XII. Course Descriptions
Spanish Studies
School of Languages and Literatures
Except where stated otherwise, all courses are conducted in Spanish (reading , writing and speaking), and literary texts are, at all levels, studied in the original language.
SPAN*2000 Spanish Language I F (3-1) [0.50]
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A course designed to develop facility in reading, writing, understanding and speaking Spanish. Conversation, grammar and language laboratory practice. |
Prerequisite(s): |
Grade 12 (4U) Spanish or SPAN*1110 (or equivalent) |
SPAN*2040 Spanish Civilization F (3-0) [0.50]
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An examination of the historical and cultural events that provided the background for the development of modern Spain, as well as a visual survey of Spanish culture. |
Prerequisite(s): |
SPAN*1110 or 4U Spanish |
Restriction(s): |
Instructor consent required. |
SPAN*2990 Hispanic Literary Studies W (3-0) [0.50]
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An introduction to literary studies in Spanish. The course focuses on critical terminology and methods through a selection of prose, poetry and drama from Spain and Spanish America. |
Prerequisite(s): |
SPAN*1110 or 4U Spanish |
Restriction(s): |
Instructor consent required. |
SPAN*3080 Spanish American Culture W (3-0) [0.50]
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A survey through selected readings, class discussion and audio-visual materials of the Spanish American countries, their histories, society, institutions and culture. |
Prerequisite(s): |
SPAN*1110 or 4U Spanish |
Restriction(s): |
Instructor consent required. |
SPAN*3110 Spanish Literature F (3-0) [0.50]
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This course will study the works of prominent 20th-century poets in the context of the artistic environment of Europe as reflected in the theatre, art and film of the first two decades of the 20th century. Focus will be on poets including: Garcia Lorca, Vicente Aleixandre, Gerardo Diego; painters Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso, and film director Luis Buñuel. (Offered in even-numbered years.) |
Prerequisite(s): |
SPAN*2990
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Restriction(s): |
Instructor consent required. |
SPAN*3120 Post-Civil War Literature and Film W (3-0) [0.50]
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This course examines contemporary Spanish Literature and film from a socio-political perspective. It will focus on the following topics: the impact on narrative and theatre of socio-cultural upheavals in the aftermath of the civil war; the role in the aesthetics of both film and literature of the Franco dictatorship and censorship in particular; the importance of post-Franco liberalization on women's creative work. (Offered in odd-numbered years.) |
Prerequisite(s): |
SPAN*2990
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Restriction(s): |
Instructor consent required. |
SPAN*3160 Contemporary Latin American Fiction W (3-0) [0.50]
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This course will examine, in English, why and how the leading figures, such as Borges, Cortazar, Garcia Marquez, Carpentier, Isabel Allende, and Luisa Valenzuela have "made" history, not only in the way they have recreated the Latin American historical reality, but also in the way they have reformed the Hispanic literature. Two lectures per week in English and one seminar per week in Spanish. Final essay and examination will be in English, short presentations and compositions will be in Spanish. (Offered in odd-numbered years.) |
Restriction(s): |
HUMN*3160
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SPAN*3170 Women, Virtue and Honour in Spanish Drama F (3-0) [0.50]
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This is a topic-oriented course which will study, in English, major Spanish dramas: seventeenth-century works such as Lope de Vega's Fuenteovejuna, Calderon's Life is a Dream, Tirso de Molina's Don Juan, and twentieth-century plays such as Garcia Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba and Blood Wedding. In addition to the thematic focus, these texts will be studied for their artistic merit and for the specificity of the Spanish "comedia". Where appropriate, this course will also discuss the influence of Spanish themes on the European culture. Texts and examinations will be in English, but selected readings and assignments will be in Spanish. Students who select the course under the listing of HUMN*3170 will do assignments in English. (Offered in even-numbered years.) |
Restriction(s): |
HUMN*3170
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SPAN*3180 Cuento/Journalism Spanish American W (3-0) [0.50]
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Most Latin American writers started their careers as journalists, and short stories by Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Gabriel Garcia Márquez, Elena Poniatowska, Luisa Valenzuela, and Isabel Allende were published in daily newspapers. One of the results of the close link between journalism and fiction is a deep sense of social responsibility in modern non-representational literature. This course will study twentieth-century Latin American short stories for their artistic merits, and for their other links to journalistic discourse. (Offered in even-numbered years.) |
Prerequisite(s): |
SPAN*2990
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Restriction(s): |
Instructor consent required. |
SPAN*3300 Modern Spanish American Prose F (3-0) [0.50]
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A study, through selected texts, of the most important aspects of Spanish American Prose up to 1940. Authors studied may include Maria Luisa Bombal, Horacio Quiroga, Jorge Icaza, Romulo Gallegos and Ricardo Guiraldes. The course will emphasize themes such as rural life, the role of native peoples, and changing attitudes to concepts such as national identity, urbanization and literary technique. (Offered in odd-numbered years.) |
Prerequisite(s): |
SPAN*2990
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Restriction(s): |
Instructor consent required. |
SPAN*3530 Business Spanish W (3-0) [0.50]
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A detailed study of the Spanish language as it is currently used in adminstration and business. It will cover areas such as administrative correspondence, reports, employment, business communication and advertising. |
Prerequisite(s): |
SPAN*3500
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SPAN*3800 Directed Readings in Spanish Studies U (3-0) [0.50]
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A reading course in Spanish or Spanish American literature designed according to the previous studies and the interests of the individual student. Normally, students will not be permitted to take more than two courses in the Directed Readings sequence. |
Prerequisite(s): |
1.00 credits in Spanish literature at the 3000 level |
Restriction(s): |
Instructor consent required. |
SPAN*3810 Directed Readings in Spanish Studies U (3-0) [0.50]
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A reading course in Spanish or Spanish American literature designed according to the previous studies and the interests of the individual student. Normally, students will not be permitted to take more than two courses in the Directed Readings sequence. |
Prerequisite(s): |
1.00 credits in Spanish literature at the 3000 level |
Restriction(s): |
Instructor consent required. |
SPAN*3820 Directed Readings in Spanish Studies U (3-0) [0.50]
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A reading course in Spanish or Spanish American literature designed according to the previous studies and the interests of the individual student. Normally, students will not be permitted to take more than two courses in the Directed Readings sequence. |
Prerequisite(s): |
1.00 credits in Spanish literature at the 3000 level |
Restriction(s): |
Instructor consent required. |
SPAN*4170 Don Quixote and the Picaresque Novel F (3-0) [0.50]
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This course will study, in English, the importance of this Spanish m asterpiece in the development of the modern European novel, and it will examine the first European picaresque work, Lazarillo de Tormes, in the light of the picaresque tradition which followed in Europe and the Americas. The course will also concentrate on the notion of play and laughter (Bakhtin) as means of survival. Texts and examinations will be in English, but selected readings and assignments will be in Spanish. Students who select the course under the listing of HUMN*4170 will do assignments in English. (Offered in odd-numbered years.) |
SPAN*4200 Spanish American Sociolinguistics F (3-0) [0.50]
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An introduction to the study of language variation in Latin American Spanish in its social context. Major topics include theoretical and practical concepts of linguistic variation, linguistic change, standard, prescriptive versus non-prestigious varieties, bilingualism, diglossia, language attitude, code-switching, language planning, conversation analysis and language shift. (Offered in odd-numbered years.) |
Prerequisite(s): |
SPAN*2010, LING*1000
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