colonial policies before the era of official independences. We consider authors such as Césaire, Damas, Senghor, Fanon, and Sartre to better understand how these writers represent influences on the literatures of decolonization and post-colonial identity. Prerequisite: French 201, any 300-level or permission of instructor. Gen Ed: HuL, LCC
FRN 308. Women on Top: Great Women Writers and Characters of French Narrative Fiction (Not offered 2009-10). French language women writers and the women they write about in their novels and short stories. Authors may include Claire de Duras, George Sand, Colette, Anne Hébert, Marguerite Yourcenar, Simone de Beauvoir, Marguerite Duras, Andrée Chédid and Mariama Bâ. Focus on cultural, historical and political positioning of both writers and their subjects. Prerequisite: French 201, any 300-level or permission of instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
FRN 309. Identifying Desire, Desiring Identity: French and Francophone Non-Narrative Literature (Not offered 2009-10). This course will explore French and Francophone theatre and poetry through the lenses of identity and desire. We will in particular examine notions of self and of other as they are set in play through various dramatic and poetic texts, including, but not limited to, those of Labé, Racine, Baudelaire, Tremblay, Césaire, and Schwartz-Bart. Prerequisite: French 201, any 300-level or permission of instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
FRN 311. Studies in Francophone North America: Quebec(Not offered 2009-10). Exploration of the cultural, literary, and linguistic expressions from the province of Quebec, situating it in the historical and social context of the French-speaking Americas. Focusing on artistic expression from novels to film, we will examine the multiplicities of identities at play in the spaces of Francophone North America as we explore such themes as colonialism, bilingualism, and culturally informed demonstrations of self-determination, revolt, and accommodation. GenEd: HuL, LCC
FRN 312. What is French Cinéma?/Qu’est-ce que le cinéma français? (Also MLT215) (Not offered 2009-10). This course moves from an introduction to the earliest examples of French and world cinema, to an in-depth study of widely recognized classics of French cinema, considered in chronological order from 1933 to 1985, so as to develop an appreciation for the history, genre, and particular theme(s) of each film, as well as its originality. Students will learn how to talk about and write analytical papers on the films according to critical, cultural, and technological considerations, in order to determine what, if anything, is particularly “French” about French cinema. The course is taught in English, but students taking the course for French credit will read all materials in French, and assignments will be written in French. GenEd: LCC
FRN 400. Whose Enlightenment? (Not offered 2009-10). Eighteenth-century France’s philosophical tradition, focusing on debates over sex, race, class, education and revolution. Writers may include: Rousseau, Toussaint Louverture, Voltaire, Louise d’Epinay, Olympe de Gouges, Condorcet, Marie Antoinette, and Sade. Prerequisite: One course at the 300 level. GenEd: HuL, LCC
FRN 401. The Writers of Romanticism. (Winter; Loth) Writers of personal and imaginative prose, poetry, and drama follwing the French Revolution. The beginning of Realism. Prerequisite: One course at the 300 level. GenEd: HuL, LCC
FRN 402. Sex Lives and Videotape: Casting Sexuality in French and Francophone Film (Also MLT 212) (Winter; Chilcoat). Analysis and critique of films whose focus is the “sexual orientation” of its characters. Films may include La Cage aux folles, Les Diaboliques, French Twist, Sitcom, Ma Vie en rose, Woubi Chéri. Theoretical and critical works by authors such as Michel Foucault, Monique Wittig, Simone de Beauvoir, Susan Hayward, Laura Mulvey, Sigmund Freud, and Kate Bornstein will inform our study of these films. Readings in both French and English. All films subtitled. GenEd: LCC
FRN 403. Studies in the French Theater (Not offered 2009-10). Studies of French-language theatrical texts and performances from the classical period to the present. Prerequisite: One course at the 300 level. GenEd: HuL, LCC
FRN 411. The 20th Century Novel (Spring; Batson). Scandale! Exploration of significant writings from twentieth-century France that have been considered scandalous and scandal-making. Examination of these novels, particular blendings of content and form, and interrogation of the various re-evaluations of identity and expression that they ask their reader to engage in. Explorations of these novels, questions of class, race, nationality, species, sex, and gender. Representative authors: Gide, Proust, Colette, Vian, Darieussecq. Gen Ed: HuL, LCC
FRN 420. Artist at Hero, 1800-1930 (Also MLT210)(Not offered 2009-10). The reaction of the artistic temperament to its time, and of the times to the artistic temperament. GenEd:: HuL, LCC
FRN 421. Histoire de la danse, Danse de l’histoire / History of Dance, Dance of History (Also ADA 53, MLT 211)(Not offered 2009-10). Examination of Western European dance and dance texts as revelatory of broader historical and cultural patterns, with special analyses of dance as a key tool of nation-building (as with the court of Louis XIV) and/or a central medium of artistic creation (as in 1920s Paris). Primary focus on France as creator, user, and potential abuser of dance’s power, but some attention given other European models (Berlin, St. Petersburg, London). Readings from theoreticians, historians, and dance littérateurs (Molière, Gautier, Cocteau). GenEd: HuL, LCC
FRN 430. West African Oral Literature (Also MLT 213) (Not offered 2009-10). West-African oral genres with a focus on tales and epics in their form and ideologies. Through a study of the oral literature of the region, we will explore the socio-cultural structures of ancient West Africa, their collapse through religious and colonial implications, and their vestiges in today’s Africa. GenEd: HuL, LCC
FRN 431. Voices of Francophonie Literature from French-Speaking Countries and Territories other than France (Not offered 2009-10). The ways contemporary writers from former French colonies in West and North Africa and from the French-speaking Caribbean stress local, social, political, religious, and gender matters in their novels and short-stories. We also examine these writers’ particular use of the French language according to local meanings and other strategies they develop to redefine post-colonial societies. Among selected writers we have Calixthe Beyala, Mariama Bâ, Assia Djebar, Rachid Minouni, Patrick Chamoiseau, and Maryse Condé. Prerequisite, One course at the 300-level. Gen Ed: HuL, LCC
FRN 489. Senior Project (Winter; Ndiaye). The seminar will provide a forum in which a French or Francophone topic of current interest and importance is explored in depth. Students will gain experience in giving oral presentations and critically evaluating the written work of both established scholars and fellow students, and they must submit a paper to fulfill the senior writing requirement. WS
FRN 490-492. Independent Study (Fall, Winter, Spring). Individual directed readings in French literature. Prerequisite: At least one course at the 400-level and permission of the instructor.
German Cultural Studies Program
The German Program offers instruction in language, culture, and literature from beginning to advanced levels. Students can complete a minor and a major or interdepartmental major in German Cultural Studies. All students are well served if they combine their study of German with second fields (e.g. another language, the arts, economics, engineering, history, international studies and management, and/or political science). Language study and the experience of the Term Abroad with their resulting linguistic fluency and cultural sensitivity greatly enhance students’ opportunities as they pursue careers in their chosen fields.
German Language Sequence
GER 100. Basic German I (Fall). Basic skills for students who begin with no knowledge of German.
GER 101. Basic German II (Winter). Continuation of German 100. Prerequisite: German 100 or two years of secondary school German.
GER 102. Basic German III (Spring). Continuation of German 101, with introduction of readings. Prerequisite: German 101 or three years of secondary school German
GER 200. Intermediate German I (Fall). Intensive grammar review, emphasis on vocabulary building, idiomatic expressions, conversation, and composition based on cultural and literary texts. Prerequisite: German 102 or equivalent.
GER 201. Intermediate German II (Fall, Winter). Continuation of extensive grammar review, vocabulary building, conversation, and composition based on more advanced cultural and literary texts. Prerequisite: German 200 or equivalent.
GER 202. Advanced German (Not offered 2009-10). Mastery of the spoken and written language, with an emphasis on the finer points of grammar, style, and colloquial expression. Prerequisite: German 201 or equivalent.
GER 204T-207T. German Language and Culture Studies Abroad (Spring). See International Programs.
GER 250T-251T. The German Language Studied Independently Abroad.
German Cultural Studies Courses
The study and critical understanding of the literature of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, in the context of their larger cultural, social, political, and intellectual history.
Prerequisite for 300-level courses listed in this section is German 201 or another 300-level course. Prerequisite for all 400-level courses is a 300-level course.
GER 300T. German Civilization (Spring in Freiburg/Berlin; Nelson). See International Programs. An introduction to the cultural history of German speaking Europe. Prerequisite: GER 201 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: LCC
GER 301. German Culture and the Professions (Not offered 2009-10). Focus on business oriented linguistic competence (certification possible) and cultural sensitivity, combined with an introduction to the economic history of Germany 1945-present day. Prerequisite: GER 201 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: LCC
GER 302. German Prose: A Survey (Not offered 2009-10). Selected works representing literature and society from the late eighteenth century to the present. Readings of works from each period to illustrate cultural, historical, and artistic trends. Prerequisite: GER 201 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
GER 303. German Drama: A Survey (Not offered 2009-10). Theory and practice of German theater from the Enlightenment to the Present. Prerequisite: GER 201 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
GER 304.Once Upon a Time: German Fairy Tales, Folklore, and Fantasy(Not offered 2009-10). Exploration of the genre and tradition of the German Fairy Tale, its reception within various cultural frameworks, and its influence on later literature of the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with special focus on identifying aesthetic, sociological, psychological, and psychoanalytical implications and gender issues. The Grimm Brothers’ Kinder- und Hausmärchen (and their revisions in popular and literary culture) will provide a basis for discussing the fairy tale’s role in culture and its continued vitality within the different cultural frameworks of classical, romantic, and modern folklore and fantasy storytelling. GenEd: HUL, LCC
GER 306. Twentieth Century German Literature (Not offered 2009-10). Representative works by major writers, read as expressions of concern about their times. Prerequisite: GER 201 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
GER 330. Forging a Nation – German Culture and Society I (1750-1914) (Also MLT 230) (Not offered 2009-10). Study of the social, political and cultural challenges of building a unified German identity and nation—including religious tolerance, imperialism, sexual politics industrialization and urbanization. Prerequisite: GER 201. GenEd: HuL, LCC
GER 331. Guns, Jazz & Politics—German Culture and Society II (1914-1933) (Also MLT 231). (Not offered 2009-10). Study of how violence, economic and political volatility, technology, and changing moral codes affected German society and culture (literature, visual arts, film, music) from the onset of the First World War to the rise of Hitler. Prerequisite: GER 201. GenEd: HuL, LCC
GER 332. Identity after the Holocaust – German Culture and Society III (1945-Present) (Also MLT 232) Not offered 2009-10). Study of the cultural, political, and social impact of WWII’s mass violence on modern Germany, focusing on issues such as denazification and reeducation, rebellious youth, the ‘Historian’s debate,’ and reunification. Prerequisite: GER 201. GenEd: HuL, LCC
GER 333. Metropolis Berlin: Cultural Representations of Germany’s Capital (Also MLT 233) Not offered 2009-10). An exploration of how the city Berlin has been constructed and contested as a political and cultural as well as physical site in art and architecture, literature and film. Prerequisite: GER 201. GenEd: HuL, LCC
GER 334. Femme fatales? Women in 19th and 20th Century German Culture and Society (Also MLT 234) (Not offered 2009-10). An examination of female sexuality as one of the central controversies of modern German culture. In addition to analyzing cultural artifacts (plays, films, paintings), we will discuss such diverse social phenomena as the Women’s movement, morality crusades, psychoanalysis, and sexology. Prerequisite: GER 201. GenEd: HuL,LCC
GER 335. Voices from Abroad: German Exile Culture, 1933-1990 (Also MLT 235) (Not offered 2009-10). This course, taught in translation, is designed for both Germanists and other students of literature interested in exploring notions of exile and the particular cultural artifacts, including novels, films, essays and poetry, that bear witness to the struggle of artists exiled from WWII Germany and Austria. The class additionally examines texts by current émigrés to Germany and incorporates theoretical assessments of exile, considering works by Said, Milosz and others. GenEd: HuL, LCC
GER 336. The Thrill of Victory: Reading German Sports (and) Culture (Also MLT 336). (Not offered 2009-10). This course traces the ways that Sports have reflected and influenced German culture through the 20th century, analyzing links between athleticism and conceptions of gender, nationhood, individuality and race set out in literary texts, films, and visual arts. Exploring notions of victory, physical perfection, and spectatorship, we will consider works by some of Germany’s greatest authors and artists, including Kafka, Schnitzler, Brecht, Riefenstahl, Kirschner and Handke.GenEd: HuL, LCC
GER 337. Flashy Erotics to Forbidden Laughter: German Cabaret through the 20th Century (Not offered 2009-10). This course explores the German “Kabarett,” a dramatic form essential to German culture throughout the 20th Century. Very versatile, cabaret throughout Germany’s history was at times didactic, subversive, raunchy, witty, extravagant and sharply critical. We examine cabaret’s development in contexts ranging from Weimar and Vienna, to Nazi and Concentration Camp forms, to East and West German political cabaret, and contemporary forms, considering the institutions and figures that shaped cabaret over time. GenEd: HuL, LCC
GER 339. The Shoah in Film: Cinematic Treatments of Holocaust Trauma and Memory (Also MLT339) (Not offered 2009-10). The course examines cinematic representations of the Holocaust in the films of German, German-Jewish, and other European filmmakers. Comparing and contrasting a variety of film genres and cinematic techniques, we explore fundamental questions about the relationships between art and history, representation and experience and memory and responsibility. By considering theoretical and historical readings as well, we situate the films within significant intellectual and historical contexts. Prerequisite: German 201 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: LCC
GER 401. Meeting the Other: Multiculturalism in Contemporary Germany (Not offered 2009-10). Analyzing recent cultural productions by minorities (literature, music and films) with respect to national, cultural, and sexual self-representations in the context of social and political developments. Prerequisite: Any 300-level course or permission of the instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
GER 402. German Film Studies (Not offered 2009-10). Decoding film-specific ‘narratives’ in German movies on the background of socio-political, economic, and cultural conditions of their production. Prerequisite: Any 300-level course or permission of the instructor. GenEd: LCC
GER 403. Shoah: Literary, Artistic and Filmic Representations of the Holocaust (Not offered 2009-10). Comparing and contrasting works of German and German-Jewish writers. Prerequisite: Any 300-level course or permission of the instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
GER 489. Senior Writing Project (Winter, Spring; Nelson, Ricci Bell).
GER 490-492. Independent Study (Fall, Winter, Spring). Individual directed readings in German literature. Prerequisite: At least one course at the 400-level and permission of the instructor.
Hebrew
HEB 100. Basic Hebrew I (Fall). A basic course for students who begin with no knowledge of Hebrew. Structure, reading, and audiolingual training.
HEB 101. Basic Hebrew II (Winter). A basic course for students who begin with no knowledge of Hebrew. Structure, reading, and audiolingual training.
HEB 102. Basic Hebrew III (Spring). A basic course for students who begin with no knowledge of Hebrew. Structure, reading, and audiolingual training.
Italian
ITL 100. Basic Italian I (Winter). A foundation course in Italian, open only to students who have been accepted for specific International Programs.
ITL 104T. The Italian Language Studied Abroad (Spring term in Florence). A continuation of Basic Italian I. Prerequisite: Italian 100. See International Programs.
ITL 250T, 251T. The Italian Language Studied Independently Abroad.
Japanese
JPN 100. Basic Japanese I (Fall). A foundation course in Japanese. Study of the structure of the language is supported by laboratory work, audiolingual training.
JPN 101. Basic Japanese II (Winter). A continuation of Japanese 100. Prerequisite: Japanese 100.
JPN 102. Basic Japanese III (Spring). A continuation of Japanese 101.
JPN 200. Intermediate Japanese I (Fall). Emphasis on grammar review and skills of oral communication. Prerequisite: Japanese 102 or equivalent.
JPN 201. Intermediate Japanese II (Winter). Continuation of grammar review and communication skills. Prerequisite: Japanese 200 or equivalent.
JPN 202. Intermediate Japanese III (Spring). A continuation of Japanese 201.
JPN 204T. The Japanese Language Studied Abroad (Fall; Term in Japan). A continuation of Basic Japanese I. Prerequisite: Japanese 100. See International Programs.
JPN 205T. Written Japanese Abroad (Fall; Term in Japan). A continuation of Basic Japanese I. Prerequisite: Japanese 100. See International Programs.
JPN 250T-252T (160A-162A). The Japanese Language Studied Independently Abroad.
JPN 300. Advanced Intermediate Japanese I (Winter; Lafave). Continued formal study of the Japanese language. Prerequisite: Japanese 202 or equivalent.
JPN 301. Advanced Intermediate Japanese II (Spring; Lafave). Continuation of Japanese 300. Prerequisite: Japanese 300 or permission of the instructor.
JPN 302. Advanced Intermediate Japanese III (Not offered 2009-10). Continuation of Japanese 301. Prerequisite: Japanese 301 or permission of the instructor.
JPN 490-492. Japanese Independent Study. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
Portuguese
POR 100. Basic Portuguese I. (Not offered 2009-10) A foundation course in Portuguese, open only to students who have been accepted for the following fall’s term abroad in Brazil. Study of the structure of the language supported by laboratory work, audio-lingual training.
POR 104T. Portuguese Language Studied Abroad (Not offered 2009-10). A continuation of Basic Portuguese I. Prerequisite: Portuguese 100. See International Programs.
POR 200. Intermediate Portuguese I. (Spring). Intermediate Portuguese I is an intensive and accelerated grammar review, and offers vocabulary growth. This course furthers the development of conversation, reading and writing skills based on a variety of cultural text and authentic cultural artifacts.
POR 490. Portuguese Independent Study. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
Russian
RUS 100. Basic Russian I (Fall). For students with no knowledge of Russian. An introduction to the language, with emphasis on oral skills and communicative proficiency.
RUS 101. Basic Russian II (Winter). Continuation of Russian 100. Prerequisite: Russian 100 or two years of high school Russian.
RUS 102. Basic Russian III (Spring). A continuation of Russian 101, with increasing attention paid to reading simple, every day texts. Prerequisite: Russian 101 or equivalent.
RUS 200. Intermediate Russian I (Fall). Intensive development of the four proficiency skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing) with continued emphasis on strategies of basic conversation. Prerequisite: Russian 102 or equivalent.
RUS 201. Intermediate Russian II (Winter). Continuation of Russian 200. Prerequisite: Russian 200 or equivalent.
RUS 202. Advanced Russian (Spring). Development of skills and vocabulary necessary to deal with conversation about and texts on Russian cultural life. Basic grammar review. Prerequisite: Russian 201 or equivalent.
RUS 224T-227T. The Russian Language Studied Abroad.
RUS 250T, 251T. The Russian Language Studied Independently Abroad.
Russian Literature and Culture
RUS 230. Contemporary Russian Culture (Not offered 2009-10). A course that combines expanding oral, aural, and written skills with an introduction to contemporary issues in Russian culture and political life. Prerequisite: Russian 202 or instructor’s permission. GenEd: LCC
RUS 300. Survey of Russian Literature I: From Pushkin to Revolution (Not offered 2009-10). Readings that begin with the godfather of Russian literary life, Aleksander Pushkin, and that ends on the eve of the October revolution. Continued attention to development of vocabulary and oral presentation. Prerequisite: Russian 202 or instructor’s permission. GenEd: HuL, LCC
RUS 301. Survey of Russian Literature II: From Revolution to Present (Not offered 2009-10). Readings ranging from the great revolutionary writers (Mayokovsky, Babel, Platonov, etc.) to contemporary writers of interest. Prerequisite: Russian 300. GenEd: HuL, LCC
RUS 302. The Russian Short Story: Pathologies of the Everyday (Not offered 2009-10). A survey of Russian short prose, with emphasis on its reflected/distorted images of Russian everyday life. Includes Gogol, Tolstoy, Gorky, Kharms, Petrushevskaia, and others. GenEd: HuL, LCC
RUS 330. Special Topic in Russian Culture: The Forbidden: Eroticism, Passion and Death in Russian Culture (Not offered 2009-10). Through analysis of literature, film and painting we will ask questions such as: Is there a necessary link between the erotic and the forbidden? What does a portrayal of passion tell us about a society’s value system? Is death in Russian culture celebrated or condemned? GenEd:HuL, LCC
RUS 490-492. Independent Study (Fall, Winter, Spring). Prerequisites: One 300-level course and permission of the instructor.
Spanish Language and Culture
SPN 100. Basic Spanish I (Fall). An introduction to the study of the Spanish language and culture through listening, speaking, reading, and writing. No prior knowledge of Spanish is required. Attendance of weekly sessions with the language assistant is required.
SPN 101. Basic Spanish II (Winter). A continuation of Spanish I. This course further develops all language skills. Prerequisite: Spanish 100 or two years of Spanish at high school level. Attendance of weekly sessions with the language assistant is required.
SPN 102. Basic Spanish III (Spring). A continuation of Spanish II. This course further develops all language skills. Prerequisite: Spanish 101 or three years of Spanish at high school level. Attendance of weekly sessions with the language assistant is required.
SPN 200. Intermediate Spanish I (Fall, Winter, Spring). Intensive and accelerated grammar review, and vocabulary growth. Further development of conversation and writing skills based on cultural texts. Prerequisite: Spanish 102 or equivalent or four years of secondary school Spanish.
SPN 201. Intermediate Spanish II (Fall, Winter, Spring). Continuation of the intensive and accelerated grammar review and vocabulary growth initiated in the previous course. Further development of conversation and writing skills based on cultural and literary texts. Prerequisite: Spanish 200 or four years of secondary school Spanish.
SPN 202. Intermediate Spanish III (Fall, Winter, Spring). Continuation of the intensive and accelerated grammar review and vocabulary growth initiated in the previous course. Further development of conversation and writing skills based on literary texts. Prerequisite: Spanish 201 or four years of secondary school Spanish.
SPN 203. Advanced Spanish (Fall, Winter, Spring). The course emphasizes the further development of composition and writing skills using the process-writing approach. Writing production will consist of expository and creative pieces based on cultural and literary readings. Prerequisite: Spanish 202 or permission of the instructor.
SPN 204T-207T. The Spanish Language Studied Abroad (Winter). See International Programs.
SPN 208T. Spanish Civilization (Winter). See International Programs.
SPN 209T. Mexican Civilization (Not offered 2009-10).
SPN 250T, 251T (160A, 161A). The Spanish Language Studied Independently Abroad.
Literatures and Cultures (300-level courses)
Majors, ID majors, and minors must take two 300-level courses from different clusters; there are four clusters (listed below). Prerequisite for 300-level courses listed in this section is SPN 203 or permission of the instructor.
Studies in Spanish Peninsular Literatures and Cultures (300-324)
SPN 300T. Love in Andalusia (Not offered 2009-10). A broad look at concepts of love in Spanish literature. The action of most of the texts takes place in Seville or in Andalusia. We will examine the treatment of love from the courtly to 20th-century erotica; authors will include Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Garcia Lorca, Paloma Pedrero and Lucia Etxeberria. Prerequisite: SPN 203 or permission of the instructor. See Terms Abroad Program. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 301. Pop, Punk, and Rock & Roll: Spanish Generation X Writers of the 1990s and the Mass Media (Not offered 2009-10). In this course we will study the narrative of the youngest generation of writers in Spain, those born after 1960 and publishing in the 1990s. We will examine their works in relation to the influence of the mass media on the construction of subject identities. How does the mass media and popular culture contribute to the self-definition of contemporary bodies? How does it infuse Generation X’s writing on a thematic and a technical level? We will answer these questions through repeated literary analysis of short stories by authors like Josan Hatero, Juan Bonilla, Marta Sanz, and Nuria Barrio and of novels like Amor, curiosidad, prozac y dudas by Lucía Etxebarria, and La pistola de mi hermano by Ray Loriga. Prerequisite: SPN 203 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 302. Open Your Eyes: Spanish Culture through Film since 1929 (Not offered 2009-10). In this course we will examine issues concerning Spanish culture through film. Students will learn to analyze, interpret and write about films, from note taking and first drafts to polished essays and research projects. At the same time, students will gain knowledge on the historical framework and the cultural and social environment of the films themselves. This double focus will lead to improved critical writing skills, better analytical abilities, and an increased sensitivity and understanding of cultural frameworks. Students will also gain knowledge of some of the most important directors and actors of the Iberian Peninsula. Prerequisite: SPN 203 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: LCC
SPN 303. Bodies and Souls: Saints, Sinners, and Spectacles in Early Modern Spain (Not offered 2009-10). This course will explore the image of the body and its role in intellectual and spiritual formation in the literature of Medieval and Golden Age Spain. We will examine various representations of the body as it is defined and manipulated within the context of the sexual, the spiritual, the profane, and the divine. Some of the key themes will include: the relationship between body and text, the regulation and control of the body, the imperfect, mutilated, and weak body, gender and authority, consuming bodies and eating communities, the body of the Other, the body as spectacle, and corporeal love and desire. Readings will include selections from medieval lyric poetry, medieval, renaissance, and baroque narrative, and Golden Age drama, as well as contemporary images of the body in films such as Fight Club, Thirteen, and María llena de gracia. Prerequisite: SPN 203 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: Hul, LCC
SPN 304. Performing Identities in Contemporary Spanish Theater (Not offered 2009-10). Representative works by Spain’s leading playwrights from the 1930s to the present (Garcia Lorca, Sastre, Buero Vallejo, Muñiz, Arrabal, Lopez Rubio, Cabal, Pedrero, Diosdado, Onetti) are studied from diverse theoretical approaches to reflect on the performative nature of identities. Prerequisite: Spanish 203 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 305. Music Videos and Reality Television in Contemporary Spanish Literature (Winter; Henseler). In this course we will analyze two novels, Héroes (1993) by Ray Loriga and Veo veo (1996) by Gabriela Bustelo, through theoretical articles and examples of music videos clips and reality television shows. Students will gain a historical and socio-cultural understanding of the characteristics that define contemporary Spanish Generation X narrative, and they will learn close reading and literary analytical skills. GenEd: LCC
SPN 309. Women’s Roles in Golden Age Spanish Theatre (Not offered 2009-10). In sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spain, theatrical productions, called comedias, were an extremely popular form of public entertainment. Many of the most celebrated literary figures of Golden Age Spain had theatrical ambitions, and comedias ranged in theme and tone from the stately and philosophical to the downright farcical. This course focuses on a set of well-known plays that feature prominent female characters. Each of these plays meditates on the role of women both on the stage and in society as a whole. Most of these plays depict strong women characters that transcend their prescribed social roles. Some of the women in these plays behave “like men,” even to the point of dressing like them, and we will use these theatrical works to examine the double standard that defined acceptable behavior of each gender. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 311(T). Otherness and Citizenship in Contemporary Spanish Theater and Cinema (Winter; Garcia). An introduction to the study of the dramatic and film genres through the analysis and discussion of contemporary works by Spanish playwrights (Alonso deSantos, Moral, Onetti, Pedrero) and filmmakers (Almodóvar, Bollaín, De la lglesia, León de Aranoa, Pons, Uribe). Theoretical readings and diverse critical approaches to theater and cinema frame the course around the portrayal of the Other (women, North African and Latin American immigrants, LGBT communities, Roma people, and the poor). The analysis of primary texts will center on how the authors/directors weave representations of difference into narratives of nationhood, engaging in cultural and political debates about citizenship. The course also aims to familiarize students with Spanish visual culture and performance from “la Movida” (immediate post-Franco period) to the new millennium. Prerequisite: Spanish 203 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: LCC
Studies in Latin American Literatures and Cultures (325-349)
SPN 325. Staging Conflict: Studies in One-Act Mexican Theater (Not offered 2009-10). This course surveys contemporary one-act Mexican theater focusing on the theatrical devices, trends, and discourses adopted by playwrights to explore conflictive issues in Mexican society and culture: urban violence, generational clashes within the family, sexual diversity, gender roles, consumerism, among others. The course offers an introduction to the study of drama and the analysis of theatrical signs, and it attempts to complement the students’ term abroad experience in Mexico by focusing on and contextualizing linguistic and cultural aspects in the texts. Students read texts by Emilio Carballido, Víctor Hugo Rascón Banda, Sabina Berman, Hugo Salcedo, among others. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 326. Women Weaving Histories: Short Narratives by Latin American Female Writers (Fall; Moyano). We will focus on short stories written in the 20th century by women throughout the Latin American region, including Isabel Allende (Chile), Elena Poniatowska (México), Luisa Velenzuela (Argentina), Rosario Ferré (Puerto Rico), Laura Antillano (Venezuela), María Teresa Solaris (Perú), Helena Araujo (Colombia), Clarice Lispector (Brasil), Claribel Alegría (El Salvador/Nicaragua), among others. We will examine how these women have fictionalized their political and social realities and called into question the myths surrounding their existence; how their narratives subvert notions of national history, and of female identity and sexuality in relation to private and public spaces. Prerequisite: Spanish 203 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 327. The Nation at Home: Family and Nationhood in Spanish American Theater (Not offered 2009-10). An introduction to the study of the dramatic genre through the analysis and discussion of representative works by Spanish American playwrights (Triana, Wolff, Diaz, Gambaro, Argüelles, Berman, Canales, among others). Theoretical readings and diverse critical approaches to theater frame the course around the representation of family as a microcosm in which narratives of nationhood are contested, revised, and imagined. Prerequisite: Spanish 203 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 328. Inquiring Latin American Identities: Reading Context, Space & Cultural Artifacts (Winter; Osuna). This course examines various aspects of the cultures of Latin America today. Latin-American cultures are conceived as processes initiated and sustained by the confluences of radically different cultures that molded and continue to shape the lives of its people. The course explores the impact of such encounters with regard to gender relations, ethnicity, urban spaces, cultural practices and beliefs. Substantive theoretical readings will complement the assignments. GenEd: LCC
SPN 329. Interruptions: The Paradox of Tradition in Spanish American Poetry (Not offered 2009-10). Octavio Paz describes modern literature as a “tradition of discontinuity,” one that constantly rebels against itself in search of innovation. This course examines Paz’s assertion through the study of foundational Spanish American poets. As we read and discuss each poet’s contribution to modern literature we will also study the characteristics that manifest a Spanish American poetic tradition. The course’s objectives are centered on strengthening student’s process of language acquisition, developing analytical skills, and reinforcing writing proficiency through reading poetry. Students will also have the opportunity to share their knowledge and collaborate in a learning community through in-class discussion and oral presentations. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 330T. Mexican Women’s Contemporary Short Fiction. (Not offered 2009-10). This course focuses on Mexican women’s contemporary short fiction. Its analytical structure centers on reading stories from three anthologies that deal with three of the most significant formative female experiences in contemporary Latin-American societies: the mother, the family, and schools. The axis of conversation and analysis follows a feminist theoretical path while keeping in mind also local cultural, social and economic realities, racial and ethnic identities, and temporal specificities. GenEd: HuL, LCC
Studies in Latina/o Literatures and Cultures (350-374)
SPN 350. Visions and Voices: Chicana Icons from Myth to Matter (Not offered 2009-10). La Virgen de Guadalupe, La Malinche, and Frida Kahlo surround us on a daily basis. We see them in our dreams and in ourselves; they are repeatedly embodied in contemporary life and art. In this course we will discuss the historical significance of these three figures in dialogue with feminist reappropriations of their iconic value in contemporary literature, art, and culture. We will examine how musicians, visual artists, poets, narrators, and playwrights reclaim the iconic significance of these women and give them new voice and body in order to reposition and redefine the sexual and social identities of contemporary women. Prerequisite: SPN 203 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
Studies in Comparative Perspectives (375-399)
SPN 375. Dreams, Mirages and Delusions in Peninsular and Latin American Fiction (Not offered 2009-10). This course examines the complex relationships between author, character, and audience and explores representations of reality through the subconscious, the magical real and the unreal. Readings include texts by Cervantes, Borges, Garcia Lorca, García Márquez, Cortazar, and Ana Lydia Vega. Prerequisite: SPN 203 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 376. Down to Earth: Cross-Cultural Explorations of the Hispanic World (Not offered 2009-10). This course furthers the development of cultural competency while maximizing language skills and providing the foundation for further studies in language, literature, and culture. The course is organized according to geographic regions that provide the framework to situate people and events in the context of historical pasts and contemporary cultural events. Prerequisite: Spanish 203 or permission of the instructor. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 378. Short Fiction: From Naturalism to Neoliberalism (Not offered 2009-10). How do science, economics and political events affect literature? Find out in this survey of short fiction from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day from Spain and Latin America. The course examines the ways in which national and international events are expressed in literature. GenEd: HuL, LCC
Literatures and Cultures (400-level courses)
(Prerequisites for 400-level courses listed in this section are two 300-level courses.)
SPN 400. Crossing Borders: A Study in Mexican and Chicano Literatures (Not offered 2009-10). An overview of Mexican and Chicano societies through literature and film dealing with Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Topics will cover malinchismo, machismo, maquiladoras, and identity from the critical perspective of border studies and transnationalism. We will read texts by Carlos Fuentes, Rosina Conde, Hugo Salcedo, Tomás Rivera, Cherrie Moraga, and others. Prerequisites: Two 300-level courses. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 401. Bodies and Power in Latin American Narrative (Not offered 2009-10). We will examine through narrative and film the metaphoric use of the body in literature and how it represents the effects of political and socio-economic power. We will read texts by Manuel Puig, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Laura Esquivel, among others. Prerequisites: Two 300-level courses. GenEd, HuL, LCC
SPN 402. Dressing Up the Canon: Cross-Dressing in Hispanic Literature and Film (Not offered 2009-10). The course is a survey of literary and cinematic texts in the Hispanic world that adopt cross-dressing as a subversive device to reflect on and deal with the questioning of authority at various arenas (gender roles, sexual and national identities, politics, and cultural hegemony). Authors and directors such as Juana Inés de la Cruz, García Lorca, Luis Riaza, Paloma Pedrero, Isaac Chocrón, Diana Raznovich, Arturo Ripstein, and Pedro Almodóvar will be studied, as well as critical theory readings that will frame the class discussions. Prerequisites: Two 300-level courses.
SPN 403. The “Second Sex” in Latin America: Women’s Writing in the Twentieth Century (Not offered 2009-10). This course will focus on the ways in which female writers have expressed their struggle against powerful patriarchal systems, and how they have worked and continue to work toward gaining an equal voice in the literature of the Americas. Readings include narrative, theater and poetry by well-known and lesser-know women writers from various Latin-American countries. GenEd: Hul, LCC
SPN 416. “Testimonio” and Resistance Writings in Central America as Literary Discourse (Spring; Moyano). This course explores how social struggles in the last fifty years in Central America have led to new forms of cultural and literary expression. Through the writings of such authors as Manlio Argueta, Rigoberta Menchú, Humberto Ak’abal, Doris Tijerino, and others, we will also examine movements of ethnic or national liberation, women’s liberation, poor and oppressed peoples’ organizations of all types, ecological activism, and the like. Prerequisites: Two 300-level courses. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 417. Death and Revenge in the Southern Cone (Not offered 2009-10). This course explores the literature of the Dirty War in Argentina, Uruguay, and of the early years of the Pinochet regime in Chile. Through analysis of narrative, theater and film we will touch upon the effects of torture and terrorism on society in those countries during the early 1970’s through the mid 1980’s. The class will read texts and view films written and produced under heavy censorship, and those written and produced in exile. We will also examine themes of revenge either by exiled writers or by those who can write more freely after a change in government. We will read texts by Marta Traba, Luisa Valenzuela, Diana Raznovich, Eduardo Pavlovsky, Ariel Dorfman, and others. Films will include Camila and Death and the Maiden. Prerequisites: Two 300-level courses. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 418. Of Cock Fights and Crowded Elevators: Readings in Contemporary Mexican Theater (Not offered 2009-10). Readings in contemporary Mexican theater that seek to explore how Mexican playwrights stage, perform, and imagine the nation and their communities either contesting or legitimizing hegemonic narratives of cultural uniformity, normative gender and sexual roles, and a cohesive political state. We will analyze dramatic texts by Luisa Josefina Hernández, Hugo Argüelles, Leonor Azcárate, Tomás Urtusástegui, Dante del Castillo, Jesús González Dávila, Sabina Berman, Hugo Salcedo, among others. Prerequisites: Two 300-level courses. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 431. Colonial Latin America 1492-1800 (Not offered 2009-10). This course examines the complex array of European, indigenous, mestizo and African recordings of the encounter between Europeans, slaves and native Americans that started in the fifteenth century; and at the colonization and subsequent reconfiguration and displacement of individuals, communities, and their cultures. The course analyzes in some detail the historical and theoretical issues arising from this trans-Atlantic collision and exchange, a diverse historiographic and literary production that heralded and bore witness to the many ways in which the various peoples of, and involved in, the creation of the Americas documented, perceived, and imagined the old and the new, themselves and others. We will read travel journals, poetry, drama, histories, ethnographies, and other types of textual/visual production such as films and codices. Prerequisites: Two 300-level courses. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 432. Islands Adrift: Race, Politics, and Diasporas in the Hispanic Caribbean (Not offered 2009-10). Introduction to the literatures and cultures of Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico centering on how the region continues to approach its development tempered by an array of colonial legacies—from the slave plantation system to globalization—that impact on social, political, economic, and cultural dynamics. Diverse critical approaches will frame the analysis of literary, visual, and musical texts by Luis Palés Matos, Nicolás Guillén, Pedro Mir, Heberto Padilla, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Aída Cartagena Portalatín, Celia Cruz, Ana Lydia Vega, Juan Luis Guerra, Reinaldo Arenas, Mayra Montero, among others. Prerequisites: Two 300-level courses. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 433. Latin American Colonial Crossroads at the Movies (Not offered 2009-10). This course explores critically filmic approaches to colonial Latin American literature and history. Its main objectives are to analyze films preoccupied with historical events and life in colonial times, to engage the filmic representation of the cultural, political, and religious encounters and tensions informing our desire to revisit contact among Amerindians, African slaves and Europeans, and to familiarize students with debates pertaining to reconstructing the colonial past for contemporary consumption. GenEd: LCC
SPN 446. Video Clip Literature, E-mail Novels, and Telephone Texts: Spanish Narrative and Technology of the Twenty-first Century (Spring; Henseler). As technology—telephones, computers, televisions—contributes to the isolating experience of the human being, and as consumer culture increasingly covers up the real for an image of the real, individuals find themselves searching for a place to develop their identities. Authors and characters of the narrative production of the 1990s and the first decade of the twenty-first century fuse and confuse their identities with the technological world that surrounds them. In this class we will study how technology contributes to the creation of innovative narrative techniques and the construction of simulative modes of identification inside and outside of the text. Authors studied in this course include Lucía Etxebarria, Ray Loriga, Gabriela Bustelo, André Neuman, and Care Santos. Prerequisites: Two 300-level courses. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 447. Virtual Embodiments: Video Games, Video Clips and Reality TV in Contemporary Spanish Narrative (Not offered 2009-10). In this course we will analyze three contemporary Spanish novels Ático by Gaby Martínez (2004), Héroes by Ray Loriga (1993), and Veo by Gabriela Bustelo (1996) that confront the construction of identity through technology. We will examine these novels in relation to theoretical articles on the video game, the video clip, and reality television. We will study the effects of these technologies on the construction of fictional subject identities as well as on our own lives. This will take place through close analysis of the novels and through multimedia assignments that include the navigation and examination of Spanish video games, the creation of a video clip that simulates the narrative style of the novel, and the production of a reality television “show.” Prerequisites: Two 300-level courses. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 448. Trash and Transgression: Spanish Surrealism and Popular Culture in Dalí, Lorca and Buñuel (Not offered 2009-10). This course studies the work of a group of young Spanish poets, playwrights, filmmakers and painters, generally known as the Group of ’27, who constituted the most important Spanish renaissance of the last centuries, and which was broken abruptly by the Civil of War of 1936. We will examine the popular roots of some of their works as well as some of their most distinct contributions to Surrealism, as exemplified by Buñuel’s cinematic innovation and its religious conflictions and repressed sexual longings. Prerequisites: Two 300-level courses. GenEd: HuL, LCC
SPN 489. Honors Senior Seminar (Spring; Martinez). For seniors who qualify for departmental honors; please contact the department during the Winter term.
SPN 490-492. Independent Study (Fall, Winter, Spring). Individual directed readings in the field of Spanish or Spanish-American literature. Prerequisite: At least one course in Spanish at the 400-level and permission of the instructor.
Modern Languages and Literatures Practica
MLL 490 and 491. Academic Training Practicum I & II (Fall, Winter, Spring). Language Assistants will receive direct supervision from their faculty mentors in becoming effective and skilled language assistants and instructors. Students will also learn from observation and practice how to design and implement curriculum, lessons, and assignments. Course is open only to non-Fulbright Language Assistants. MLL 490 and 491 must be taken simultaneously over 3 terms to receive 2 credits