Courses

SPAN 10200 is the second segment of the first-year course sequence in Spanish language. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Spanish (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, sociolinguistic norms) and emphasizes all four skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading.

First of the three basic-language sequence in Basque language. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Basque (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, sociolinguistic norms) and emphasizes all four skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading. This course is intended for students with no previous exposure to Basque and for those who need an in-depth review of the patterns of the language.

Second segment of the first-year course sequence in Basque language. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Basque (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, sociolinguistic norms) and emphasizes all four skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading.

Third and final segment of the basic-language Basque sequence. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Basque (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, sociolinguistic norms) and emphasizes all four skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading.

Straddling the border of southern France and northern Spain, the Basque Country is the home of a complex national community without a state —but with a language that is unrelated to any other in the world and is perhaps the most remarkable feature of their cultural identity. Through the analysis of a wide variety of texts and artifacts, this course will give students the the background to navigate through different dimensions of Basque culture (traditions, gastronomy, music, the language) as well as the history that has marked the development of Basque society (including the so-called Basque Conflict). This course will be conducted in English. It is not necessary to have prior knowledge of Basque language or culture to take this course. Taught in English. Prior knowledge of Basque language or culture not required.

In the last 30 years, the Basque language has seen an increase in the number of speakers, especially among younger groups. The implementation of several language and cultural policies, along with a transformation in the educational system, has been key to this development. In this course we will explore these revitalizing practices used in the Basque Country by analyzing the sociolinguistic situation of Basque language from the transition to democracy in the late 1970s to the present.

This course is intended for speakers of other Romance languages to quickly develop competence in spoken and written Catalan. In this introductory course, students learn ways to apply their skills in another Romance language to mastering Catalan by concentrating on the similarities and differences between the two languages. Although familiarity with a Romance language is strongly recommended, students with no prior knowledge of a Romance language are also welcome.

This course is intended for speakers of other Romance languages to quickly develop competence in spoken and written Catalan. In this introductory course, students learn ways to apply their skills in another Romance language to mastering Catalan by concentrating on the similarities and differences between the two languages. Although familiarity with a Romance language is strongly recommended, students with no prior knowledge of a Romance language are also welcome.

This course is intended for speakers of other Romance languages to quickly develop competence in spoken and written Catalan. In this intermediate-level course, students learn ways to apply their skills in another Romance language to mastering Catalan by concentrating on the similarities and differences between the two languages. This course offers a rapid review of the basic patterns of the language and expands on the material presented in CATA 12200.

This advanced-level course will focus on speaking and writing skills through the study of a wide variety of contemporary texts and audiovisual materials. It will provide students with a better understanding of contemporary Catalan society. Students will review problematic grammatical structures, write a number of essays, and participate in multiple class debates.

This advanced-level course will focus on speaking and writing skills through a wide variety of texts and audiovisual materials. We will study a wide range of Catalan cultural manifestations (e.g., visual arts, music, gastronomy). Students will also review advanced grammatical structures, write a number of essays, and participate in multiple class debates.

This course provides an interdisciplinary survey of contemporary Catalonia. We study a wide range of its cultural manifestations (architecture, paintings, music, arts of the body, literature, cinema, gastronomy). Attention is also paid to some sociolinguistic issues, such as the coexistence of Catalan and Spanish, and the standardization of Catalan. This course will be conducted in English.

“Although we can find a significant number of authors exploring queer desire and identities throughout the history of Catalan Literature (from lesbian scenes in Joanot Martorell’s Tirant lo blanc to expanding gender identities in Maria Aurèlia Capmany’s Quim/Quima), more recent Catalan Literature is blooming with queerness and non-normative lust. This course will give an overview of contemporary Catalan works influenced by feminist and queer debates from the seventies on. Beginning with renowned poet Maria Mercè Marçal’s only novel, The Passion According to Rennée Vivien, winner of several of the most prestigious literary awards for Catalan Literature, we will go on to discover 21st century’s works by Eva Baltasar and Anna Punsoda. We will also read poems, short stories and excerpts from authors such as Maria Sevilla, Mireia Calafell, Raquel Santanera, Sebastià Portell, Sil Bel and Ian Bermúdez, among others."

This course is intended for students who have no previous knowledge of French and for those who need an in-depth review of the very basic patterns of the language.

This course is intended for students who have no previous knowledge of French and for those who need an in-depth review of the very basic patterns of the language.

This course is intended for students who have no previous knowledge of French and for those who need an in-depth review of the very basic patterns of the language.

This course offers a rapid review of the basic patterns of the language and expands on the material presented in FREN 10100.

This course offers a rapid review of the basic patterns of the language and expands on the material presented in FREN 10100.

This course offers a rapid review of the basic patterns of the language and expands on the material presented in FREN 10100.

This course expands on the material presented in FREN 10200, reviewing and elaborating the basic patterns of the language.

This course expands on the material presented in FREN 10200, reviewing and elaborating the basic patterns of the language.

This course expands on the material presented in FREN 10200, reviewing and elaborating the basic patterns of the language.

Intensive French I, II and III: This intensive, three-quarter sequence brings students with no prior background in French to advanced-low levels in all four skills-reading, writing, speaking, and listening-thus preparing students to take third-year level courses in French. Learners who are starting French late in their College careers or who wish to move forward swiftly will gain skills corresponding to two full years of study by completing the entire sequence. Although the three classes constitute a sequence, students may enter the sequence whenever it is appropriate for them based on prior courses or placement exam results. Students may also exit the sequence after any given class and continue in the appropriate course in the Elementary or Intermediate French track. NOTE: Each course is 200 units and corresponds in workload to taking two courses. FREN 12001, the first course in the sequence, covers the equivalent of FREN 10100 and 10200.

Intensive French I, II and III: This intensive, three-quarter sequence brings students with no prior background in French to advanced-low levels in all four skills-reading, writing, speaking, and listening-thus preparing students to take third-year level courses in French. Learners who are starting French late in their College careers or who wish to move forward swiftly will gain skills corresponding to two full years of study by completing the entire sequence. Although the three classes constitute a sequence, students may enter the sequence whenever it is appropriate for them based on prior courses or placement exam results. Students may also exit the sequence after any given class and continue in the appropriate course in the Elementary or Intermediate French track. NOTE: Each course is 200 units and corresponds in workload to taking two courses. FREN 12002, the second course in the sequence, covers the equivalent of FREN 10300 and 20100.

Intensive French I, II and III: This intensive, three-quarter sequence brings students with no prior background in French to advanced-low levels in all four skills-reading, writing, speaking, and listening-thus preparing students to take third-year level courses in French. Learners who are starting French late in their College careers or who wish to move forward swiftly will gain skills corresponding to two full years of study by completing the entire sequence. Although the three classes constitute a sequence, students may enter the sequence whenever it is appropriate for them based on prior courses or placement exam results. Students may also exit the sequence after any given class and continue in the appropriate course in the Elementary or Intermediate French track. NOTE: Each course is 200 units and corresponds in workload to taking two courses. FREN 12003, the third course in the sequence, covers the equivalent of FREN 20200 and 20300.Course is 200 units and corresponds in workload to taking two courses.

This course is designed for students without prior experience or training in French who wish to take FREN 33333, Reading French for Research Purposes. The prerequisite for FREN 33333 is either one year of French language instruction (FREN 10100-10200-10300), placement into FREN 201, or successful completion of FREN 13333. In this course, students learn the basics of French grammar and syntax, some basic French vocabulary, and they also begin to learn some of the reading strategies they will need to be successful in FREN 33333.

This course is designed for students without prior experience or training in French who wish to take FREN 23333/33333. Reading French for Research Purposes. The prerequisite for FREN 33333 is either one year of French language instruction (FREN 10100-10200-10300), placement into FREN 20100, or successful completion of FREN 13333. In this course, students learn the basics of French grammar and syntax, some basic French vocabulary, and they also begin to learn some of the reading strategies they will need to be successful in FREN 33333.

This course helps students quickly gain skills in spoken and written French by building on their prior working knowledge of another Romance language (Catalan, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish). By relying on the many similarities with other Romance languages, students can focus on mastering the different aspects of French. This class covers content from FREN 10100 and 10200.

Designed as an alternative to FREN 20100 for students in Business Economics, Global Studies and related fields of study, this four-skills course meets the grammatical objectives of FREN 20100 while equipping students with the basic communication skills and cultural awareness necessary in the areas of international exchange and economics. Through exposure to a wide range of material-including essays, newspaper and journal articles, film reviews, professional writing practices-and interactive exercises including discussions, in-class activities, and group projects in simulated professional situations, students will acquire the linguistic skills and sociocultural knowledge required for engagement in international exchange and business economics as well as to participate in larger debates in the Francophone context.

In this intermediate-level sequence, students review and extend their knowledge of all basic patterns (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, sociocultural norms) of the language. They develop their oral and written skills by describing, narrating, and presenting arguments. They are exposed to texts and audio-visual materials that provide them with a deeper understanding of French literature, culture, and contemporary society.

In this intermediate-level sequence, students review and extend their knowledge of all basic patterns (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, sociocultural norms) of the language. They develop their oral and written skills by describing, narrating, and presenting arguments. They are exposed to texts and audio-visual materials that provide them with a deeper understanding of French literature, culture, and contemporary society.

In this intermediate-level sequence, students review and extend their knowledge of all basic patterns (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, sociocultural norms) of the language. They develop their oral and written skills by describing, narrating, and presenting arguments. They are exposed to texts and audio-visual materials that provide them with a deeper understanding of French literature, culture, and contemporary society.

In this intermediate-level sequence, students review and extend their knowledge of all basic patterns (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, sociocultural norms) of the language. They develop their oral and written skills by describing, narrating, and presenting arguments. They are exposed to texts and audio-visual materials that provide them with a deeper understanding of French literature, culture, and contemporary society.

This course helps students develop their descriptive and narrative skills through a variety of texts, audio-visual materials, and activities.

This course helps students develop their descriptive and narrative skills through a variety of texts, audio-visual materials, and activities.

This course helps students develop their descriptive and narrative skills through a variety of texts, audio-visual materials, and activities.

This course helps students develop their skills in understanding and producing written and spoken arguments in French through readings and debates on various issues relevant to contemporary French society.

This course helps students develop their skills in understanding and producing written and spoken arguments in French through readings and debates on various issues relevant to contemporary French society.

The main goal of this course is to help students acquire advanced grammatical knowledge of the French language and develop their writing skills. This course is strongly recommended for all students who intend to take courses in which writing essays in French is required: French literature classes on campus, the Autumn Paris Civilization program, or the academic yearlong program in Paris. It is also strongly recommended for students who wish to take the advanced proficiency exam in French.

The main goal of this course is to help students acquire advanced grammatical knowledge of the French language and develop their writing skills. This course is strongly recommended for all students who intend to take courses in which writing essays in French is required: French literature classes on campus, the Autumn Paris Civilization program, or the academic yearlong program in Paris. It is also strongly recommended for students who wish to take the advanced proficiency exam in French.

The main goal of this course is to help students acquire advanced grammatical knowledge of the French language and develop their writing skills. This course is strongly recommended for all students who intend to take courses in which writing essays in French is required: French literature classes on campus, the Autumn Paris Civilization program, or the academic yearlong program in Paris. It is also strongly recommended for students who wish to take the advanced proficiency exam in French.

This course focuses on developing the tools necessary for advanced oral proficiency in an academic context. Through active class participation involving a number of class presentations, students practice a variety of discourse styles (e.g., debates, lectures, seminars, interviews). Special emphasis is placed on correct pronunciation.

This course explores major contemporary French and francophone artists, art forms and art works. Students will acquire basic linguistic and analytical skills to apprehend visual arts, graphic novels, movies and theatrical performance in French. They will work on individual and group art and academic assignments.

This course focuses on developing advanced oral proficiency skills in French in the context of contemporary cultural, social and political issues in the Francophone world. As Francophonie is a multifaceted concept that can be approached from various perspectives-institutional, linguistic, geopolitical, cultural, and literary-the course will start with a look at what Francophonie is and means in such places as the Caribbean, Europe, Francophone Africa, and North America. Students will read articles, watch and listen to films, reports, and interviews, engage in discussions and debates, conduct interviews, and carry out projects and presentations on themes of their own choosing within this framework.

Le Romantisme a fait de la lune et de l’imagerie du poète rêveur et contemplatif au clair de lune une figure de proue du mouvement. Tour à tour confidente, inspirant la crainte, la peur, le mystère, ou bien encore l’harmonie parfaite et l‘amour idéal, la lune avec ses différentes phases est versatile, complexe, et parfois contradictoire. Nous nous proposons dans ce cours, d’analyser dans la production poétique, musicale et picturale les signes de cette évolution thématique, afin de replacer la notion de clair de lune au cœur des préoccupations esthétiques et intellectuelles du Romantisme français et allemand. Taught in French. This is an introductory-level course.

Capable de tout exprimer, de l’intimité de nos êtres et nos expériences à l’actualité du monde, la poésie s’ouvre à tous les sujets. Dans ce cours nous découvrirons la tradition lyrique française, incluant par exemple des textes de Louise Labé, Victor Hugo, Charles Baudelaire, et Apollinaire, entre autres. Taught in French. This is an introductory-level course.

Le rire est souvent salué en France comme arme et gage de la liberté, mais la satire française suggère une histoire bien plus ambigüe. Dans ce cours, nous retracerons cette histoire (qui compte non seulement Rabelais, Molière, Boileau, Voltaire, Beaumarchais, et Hugo, mais aussi Antoinette Deshoulières, Mohamed Fellag, et Éléonore Pourriat), pour interroger les fonctions de la satire : amuser ou blesser, désabuser ou tromper, libérer ou contraindre, rassembler ou diviser ? Pour chaque roman, pièce de théâtre, poème, dessin, ou film, nous mènerons essentiellement une comparaison de perspectives, entre l’histoire de son interprétation, notre propre expérience de l’ouvrage, et les réactions probables des premiers lecteurs ou spectateurs, et des premières lectrices ou spectatrices, dans un contexte spécifique plus ou moins éloigné du nôtre.

This course proposes to study the political tools used by Napoleon to control public opinion as he enacted his vision of the French nation after the Revolution. Posing as the incarnation of Enlightenment values and acknowledging public opinion as a source of his political legitimacy, Napoleon reinvented a new form of state propaganda focused on seizing information and reshaping it. We will examine the failure of Napoleon’s system of propaganda on the European level using the German states as a study case. The 1806 campaign was motivated by Napoleon’s revolutionary aspirations to erase the feudal vestiges of the medieval Holy Roman Empire. But Napoleon’s failure to control German public opinion engendered the leitmotiv of German humiliation, which became a recurring basis of conflict in Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries. Subsequently, the Nazis attempted to manipulate public opinion during the occupation of France using the figure of Napoleon and introducing German culture to the French people through music and writers, under the supervision of Otto Abetz, Ambassador to Vichy France.
Primary sources include major authors such as Montesquieu, Chateaubriand, Guizot and Heine and important press articles of the time; secondary sources include French and American historians.

Ce cours est une introduction au genre de la nouvelle au Maghreb. En travaillant sur une sélection de nouvelles et de textes courts d’auteurs marocains, algériens et tunisiens, on s’intéressera aussi bien aux thèmes abordés (reconstruction historique, critique sociale ou politique, réflexions sur l’identité et l’altérité, etc.) qu’aux schémas narratifs et aux procédés esthétiques. À travers l’étude de la mise en scène des personnages, de la construction de l’intrigue et du dénouement des récits, on interprétera la concision de la nouvelle et sa capacité à représenter, souvent de manière saisissante, des éléments majeurs de la société et de la culture maghrébines. Les auteurs étudiés comprennent Driss Chraïbi, Mohamed Leftah, Abdelfattah Kilito, Mohammed Dib, Maïssa Bey, Leïla Sebbar, Ali Bécheur, Hélé Béji et d’autres.

Être un grand auteur est à bien des égards être un grand séducteur. Et il n’est pas rare que nous, lecteurs épris d’un texte, prenions pour un fait établi tout ce qu’il/elle nous raconte, charmés que nous sommes par sa plume : nous nous trouvons souvent, en première approche, « menés par le bout du nez » comme le dit un proverbe populaire en Français. Ce cours vise à précisément à apprendre à ne plus se laisser « mener en bateau » — autre expression française pour signifier « manipuler ». C’est donc un exercice de lecture critique au sens étymologique du terme que ce cours propose. « Critiquer » c’est-à-dire : choisir, discriminer, mettre à distance ce qui dans l’œuvre est sujet à caution partant du principe que c’est rendre service à une œuvre que de la lire non pas avec méfiance, mais prudence. Nous lirons ainsi prudemment mais gaiement Les Essais de Montaigne, Les Pensées de Pascal, La Princesse de Clèves de Mme de Lafayette, des extraits de l’œuvre de Diderot, de Rousseau, de Chateaubriand pour finir avec la poésie de Rimbaud et de Verlaine. Ce cours s’attachera à poser des questions à des textes de genre très différents et d’époques variées (XVIème-XIXème) en les « auscultant », c’est-à-dire en les écoutant de près, textes critiques à l’appui : qu’est-ce que ces textes occultent, ne disent pas ou laissent en suspens et pour quelles raisons le font-ils ? Taught in French.

Pourquoi les peuples se soulèvent-ils contre l’Etat ? Quelle fin peut justifier l’insurrection comme moyen ? Qu’elles soient soudaines ou qu’elles germinent pendant des décennies, les insurrections peuvent être le seul moyen de changer les choses, particulièrement dans une démocratie. Parfois on ne s’en rend compte que des semaines ou des mois après l’événement lui-même. Les Français ont une réputation particulière pour les manifestations, les grêves, les barricades : est-ce à cause d’une tradition insurrectionnelle, ou s’agit-il simplement d’un stéréotype ? Dans ce cours, nous étudierons plusieurs insurrections dans l’histoire française et francophone. Nous lirons des textes littéraires et philosophiques de la première modernité à nos jours afin de mieux se représenter les complexités de tels moments, et de discuter les approches théoriques aux concepts socio-politiques d’insurrection, de révolution, violence, guerrilla, etc. La classe sera centrée sur l’idée de réagir au passé afin de trouver des réponses pour le présent ; pour cela, les étudiants seront immergés pendant cinq semaines dans un jeu de rôle historique où la classe deviendra l’Assemblée Nationale Constituante de 1791. Ils rechercheront, prépareront et joueront les rôles de députés conservateurs, Jacobins, Louis XVI, Lafayette, ou seront chefs révolutionnaires des sections de Paris, comme Danton. Taught in French.

S’appuyant sur l’exemple de Jeanne d’Arc, ce cours s’intéressera à la manière dont nous transformons le passé à la lumière des besoins et des soucis du présent. Nous situerons Jeanne d’Arc dans son contexte historique à l’aide des documents légaux, littéraires, et ecclésiastiques. Nous considérerons ensuite les représentations multiples et variées de Jeanne au cours des siècles suivants, examinant par exemple des textes de Voltaire, de Michelet, d’Anouilh, et d’autres, ainsi que des films qui présentent la vie de Jeanne d’Arc. Taught in French.

This course examines Maghrebi women's autobiographies in relation to historical, social, and cultural contexts in the region. We will analyze the ways in which female Maghrebi writers engage with and respond to experiences of exile, separation, discrimination, linguistic divide, and political repression. We will focus on questions of gender, violence, imagination, and identity formation while investigating the interface between individual and collective memories and the liberating power of writing. Studied authors include Fatema Mernissi, Leïla Abouzeid, Fatna El Bouih, Zahia Rahmani, Leïla Sebbar, Malika Mokeddem, and Colette Fellous.

This course examines Maghrebi women’s autobiographies in relation to historical, social, and cultural contexts in the region. We will analyze the ways in which female Maghrebi writers engage with and respond to experiences of exile, separation, discrimination, linguistic divide, and political repression. We will focus on questions of gender, violence, imagination, and identity formation while investigating the interface between individual and collective memories and the liberating power of writing. Studied authors include Fatema Mernissi, Leïla Abouzeid, Fatna El Bouih, Zahia Rahmani, Leïla Sebbar, Malika Mokeddem, and Colette Fellous. Taught in English.

In a seventeenth-century manuscript map of Brazilian coast, the cartographer wrote, in the middle of an empty space, “pays inhabitué que par des sauvages,” emphasizing—among other things—the phonetic and semiotic confusion between inhabiting, habituating or settling, and the uninhabitable as a concept. This seminar will look at the French Renaissance through the lens of inhabiting, in a wide sense of the term, whether it is the house, a plot of land, your local zone or the earth. As a time that is confronted with narratives of other, distant ways of making a home, the French Renaissance deserves to be reframed as a critical moment in defining how the humans of Humanism approached and apprehended their environment and their way of life, as well as their dependence on resources and on other beings. Students will read canonical texts such as Montaigne’s Essais, Rabelais’s Gargantua and Pantagruel, Jean de Léry’s Histoire d’un voyage faict en la terre du Brésil, Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptaméron, as well as the rustic manuals of Charles Estienne and Jean Liebault and of Olivier de Serres. Aside from recent scholarship on early modern French literature and ecocriticism, we will turn to an interdisciplinary corpus of thinkers of ecology (from theory to psychology and nonfiction) to give new depth to the primary sources, as well as dive into the vibrant and recent French ecological thought of Bruno Latour, Emanuele Coccia, Isabelle Stengers, and Emilie Hache. Taught in English. Materials available in English and French.

This course is intended for students who have no previous knowledge of Italian and for those who need an in-depth review of the basic patterns of the language.

This course offers a rapid review of the basic patterns of the language and expands on the material presented in ITAL 10100.

This course expands on the material presented in ITAL 10200, reviewing and elaborating the basic patterns of the language. Successful completion of ITAL 10300 meets the language competence requirement.

This course is intended for speakers of other Romance languages to quickly develop competence in spoken and written Italian. Students learn ways to apply their skills in another Romance language to Italian by concentrating on the similarities and differences between languages.

This course is intended for speakers of other Romance languages to quickly develop competence in spoken and written Italian. Students learn ways to apply their skills in another Romance language to Italian by concentrating on the similarities and differences between languages.

This course is a general review and extension of all basic patterns of the language for intermediate students. Students explore the diversity of the Italian-speaking world through the reading of excerpts from contemporary Italian literature.

This course develops the use of persuasive and argumentative language. Our focus is on analyzing and debating current issues pertaining to the Italian-speaking world, and articulating sound personal perspectives on these issues. A variety of written, oral, listening, and reading activities allow students to explore different genres, while reviewing grammatical and lexical items. Cultural awareness is enhanced through close study of contemporary Italian film and literature, as well as through in-class discussion.

This course completes the study of the common grammatical functions and syntactical structures of the oral and written language and introduces students to description and analysis of a variety of texts through written, oral, listening, and reading activities. Students read a contemporary Italian novel and a selection of Italian poetry.

This course helps students achieve a very high level of composition and style through the acquisition of numerous writing techniques. Using a variety of literary and nonliterary texts as models, students examine the linguistic structure and organization of several types of written Italian discourse. This course is also intended to help students attain high levels in reading, speaking, and listening through readings and debates on various issues of relevance in contemporary Italian society.

This course offers insight into 20th- and 21st-century Italian language and culture through the practice of translating comics. As a verbal medium, comics present a variety of registers, from the elevated language of literary adaptations to creative parodies; from the standard Italian adopted in serial comics to the colloquial or regional Italian used in graphic novels and webcomics. As a visual medium, the interpretation of comics entails developing the ability to read the images together with the text, while keeping into consideration the space constraints imposed by captions and balloons. Using a variety of primary sources from 1908 to the present (comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, webcomics), students will have the opportunity to participate in translation tasks, gaining awareness of the Italian language and the cultural importance of translation; they will also expand their knowledge of well-known Italian comics and reflect upon the cultural context in which they were brought to life. In this course, students will practice translation from Italian to English as well as continue to perfect their speaking and writing skills in Italian through a variety of creative oral and written activities. Taught in Italian.

Il corso ha l’obiettivo di esplorare la figura della lettrice attraverso l’analisi di testi in lingua italiana di diverse epoche, includendo testi di Giovanni Boccaccio, Ludovico Ariosto, Tullia d’Aragona, ma anche testi più moderni di autori come Italo Calvino, Elsa Morante, Natalia Ginzburg. Alcuni temi che tratteremo sono la riscrittura di testi classici, le dinamiche della committenza nel Rinascimento, l’evoluzione delle pratiche di lettura. Per approfondire questi temi, useremo testi critici in italiano o inglese, con contributi di Elena Lombardi, Roland Barthes, Roman Jakobson, Barbara Johnson e altri.

What are the specific features of the short story? How does this literary form organize different visions of time and space? Informed by these fundamental theoretical questions, this course explores the logic of the short story and investigates its position among literary genres. We will read together a selection of Contemporary Italian short stories (privileging the production of Italo Calvino, Beppe Fenoglio, and Elsa Morante, but also including less visible authors, such as Goffredo Parise, Dino Buzzati, and Silvio D’Arzo). The moments of close reading and theoretical reflection will be alternated with creative writing activities, in which students will have the opportunity to enter in a deeper resonance with the encountered texts. This course is especially designed to help students improve their written Italian and literary interpretive skills.

Do emotions have a history? What are the relationships between thinking and feeling, between emotion and literary style? How do Italian texts construct or complicate our modern understanding of emotions? Students in this course will learn how emotions are described, analyzed, and represented in Renaissance and modern Italian literature, tracing their history and developments from the early 1500s to the late 1800s. Though the study of affects emerged in the late twenty-first century, an analysis of the passions (“hope,” “shame,” “desire”) dates back to the poets of Trecento Italy, and Machiavelli famously shows how emotions play a role in establishing socio-political hierarchies. We will examine in what ways Italian writers, poets, and philosophers approached the study of emotions and how they laid the foundations for understanding them today as aesthetic, psychological, and sociopolitical phenomena that vary across time and cultures. Readings will include works by Dante, Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Torquato Tasso, Giambattista Vico, and Giacomo Leopardi, among others, and will span from poetry and novel to philosophical and political fictions, letters, and autobiography. Taught in English, but students seeking Italian credit will do work in that language.

Over the course of the last hundred and twenty years, opera and cinema have been sounded and seen together again and again. Where opera is commonly associated with extravagant performance and production, cinema is popularly associated realism. Yet their encounter not only proves these assumptions wrong but produces some extraordinary third kinds-media hybrids. It also produces some extraordinary love affairs. Thomas Edison wanted a film of his to be "a grand opera," and Federico Fellini and Woody Allen wanted opera to saturate their films. Thinking about these mutual attractions, "Opera across Media" explores different operatic and cinematic repertories as well as other media forms. Among films to be studied are Pabst's Threepenny Opera (1931), Visconti's Senso (1954), Powell and Pressburger's Tales of Hoffmann (1951), Zeffirelli's La traviata (1981), De Mille's Carmen (1915), Losey's Don Giovanni (1979), Bergman's The Magic Flute (1975), and Fellini's E la nave va (1983). No prior background in music performance, theory, or notation is needed. Students may write papers based on their own skills and interests relevant to the course. Required work includes attendance at all screenings and classes; weekly postings on Canvas about readings and viewings; attendances at a Met HD broadcast and a Lyric Opera live opera; a short "think piece" midway through the course; and a final term paper of 8-10 pages.

Beginning in the fourteenth century, European Humanists started to portray the Middle Ages as a “dark age” characterized by superstition and the overreaching presence of the Roman Church. Following this narrative, eighteenth-century Enlightenment philosophers advertised their age as the peak of evolutionary progress from the Middle Ages to Modernity, from credulity to knowledge, from absolutism to democracy, from the gift or feudal economy to capitalism. But to what extent should we believe this version of the story? And how can medieval literary texts help us challenge this narrative? This class aims to complicate the accounts of progress and decline that characterize such historical narrative. A special emphasis will be given to Italian literature because of its centrality to the myth of Rome, which traditionally exemplifies the transition from the glory of the past through the dark ages to the Renaissance and up to the twentieth century. Taught in English, but students seeking FREN or ITAL credit will do the work in French or Italian.

This course will examine how gender dynamics within mafia contexts have been represented in a selection of Italian films. Students will engage in cinematic analysis by drawing from sociological and psychological studies on female roles in relation to organized crime. Both these fields, sociology and psychology, have underscored the important part that women play in relation to the mafia, notwithstanding the rigid patriarchal structure that allows only male affiliation. Although focusing primarily on Sicilian mafia, this course will include information on other types of Italian mafia, namely Camorra, 'Ndrangheta and Sacra Corona Unita. Vocabulary in Italian to identify formal elements of the films will be provided throughout the course. Taught in Italian.

In this class we read selected works from some of the most influential Italian women writers who are not named Elena Ferrante. Some of these writers contributed to the cultural and literary background that produced Ferrante as well. Others can be seen as Ferrante’s peers and even heirs. The remarkable global success of Ferrante’s work has created the so-called “Ferrante effect.” Both in Italy and abroad, editors and scholars are finally paying attention to long overlooked Italian women writers. We will explore this trend of reissues, new publications, and new translations. How has the Ferrante effect recast our assumptions about literary value? Can restorative justice take place within the global editorial market? Is it legitimate to speak about an editorial affirmative action? What is the relationship between Italian periphery and the dominant literary empire? Among the authors we will read are classics--such as Elsa Morante, Natalia Ginzburg, and Anna Maria Ortese--but also new and overlooked voices--such as Fabrizia Ramondino, Fausta Cialente, Paola Masino, Brianna Carafa, Claudia Durastanti, and Veronica Raimo. Taught in Italian.

This course is intended for speakers of French, to quickly develop competence in spoken and written Kreyol (Kreyòl Ayisyen). In this introductory course, students learn ways to apply their skills in French (or another Romance language with instructor consent) to mastering Kreyol by concentrating on the similarities and differences between the two languages. Open to students with knowledge of another Romance language and instructor consent as well as heritage learners of Kreyol.

This course is intended for speakers of French, to quickly develop competence in spoken and written Kreyol (Kreyòl Ayisyen). In this intermediate-level course, students learn ways to apply their skills in French (or another Romance language with instructor consent) to mastering Kreyol by concentrating on the similarities and differences between the two languages. This course offers a rapid review of the basic patterns of the language and expands on the material presented in KREY 12200. 

This advanced-level course will focus on speaking and writing skills through the study of a wide variety of contemporary texts and audiovisual materials. It will provide students with a better understanding of contemporary Haitian society. Students will review problematic grammatical structures, write a number of essays, and participate in multiple class debates.

This advanced-level course will focus on speaking and writing skills through a wide variety of texts, audiovisual materials, and cultural experiences. We will study a wide range of Haitian cultural manifestations (e.g., visual arts, music, gastronomy). Students will also review advanced grammatical structures, write a number of essays, participate in multiple class debates, and take cultural trips to have a comprehensive learning experience with Haitian language and culture.Taught in Kreyòl.

This course examines the concept of language identity (i.e., the language[s] people employ to represent themselves) in multilingual Creolophone communities, particularly in Haiti. This course also examines the relationships between language identity, learning, language use, and literacy development in these societies. By the end of the course, students will be able to explain: 1) what language identity in multilingual Creolophone community reveal about speakers and their language attitudes; 2) how context and mode of communication can impact language identity and language use; 3) literacy acquisition and achievement in Creole communities; and 4) how Creolophones’ learning and literacy development are affected by language policies and ideologies. A final project will require students to design and conduct a preliminary sociolinguistic study based on students’ interests in the French-Creolophone world. Taught in English.

This sequence is intended for beginning and beginning/intermediate students in Portuguese. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Portuguese (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, sociocultural norms) to develop their speaking, listening, writing, and reading skills. Although the three courses constitute a sequence, there is enough review and recycling at every level for students to enter the sequence whenever it is appropriate for them. This course is intended for students who have no previous knowledge of Portuguese and for students who need an in-depth review of the basic patterns of the language.

This course is a rapid review of the basic patterns of the language and expands on the material presented in PORT 10100.

This course expands on the material presented in PORT 10200, reviewing and elaborating the basic patterns of the language

This course is intended for speakers of Spanish to develop competence quickly in spoken and written Portuguese. In this intermediate-level course, students learn ways to apply their Spanish language skills to mastering Portuguese by concentrating on the similarities and differences between the two languages

This course is intended for speakers of Spanish to develop competence quickly in spoken and written Portuguese. In this intermediate-level course, students learn ways to apply their Spanish language skills to mastering Portuguese by concentrating on the similarities and differences between the two languages.

This course helps students quickly gain skills in spoken and written Portuguese by building on their prior working knowledge of another Romance language (Spanish, French, Catalan or Italian). By relying on the many similarities with other Romance languages, students can focus on mastering the different aspects of Portuguese, allowing them to develop their abilities for further study. This class covers content from PORT 10100 and 10200.

This is an accelerated language course that covers vocabulary and grammar for students interested in working in a business environment where Portuguese is spoken. The focus of this highly interactive class is to develop basic communication skills and cultural awareness through formal classes, readings, discussions, and writings.

This sequence is intended for beginning and beginning/intermediate students in Portuguese. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Portuguese (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, sociocultural norms) to develop their speaking, listening, writing, and reading skills. Although the three courses constitute a sequence, there is enough review and recycling at every level for students to enter the sequence whenever it is appropriate for them. This course is a general review and extension of all basic patterns of the language for intermediate students. Students explore selected aspects of Luso-Brazilian tradition through a variety of texts.

In this course students will explore the culture of the Lusophone world through the study of a wide variety of contemporary literary and journalistic texts from Brazil, Portugal, Angola and Mozambique, and unscripted recordings. This advanced language course targets the development of writing skills and oral proficiency in Portuguese. Students will review problematic grammatical structures, write a number of essays, and participate in multiple class debates, using authentic readings and listening segments as linguistic models on which to base their own production.

The objective of this course is to help students acquire advanced grammatical knowledge of the Portuguese language through exposure to cultural and literary content with a focus on Brazil. Students develop skills to continue perfecting their oral and written proficiency and comprehension of authentic literary texts and recordings, while also being exposed to relevant sociocultural and political contemporary topics. Students read, analyze, and discuss authentic texts by established writers from the lusophone world; they watch and discuss videos of interviews with writers and other prominent figures to help them acquire the linguistic skills required in academic discourse. Through exposure to written and spoken authentic materials, students learn the grammatical and lexical tools necessary to understand such materials as well as produce their own written analysis, response, and commentary. In addition, they acquire knowledge on major Brazilian authors and works.

This course helps students develop their skills in understanding, summarizing, and producing written and spoken arguments in Portuguese through readings and debates on various issues of relevance in contemporary Luso-Brazilian societies. Special consideration is given to the major differences between continental and Brazilian Portuguese. In addition to reading, analyzing, and commenting on advanced texts (both literary and nonliterary), students practice and extend their writing skills in a series of compositions.

This course is open to all RLL students and will be run as a workshop. The primary goal is to work on the Qualifying Paper with the objective of producing a piece of work that might, with subsequent revision, be submitted to an academic journal for publication. This course is also appropriate for anyone who wants to work on a dissertation proposal or chapter. We will cover all aspects of professional writing, from abstracts and grant proposals to revising manuscripts after readers' reports.         

SPAN 10100 is the initial segment of the first-year course sequence in Spanish language. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Spanish (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, sociolinguistic norms) and emphasizes all four skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading. This course is intended for students with no previous exposure to Spanish.

SPAN 10100 is the initial segment of the first-year course sequence in Spanish language. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Spanish (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, sociolinguistic norms) and emphasizes all four skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading. This course is intended for students with no previous exposure to Spanish.

SPAN 10100 is the initial segment of the first-year course sequence in Spanish language. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Spanish (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, sociolinguistic norms) and emphasizes all four skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading. This course is intended for students with no previous exposure to Spanish.

SPAN 10200 is the second segment of the first-year course sequence in Spanish language. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Spanish (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, sociolinguistic norms) and emphasizes all four skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading.

SPAN 10200 is the second segment of the first-year course sequence in Spanish language. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Spanish (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, sociolinguistic norms) and emphasizes all four skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading.

SPAN 10300 is the third and final segment of the first-year course sequence in Spanish language. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Spanish (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, sociolinguistic norms) and emphasizes all four skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading.

SPAN 10300 is the third and final segment of the first-year course sequence in Spanish language. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Spanish (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, sociolinguistic norms) and emphasizes all four skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading.

SPAN 10300 is the third and final segment of the first-year course sequence in Spanish language. It provides students with a solid foundation in the basic patterns of spoken and written Spanish (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, sociolinguistic norms) and emphasizes all four skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading.

This intensive, three-quarter sequence brings students with no prior background in Spanish to advanced-low levels in all four skills-reading, writing, speaking, and listening-thus preparing students to take third-year level courses in the language. Learners who are starting Spanish late in their College careers or who wish to move forward swiftly will gain skills corresponding to two full years of study by completing the entire sequence. Although the three classes constitute a sequence, students may enter the sequence whenever it is appropriate for them based on prior courses or placement exam results. Students may also exit the sequence after any given class and continue in the appropriate course in the Elementary or Intermediate Spanish track. NOTE: Each course is 200 units and corresponds in workload to taking two courses. Spanish 12001 is the equivalent of Spanish 101 and Spanish 102.

This intensive, three-quarter sequence brings students with no prior background in Spanish to advanced-low levels in all four skills-reading, writing, speaking, and listening-thus preparing students to take third-year level courses in the language. Learners who are starting Spanish late in their College careers or who wish to move forward swiftly will gain skills corresponding to two full years of study by completing the entire sequence. Although the three classes constitute a sequence, students may enter the sequence whenever it is appropriate for them based on prior courses or placement exam results. Students may also exit the sequence after any given class and continue in the appropriate course in the Elementary or Intermediate Spanish track. NOTE: Each course is 200 units and corresponds in workload to taking two courses. Spanish 12002 is the equivalent of Spanish 103 and Spanish 201

This intensive, three-quarter sequence brings students with no prior background in Spanish to advanced-low levels in all four skills-reading, writing, speaking, and listening-thus preparing students to take third-year level courses in the language. Learners who are starting Spanish late in their College careers or who wish to move forward swiftly will gain skills corresponding to two full years of study by completing the entire sequence. Although the three classes constitute a sequence, students may enter the sequence whenever it is appropriate for them based on prior courses or placement exam results. Students may also exit the sequence after any given class and continue in the appropriate course in the Elementary or Intermediate Spanish track. NOTE: Each course is 200 units and corresponds in workload to taking two courses. Spanish 12003 is the equivalent of Spanish 20200 and Spanish 20300

This course helps students quickly gain skills in spoken and written Spanish by building on their prior working knowledge of another Romance language (French, Catalan, Italian or Portuguese). By relying on the many similarities with other Romance languages, students can focus on mastering the different aspects of Spanish, allowing them to develop their abilities for further study. This class covers content from SPAN 10100 and 10200.

This course is a general extension of all basic patterns of the language for intermediate students. Students explore the diversity of the Spanish-speaking world through a variety of texts and audio-visual materials.

This course is a general extension of all basic patterns of the language for intermediate students. Students explore the diversity of the Spanish-speaking world through a variety of texts and audio-visual materials.

This course is a general extension of all basic patterns of the language for intermediate students. Students explore the diversity of the Spanish-speaking world through a variety of texts and audio-visual materials.

The goal of this first course in a two-course intermediate sequence is to help students who are heritage learners of Spanish to improve their oral, writing and reading skills and to formalize their linguistic ability. Basic grammatical patterns (e.g. grammar, vocabulary, socio-cultural norms) and orthographic conventions are reviewed and practiced in a variety of short papers, oral presentations and class discussions. Awareness of contemporary Hispanic societies and their historical roots will be enhanced through exposure to a variety of literary and non-literary texts and authentic audio-visual materials.

The goal of this first course in a two-course intermediate sequence is to help students who are heritage learners of Spanish to improve their oral, writing and reading skills and to formalize their linguistic ability. Basic grammatical patterns (e.g. grammar, vocabulary, socio-cultural norms) and orthographic conventions are reviewed and practiced in a variety of short papers, oral presentations and class discussions. Awareness of contemporary Hispanic societies and their historical roots will be enhanced through exposure to a variety of literary and non-literary texts and authentic audio-visual materials.

This course focuses on both objective and subjective description of people, places, and life processes. A variety of written, oral, listening, and reading activities allow students to explore different genres while reviewing grammatical and lexical items pertaining to each individual theme in context. Cultural awareness is enhanced through exposure to an array of target-language media, as well as through in-class discussion.

This course focuses on both objective and subjective description of people, places, and life processes. A variety of written, oral, listening, and reading activities allow students to explore different genres while reviewing grammatical and lexical items pertaining to each individual theme in context. Cultural awareness is enhanced through exposure to an array of target-language media, as well as through in-class discussion.

This course focuses on both objective and subjective description of people, places, and life processes. A variety of written, oral, listening, and reading activities allow students to explore different genres while reviewing grammatical and lexical items pertaining to each individual theme in context. Cultural awareness is enhanced through exposure to an array of target-language media, as well as through in-class discussion.

This course develops the use of persuasive and argumentative language. Our focus is on analyzing and debating current issues pertaining to the Spanish-speaking world, and articulating sound personal perspectives on these issues. A variety of written, oral, listening, and reading activities allow students to explore an ample selection of topics, while reviewing grammatical and lexical items pertaining to each individual theme in context. Cultural awareness is enhanced through exposure to an array of target-language media as well as through in-class oral presentations and discussions.

This course develops the use of persuasive and argumentative language. Our focus is on analyzing and debating current issues pertaining to the Spanish-speaking world, and articulating sound personal perspectives on these issues. A variety of written, oral, listening, and reading activities allow students to explore an ample selection of topics, while reviewing grammatical and lexical items pertaining to each individual theme in context. Cultural awareness is enhanced through exposure to an array of target-language media as well as through in-class oral presentations and discussions.

This course develops the use of persuasive and argumentative language. Our focus is on analyzing and debating current issues pertaining to the Spanish-speaking world, and articulating sound personal perspectives on these issues. A variety of written, oral, listening, and reading activities allow students to explore an ample selection of topics, while reviewing grammatical and lexical items pertaining to each individual theme in context. Cultural awareness is enhanced through exposure to an array of target-language media as well as through in-class oral presentations and discussions.

The goal of this second course in a two-course intermediate sequence is to teach heritage learners of Spanish how to use formal written and spoken language to debate and to formulate cogent arguments. Students are expected to analyze particular topics related to the Spanish-speaking world and to participate within an academic forum. Challenging grammatical structures and orthographic conventions are reviewed and practiced in a variety of writing exercises and through class discussions. Students are exposed to a wide range of literary and non-literary texts and audio-visual materials that exemplify the different cultures and regional varieties within the Spanish-speaking world.

The goal of this second course in a two-course intermediate sequence is to teach heritage learners of Spanish how to use formal written and spoken language to debate and to formulate cogent arguments. Students are expected to analyze particular topics related to the Spanish-speaking world and to participate within an academic forum. Challenging grammatical structures and orthographic conventions are reviewed and practiced in a variety of writing exercises and through class discussions. Students are exposed to a wide range of literary and non-literary texts and audio-visual materials that exemplify the different cultures and regional varieties within the Spanish-speaking world.

This course is designed as an alternative to SPAN 20300 for students aspiring to use Spanish in a professional context. In order for both courses to serve as equal preparation for the following course in the sequence (SPAN 20400), the textbook used and the grammatical topics covered in SPAN 20300 and 20304 are identical, while some readings, listenings, and vocabulary will differ. Students will expand their lexical and cultural knowledge of their chosen professional area through self-selected readings and a presentation, and will hone linguistic skills relevant to any workplace environment.

This course brings students to high-intermediate levels in reading, speaking, and listening for the practice of public interest law in the US. Learners will build proficiency around relevant topic areas so that they can read, listen, explain, present and solicit information related to rights, procedures, legal actions, etc. Pre-requisite: one year of university-level Spanish or equivalent.

Chicago is known to have multiple, diverse Spanish-speaking communities. In this course, students will use these communities as their classroom to analyze and debate current issues confronting the LatinX experience in the United States and Midwest. In parallel, class instruction will reinforce and expand students' grammatical and lexical proficiency in a manner that will allow students to engage in real-life activities involving speaking, reading, listening and writing skills. This intermediate-high language course targets the development of writing skills and oral proficiency in Spanish and is designed as an alternative to SPAN 20300. Students will review problematic grammatical structures, write a number of essays, and participate in multiple class conversations using authentic readings and listening segments as linguistic models on which to base their own production. At the end of class, students are expected to produce an individual project.

This course targets the development of advanced writing skills and oral proficiency in Spanish through the study of a wide variety of contemporary journalistic texts and unscripted recordings. Students will review problematic grammatical structures, write a number of essays, and participate in multiple class debates, using the authentic readings and listening segments as linguistic models on which to base their own production.

This course targets the development of advanced writing skills and oral proficiency in Spanish through the study of a wide variety of contemporary journalistic texts and unscripted recordings. Students will review problematic grammatical structures, write a number of essays, and participate in multiple class debates, using the authentic readings and listening segments as linguistic models on which to base their own production.

This course targets the development of advanced writing skills and oral proficiency in Spanish through the study of a wide variety of contemporary journalistic texts and unscripted recordings. Students will review problematic grammatical structures, write a number of essays, and participate in multiple class debates, using the authentic readings and listening segments as linguistic models on which to base their own production.

This advanced language course helps students achieve mastery of composition and style through the acquisition of numerous writing techniques. A wide variety of literary and non-literary texts are read. Through writing a number of essays and participating in class discussions, students are guided in the examination of linguistic structures and organization of several types of written Spanish discourse. This course also enhances awareness of the cultural diversity within the contemporary Spanish-speaking world and its historical roots.

This advanced language course helps students achieve mastery of composition and style through the acquisition of numerous writing techniques. A wide variety of literary and non-literary texts are read. Through writing a number of essays and participating in class discussions, students are guided in the examination of linguistic structures and organization of several types of written Spanish discourse. This course also enhances awareness of the cultural diversity within the contemporary Spanish-speaking world and its historical roots.

This course, the second segment of two in the third-year language sequence, continues the development of advanced writing skills and oral proficiency in Spanish through the study of a wide variety of contemporary journalistic texts and unscripted recordings. Students will review problematic grammatical structures, write a number of essays, and participate in multiple class debates, using the authentic readings and listening segments as linguistic models on which to base their own production.

This course, the second segment of two in the third-year language sequence, continues the development of advanced writing skills and oral proficiency in Spanish through the study of a wide variety of contemporary journalistic texts and unscripted recordings. Students will review problematic grammatical structures, write a number of essays, and participate in multiple class debates, using the authentic readings and listening segments as linguistic models on which to base their own production.

This seminar/practicum focuses on developing vocabulary and discourse styles for academic verbal communication. This goal is achieved through exposure to taped formal and informal interviews and public debate in the media. Most important, however, is active class participation. Through a number of class presentations, students put into practice a variety of discourse styles (e.g., debates, lectures, seminars, interviews).

This seminar/practicum focuses on developing vocabulary and discourse styles for academic verbal communication. This goal is achieved through exposure to taped formal and informal interviews and public debate in the media. Most important, however, is active class participation. Through a number of class presentations, students put into practice a variety of discourse styles (e.g., debates, lectures, seminars, interviews).

This sociolinguistic course expands understanding of the historical development of Spanish and awareness of the great sociocultural diversity within the Spanish-speaking world and its impact on the Spanish language. We emphasize the interrelationship between language and culture as well as ethno-historical transformations within the different regions of the Hispanic world. Special consideration is given to identifying lexical variations and regional expressions exemplifying diverse sociocultural aspects of the Spanish language, and to recognizing phonological differences between dialects. We also examine the impact of indigenous cultures on dialectical aspects. The course includes literary and nonliterary texts, audio-visual materials, and visits by native speakers of a variety of Spanish-speaking regions.

This sociolinguistic course expands understanding of both the historical and the contemporary development of Spanish in parts of the United States, and awareness of the great sociocultural diversity within the Spanish-speaking communities in the United States and its impact on the Spanish language. This course emphasizes the interrelationship between language and culture as well as ethno-historical transformations within the different regions of the United States. Special consideration is given to identifying lexical variations and regional expressions exemplifying diverse sociocultural aspects of the Spanish language, and to recognizing phonological differences between dialects. We also examine the impact of English on dialectical aspects. The course includes sociolinguistic texts, audio-visual materials, and visits by native speakers of a variety of Spanish-speaking regions in the United States.

This is a survey of the literatures and cultures of Spain from the 19th to the 21st centuries. The course offers an introduction to key historical moments of Spanish modernity, including the age of liberalism and the end of the empire, the Civil War and the Spanish exile, and the fight for democracy and equality in the Transition period and in the present day. Through literature, film, and the visual arts we will discuss topics such as the rivalry of competing national projects, the creative tension between tradition and avant-garde, the relationship between languages, literature, and society, and the struggles of women, among others. We will study towering cultural figures such as Emilia Pardo Bazán, Federico García Lorca, Mercè Rodoreda, Pablo Picasso, or Luis Buñuel, among many others. In addition to enhancing your knowledge of Iberian cultural history and improving your close reading and critical thinking skills, this course is designed to continue building on your linguistic competence in Spanish.
 

This is a survey of the literatures and cultures of Spain from the 19th to the 21st centuries. The course offers an introduction to key historical moments of Spanish modernity, including the age of liberalism and the end of the empire, the Civil War and the Spanish exile, and the fight for democracy and equality in the Transition period and in the present day. Through literature, film, and the visual arts we will discuss topics such as the rivalry of competing national projects, the creative tension between tradition and avant-garde, the relationship between languages, literature, and society, and the struggles of women, among others. We will study towering cultural figures such as Emilia Pardo Bazán, Federico García Lorca, Mercè Rodoreda, Pablo Picasso, or Luis Buñuel, among many others. In addition to enhancing your knowledge of Iberian cultural history and improving your close reading and critical thinking skills, this course is designed to continue building on your linguistic competence in Spanish.
 

This course introduces students to the writing produced in Hispanic and Portuguese America during the period marked by the early processes of European colonization in the sixteenth century through the revolutionary movements that, in the nineteenth century, led to the establishment of independent nation-states across the continent. The assigned texts relate to the first encounters between Indigenous, Black, and European populations in the region, to the emergence of distinct (“New World”) notions of cultural identity (along with the invention of new racial categories), and to the disputes over the meaning of nationhood that characterized the anti-colonial struggles for independence. Issues covered in this survey include the idea of texts as spaces of cultural and political conflict; the relationships between Christianization, secularization, and practices of racialization; the transatlantic slave trade; the uses of the colonial past in early nationalist projects; and the aesthetic languages through which this production was partly articulated (such as the Barroco de Indias, or “New World baroque,” Neoclassicism, Romanticism, and Modernismo, among others). In addition to enhancing your knowledge of Latin American cultural history and improving your close reading and critical thinking skills, this course is designed to continue building on your linguistic competence in Spanish.

This course introduces students to the writing produced in Hispanic and Portuguese America during the period marked by the early processes of European colonization in the sixteenth century through the revolutionary movements that, in the nineteenth century, led to the establishment of independent nation-states across the continent. The assigned texts relate to the first encounters between Indigenous, Black, and European populations in the region, to the emergence of distinct (“New World”) notions of cultural identity (along with the invention of new racial categories), and to the disputes over the meaning of nationhood that characterized the anti-colonial struggles for independence. Issues covered in this survey include the idea of texts as spaces of cultural and political conflict; the relationships between Christianization, secularization, and practices of racialization; the transatlantic slave trade; the uses of the colonial past in early nationalist projects; and the aesthetic languages through which this production was partly articulated (such as the Barroco de Indias, or “New World baroque,” Neoclassicism, Romanticism, and Modernismo, among others). In addition to enhancing your knowledge of Latin American cultural history and improving your close reading and critical thinking skills, this course is designed to continue building on your linguistic competence in Spanish.

“Although we can find a significant number of authors exploring queer desire and identities throughout the history of Catalan Literature (from lesbian scenes in Joanot Martorell’s Tirant lo blanc to expanding gender identities in Maria Aurèlia Capmany’s Quim/Quima), more recent Catalan Literature is blooming with queerness and non-normative lust. This course will give an overview of contemporary Catalan works influenced by feminist and queer debates from the seventies on. Beginning with renowned poet Maria Mercè Marçal’s only novel, The Passion According to Rennée Vivien, winner of several of the most prestigious literary awards for Catalan Literature, we will go on to discover 21st century’s works by Eva Baltasar and Anna Punsoda. We will also read poems, short stories and excerpts from authors such as Maria Sevilla, Mireia Calafell, Raquel Santanera, Sebastià Portell, Sil Bel and Ian Bermúdez, among others."

This course will survey some of the main literary and cultural tendencies in Latin America from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. We will pay special attention to their aesthetic dimensions, as well as the socio-historical and political conditions that made them possible, and in which they simultaneously intervened. Questions to be studied might include the innovations of the Modernist and avant-garde movements, fantastic literature, the novel of the so-called “Boom,” cultural production associated with revolutionary movements, military dictatorships, and the Cold War, as well as new currents in literary and theatrical practices. Likewise, the course will foreground some of the following concepts relevant to the study of this production: modernity and modernization; development and neoliberalism; neo-colonialism and empire; cultural autonomy and ideas of poetic and cultural renewal; the epic vs. the novel; realism and non-verisimilitude; and performativity, among others. In addition to enhancing your knowledge of Latin American cultural history and improving your close reading and critical thinking skills, this course is designed to continue building on your linguistic competence in Spanish.

This course will survey some of the main literary and cultural tendencies in Latin America from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. We will pay special attention to their aesthetic dimensions, as well as the socio-historical and political conditions that made them possible, and in which they simultaneously intervened. Questions to be studied might include the innovations of the Modernist and avant-garde movements, fantastic literature, the novel of the so-called "Boom," cultural production associated with revolutionary movements, military dictatorships, and the Cold War, as well as new currents in literary and theatrical practices. Likewise, the course will foreground some of the following concepts relevant to the study of this production: modernity and modernization; development and neoliberalism; neo-colonialism and empire; cultural autonomy and ideas of poetic and cultural renewal; the epic vs. the novel; realism and non-verisimilitude; and performativity, among others. In addition to enhancing your knowledge of Latin American cultural history and improving your close reading and critical thinking skills, this course is designed to continue building on your linguistic competence in Spanish. Taught in Spanish. This course is the equivalent of SPAN 22003.

This course presents a broad engagement with representations of animals and animal worlds in Latin American culture. Latin American fauna is associated, in the US imagination, with notions of exoticism and biodiversity, but the diversity of the cultural representations of animal beings in Latin American cultures far surpass those narrowly delimited borders. From the realm of domesticity (with cats and dogs) to the wilderness (with anacondas and jaguars), from concerns with the economy (with cows and chickens) to concerns with health (with mosquitoes and microbes), Latin American cultures have devoted a lot of attention to imagining and representing these non-human creatures. This course draws from the rich corpus of narrative, poetry, and the visual arts to explore different symbolic values animals can assume. We'll read works by the likes of Horacio Quiroga, Clarice Lispector, and João Guimarães Rosa; and engage with visual works by Gabriel Mascaro, Frida Kahlo, and Jaider Esbell. In addition to enhancing your knowledge of Latin American cultural history and improving your close reading and critical thinking skills, this course is designed to continue building on your linguistic competence in Spanish.

How did men and women understand their roles in early modern Spanish society as dictated by their gender? Could individuals challenge, or even transgress, the societal-and, therefore, gendered-norms by which they were bound? How were the ideals of femininity and masculinity constructed in artistic and literary production? To what extent were gender and sexuality fixed or fluid in the early modern imaginary? These are but a few of the questions that will be addressed in this course, as we examine the complexities and nuances of gender and sexuality in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish culture. We will engage primarily with literary sources, such as poetry, narrative, theatrical works, and autobiographical writings from key literary figures (Garcilaso de la Vega, Teresa de Ávila, María de Zayas, Lope de Vega, to name a few). Moreover, we will examine visual art as well as medical and moral treatises in order to gain as comprehensive as possible an understanding of the notion of gender and sexuality during this time period. In addition to expanding their knowledge of Spanish literature and culture, this course will allow students to continue enhancing their Spanish linguistic competence.

This course offers an overview of the cultural relations between Asia and Latin America from the 16th century to the present day. We will engage with these plural transpacific circulations - individuals, resources, goods, ideas, and sensibilities - through diverse material ranging from maps, poetry, visual arts, films, and essays to music, architecture, textiles, and social media. We will question the local and global implications of these exchanges in a (post)colonial world. A navigation between eras and areas, this course takes transpacific cultural relations as an opportunity to decenter the gaze. What do these early and dynamic circulations tell us about a globalization always centered on the (North) West of the planet? What happens with the old presumed categories of "West" and "East" when the world is lived and conceived from other locations and perspectives? What remains of "Latin" when America is apprehended from the "Pacific Rim"? Drawing on close observations and analysis of representative cultural productions, this course seeks to map the importance and diversity of these transpacific cultural itineraries and to explore alternative ways of thinking about "Latin America" as a central agent of our connected modernities. Besides enhancing your knowledge of Latin American cultural history, this course is designed to help you improve your close reading and critical thinking skills, as well as continue building on your linguistic competence in Spanish.

This course offers a transhistorical overview of the connections between writing and plagues in the Hispanic World, from the seventeenth century to the present day. We will explore the ways in which literature, and the visual arts register and articulate moments of contagion and how they shape each other. Among other sources, we will engage with an artisan’s diary of the early modern period, literary essays in periodicals of the 19th century, a novel about the AIDS epidemic, a TV series that represents a Black Plague outbreak, and journals of the Covid-19 pandemic. How are these moments of contagion construed? How are the chains of infection narrated? How are fear, loss and anxiety textualized? How do cultural products define the blurred lines of the public and the private during epidemics? Exploring a variety of plagues –from the Black Plague to the typhus and yellow fever outbreaks, the Spanish flu and AIDS epidemic, to our present Covid-19 pandemic– we will explore how epidemics affect writing, the narrators and styles that thrive under and after the experience of them, and the role they play altering, subverting, and adapting established genres. Besides adding to your knowledge of the Spanish-speaking world, and improving your close reading and critical thinking skills, this course is designed to continue building on your linguistic competence in Spanish.

En este curso analizaremos cómo la literatura ha interactuado con las prácticas de censura en las sociedades hispánicas. Nos preguntaremos cómo distintas obras literarias negociaron con las técnicas de control social de su tiempo, y cómo tales técnicas posibilitaron a su vez nuevas formas de expresión artística. Nos concentraremos, principalmente, en textos literarios de España y de América Latina de los siglos XVI y XVII (por ejemplo, Miguel de Cervantes, Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz), y los pondremos en diálogo con obras de ficción más recientes (Jorge Luis Borges, Carlos Fuentes, Mario Benedetti, Elsa Bonermann) y con discusiones teóricas en torno al control en la sociedad (Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Roland Barthes). Además de reflexionar sobre los vínculos entre literatura y sociedad en distintos períodos históricos, y de mejorar tus habilidades de lectura y pensamiento crítico, el curso está diseñado para continuar desarrollando tus habilidades lingüísticas y tu competencia en español. Taught in Spanish.

How does one represent the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world? With a sprawling, 600-page novel? With a short-story? A feature film? Street photography or aerial views? Does the urban experience itself give shape to certain narratives or styles? This course will examine portrayals of Mexico City in literature, film, and photography since the 1950s, in order to attempt some answers. Just like Paris or New York, Mexico City has inspired generations of authors who have tried their hand at representing this 500-year-old city of roughly 22 million people. We will trace the city’s modern transformations through those cultural products that aim to build an image of the place. How do these artworks shape (or contest) the collective imagination of the city? By examining representations of this Latin American capital, we will articulate questions regarding inequality, overpopulation, modernization, and the foreign gaze. In addition to cultivating critical and historical perspectives on the urban experience, we will also engage creatively with the city that surrounds us, Chicago. Works to be discussed may include the likes of Roberto Bolaño, Carlos Monsiváis, Alfonso Cuarón, Valeria Luiselli, and Juan Villoro, among others. Besides adding to your knowledge of Mexican cultural history, and improving your close reading and critical thinking skills, this course is designed to continue building on your linguistic competence in Spanish.

This course is a comprehensive exploration of the different literary, cultural, and sociopolitical discourses that emerged in the wake of the Cuban Revolution. We will track its historical development from the heady, early stages of the 1960s to the widespread crisis of the Special Period of the 1990s. Through literary texts, we will examine how Cuban authors represented and debated political subjectivity, gender and sexuality in a revolutionary context, the meaning(s) of Cuban national history, and the nature of political violence. This course will also focus on analyzing a variety of perspectives, from those that supported the aims of the Revolution to those that openly opposed it. We will also engage with historical documents, political speeches, and short films to further explore how the literary texts interacted with their social contexts. Some of the authors, filmmakers, and politicians to be studied may include Tomás Guitiérrez Alea, Eduardo Heras León, Reinaldo Arenas, Fidel Castro, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Senel Paz, Reina María Rodríguez, Ena Lucía Portela, Abilio Estévez, and others.

In this course, we will immerse ourselves in the history of 19th- and 20th- century Latin-American literature through the study of one of its most important products: the short story. Readings will include authors such as Horacio Quiroga, Jorge Luis Borges, Armonía Sommers, Juan Rulfo, Clarice Lispector, Gabriel García Márquez, Julio Cortázar, and Roberto Bolaño. At the same, we will explore the writings of some of the most important masters of the short story in other languages - Edgar Allan Poe, Anton Chekov, Danilo Kiš, Mo Yan and others – in order to understand the international currents that were both an influence and influenced by the Latin-American short story. Topics to be discussed include the specificity of short fiction (against other genres such as the novel), the poetics of brevity and miniatures, and the importance of the short story in the Latin-American canon.

Have you ever written a diary? Have you ever asked “what for”? Why tell a life, and why not? Can every life story be told? How? All these questions bundle behind a more general one: why is the “self” such a hot topic in contemporary literature? How has literature reacted to this interest in subjectivity? In this course we will look into ––and challenge–– a series of terms that tend to be confused: autobiography, autobiographical novel, memoir, diary, autofiction, correspondence. Are these distinctions helpful? What kind of “truth” do they look up to? Are all lives worth their telling? How has that changed with time? We will read contemporary authors that engage with these different genres. We will read about splendid and “minor” lives. We will study maniac authors that simply can’t interrupt their production. (The instructor is one of these rare creatures!) We will delve into the main critical discussions of the field and use them to think of the different types of autobiographical works that will be covered in the program. Also, once a week (myself included) we will write a short reading diary entry as a hands-on “autobiographical” practice.

This course will offer a broad overview of the literary production of the Dominican Republic and the Dominican diaspora in the United States, from the twentieth century until the present. We will explore key moments in the development of Dominican literature, including the appearance of vanguard movements, the centering of blackness in poetic texts, the emergence of experimental literary tendencies in both verse and prose, and the transition to urban narratives, among others. Our trajectory will take us through a variety of genres, including poetry, the Dominican Republic’s most cultivated genre, as well as short stories, novels, performance and spoken word texts, and essays.

This course explores the origins and contemporary resonance of the notion of “Greater Mexico,” a term that, in the words of Mexican American folklorist Américo Paredes, encapsulates “all the areas inhabited by people of Mexican culture—not only within the present limits of the Republic of Mexico but in the United States as well.” We study essays, novels, poems, films, art works, museum exhibits, and social movements that have shaped the concept of a “greater Mexico” over the course of the last five decades. Course materials and readings by Paredes, Anzaldúa, Robert M. Young, Rubén Ortiz-Torres, the Electronic Disturbance Theater, Jay Lynn Gomez, Salvador Plascencia, and others.

La esclavitud en las Américas no fue únicamente un sistema de organización socio-económica fundamentado en el trabajo coactivo. Este también conllevó la gestación de complejas y heterogéneas formas de producción cultural. En el contexto del moderno sistema de la plantación, ello en parte implicó una inédita articulación filosófica de las relaciones entre poder, raza y cuerpo, sofisticadas formas sincréticas de musicalidad y religiosidad populares, así como la producción de numerosas representaciones artísticas en las que se simbolizaron las conflictivas y a veces insólitas relaciones entre amos y esclavos. En este seminario nos enfocaremos en una serie de artefactos en los que se dramatiza puntualmente la intersección entre cultural visual y dominación esclavista en el mundo iberoamericano, prestándole especial atención a sus encuadres transatlánticos y a sus relaciones con los proyectos de constitución nacional en el siglo XIX. Nuestro objetivo es identificar el lugar de lo visual al interior de las cultura de la esclavitud --las lógicas de sus funcionamientos-- a partir del reconocimiento de algunas de sus zonas menos estudiadas. Examinaremos en particular una selección de expresiones relativas a la "alta" pintura (al retrato al óleo y el paisajismo), las dimensiones visuales de los reglamentos de esclavos, ciertas modalidades performáticas (esto es, corporalizadas y visualizadas) de las prácticas evangélicas y del teatro popular, y la dialéctica de lo visible y lo invisible en narrativas de esclavos y en algunas producciones efímeras de la cultura material. Taught in Spanish.

This seminar explores sensationalist journalism – and crime tabloids in particular – as an understudied archive of a certain kind of violence: the violence that falls on the most marginalized segments of the population. The seminar covers the years between the 1950s and 1980s, a bourgeoning time for crime tabloids in the Americas and a pivotal period in the history of violence in the region. It brings together works from painters, writers, filmmakers, journalists, and photojournalists from Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and the United States. The course is transnational in scope and structure, and it aims to provide a panoramic picture of the forms of violence (rural displacement, rising urban crime, racial oppression, dictatorship, violence by sexual means, war) that gained visibility in the decades after WWII.

This course focuses on current approaches to multilingualism and multilingual education from psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic, and educational perspectives. Topics to cover include multilingualism and minority languages, the effect of bilingualism on the acquisition of additional languages, definitions and typologies of multilingual education. The course includes different theoretical and research perspectives in the study of multilingual competence and evaluation of multilingual programs in education, such as translanguaging or the study of the linguistic landscape. The course pays specific attention to the analysis of different research methodologies and to the role of minority languages in education and in society.

This fast-paced course prepares students to read and do research using texts in Catalan. Students will work on grammar, vocabulary and reading skills, and they will also get introduced to some translation strategies. Part of the texts students will work on will be academic texts in their respective areas of research. This course may fulfill the graduate language requirement in some departments.

In this course we will discuss a number of Catalan texts, dating from the 1930s to 2016, on the experience of immigration and its social, cultural, and subjective impact. Representing a variety of genres, these texts will allow us to get a grasp of the complexity of a phenomenon that challenges binarisms such as us/them or foreign/native, and problematises concepts such as origins, roots, home, authenticity, citizenship, sameness and difference. We will explore the link between the representations of immigration and issues such as trauma and mourning; memory, the past and the future; national identity; gender and sexuality; the construction of discourses about identity and otherness in Catalan culture; how immigration interlinks with language conflict, and how it is framed by various linguistic ideologies; what role the subject of immigration plays in the political conflict between Catalonia and Spain; how the literature of the ‘new Catalans’ is transforming existing notions of Catalan identity; and whether we can speak of a “post-migrant condition” in Catalan literature and culture.

Ce cours est une initiation aux méthodes et aux techniques d’analyse littéraire. En travaillant sur des textes en vers et en prose issus des littératures francophones du Maghreb, de l’Afrique sub-saharienne et du Moyen-Orient, on apprendra à analyser les formes littéraires, les figures de sens, les procédés esthétiques et stylistiques, les structures et les voix narratives ainsi que les choix syntaxiques et lexicaux. On travaillera également sur des textes théoriques et critiques qui nous permettront d’approfondir nos lectures et de saisir les enjeux littéraires, culturels et intellectuels qui sous-tendent la création littéraire francophone. Taught in French.

French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss famously said that animals are good to think with. In this course we will read a variety of medieval texts alongside modern and contemporary critical theory and philosophy in order to gain a better understanding of the narrative, material, philosophical, spiritual, and ethical roles that animals play in medieval culture and in our current lives and thought.

Reading French for Research Purposes prepares students to read and do research using scholarly texts in French. Students will build on their fundamental knowledge of French grammar and the most common vocabulary terms used in scholarly writing, while developing reading comprehension skills and working intensively with academic texts in their areas of research specialty. Students who perform well in FREN 33333/23333 will be able to synthesize key points, arguments and evidence in scholarly texts into their own research. The course also includes practice of skills necessary to pass the Academic Reading Comprehension Assessment (ARCA) in French, administered by the Office for Language Assessment (OLA). Undergraduate students have the option of taking the ARCA, or completing a final assignment in which they identify, cite, and describe the relevance of multiple French secondary texts in their discipline or to a specific project. Note: this course does not count toward the French minor or major.

Reading French for Research Purposes prepares students to read and do research using scholarly texts in French. Students will build on their fundamental knowledge of French grammar and the most common vocabulary terms used in scholarly writing, while developing reading comprehension skills and working intensively with academic texts in their areas of research specialty. Students who perform well in FREN 33333/23333 will be able to synthesize key points, arguments and evidence in scholarly texts into their own research. The course also includes practice of skills necessary to pass the Academic Reading Comprehension Assessment (ARCA) in French, administered by the Office for Language Assessment (OLA). Undergraduate students have the option of taking the ARCA, or completing a final assignment in which they identify, cite, and describe the relevance of multiple French secondary texts in their discipline or to a specific project. Note: this course does not count toward the French minor or major.

Reading French for Research Purposes prepares students to read and do research using scholarly texts in French. Students will build on their fundamental knowledge of French grammar and the most common vocabulary terms used in scholarly writing, while developing reading comprehension skills and working intensively with academic texts in their areas of research specialty. Students who perform well in FREN 33333/23333 will be able to synthesize key points, arguments and evidence in scholarly texts into their own research. The course also includes practice of skills necessary to pass the Academic Reading Comprehension Assessment (ARCA) in French, administered by the Office for Language Assessment (OLA). Undergraduate students have the option of taking the ARCA, or completing a final assignment in which they identify, cite, and describe the relevance of multiple French secondary texts in their discipline or to a specific project. Note: this course does not count toward the French minor or major.

La plupart des contes de fées que vous connaissez, de Cendrillon au Chat Botté, ont été écrits en français d’abord, et au dix-septième siècle, qui a été l’âge d’or de ce genre en France. Les enfants et les adultes connaissent bien les contes d’auteurs comme Charles Perrault ou les frères Grimm. En France, pourtant, les femmes ont été cruciales au développement du conte de fées, avec Marie Catherine d’Aulnoy, la comtesse de Murat, ou Gabrielle Barbot de Villeneuve (qui a écrit La Belle et la bête). Etant donné qu’ils sont en grande partie responsables de ce en quoi consiste, de nos jours, la beauté, et d’une certaine image de l’amour et de la place de la femme dans la société, aussi bien que de ce qui est relégué aux marges, se pencher sur la formation de ce genre et analyser ses histoires est nécessaire pour comprendre pourquoi et comment ces idées prirent racine. Est-ce que les contes de fées sont les premiers récits à mettre en scène des héroïnes de caractère, ou est-ce qu’ils n’ont fait que perpétuer le motif de la demoiselle en détresse ? S’ils étaient, comme un article l’a récemment proposé, les premières critiques du patriarcat, peut-on le percevoir également chez ceux écrits par des hommes et ceux écrits par des femmes ? Nous étudierons des contes de fées français, anciens et modernes, à la fois des textes et des adaptations cinématographiques, en nous appuyant sur des lectures théoriques au sujet du folklore et du féminisme. Taught in French.

This course will examine the influence and continuation in twentieth-century French literature of the great realist enterprise of the previous century. Beginning with the crisis of naturalism in the late nineteenth century, we will consider the inflections given to literary representation by historical cataclysm, the avant-garde critique of the novel, and the postwar "age of suspicion." We will investigate the reformulations of literature's relationship to reality offered by theories of literary commitment and by the experiments of the Nouveau Roman. Finally, we will evaluate the phenomenon of the "return to the real" in contemporary French literature. Readings will include works by Aragon, Céline, Sartre, Robbe-Grillet, Sarraute, Perec, and Pierre Michon. Taught in French.

In many ways Denis Diderot is the emblem of the French Enlightenment in all its seriousness. He is deeply committed to the cause of rationality, especially in its relation to the ordering of knowledge as a means of producing knowledge. But for all his adherence to the cause of the philosophes, Diderot is the most elusive and self-mocking of them all. His novels turn the world on its head. His rationality is haunted by a mad derision that makes him the most complex, the most elusive, and perhaps the most delightful of all the philosophes. His novels are hilarious, his art criticism profoundly innovative, his philosophy deeply revolutionary, his libertinage scandalous. We will read some of the major works of this master of both rational proof and mystification. Readings may include articles of the Encyclopédie, La Lettre sur les aveugles à l’usage de ceux qui voient, Jacques le Fataliste, Les Bijoux indiscrets, Le Rêve de d’Alembert, La Religieuse. Readings, discussion and written work in French, but exceptions for written work in English are possible.

An in-depth study of Baudelaire’s works. We will read (in English translation) "Les Fleurs du mal," "Les Petits poèmes en prose," and selections from his art criticism, in order to develop a perspective on this great poet who was both classical and romantic, both a traditional and a revolutionary artist who helped create modernism. Students taking the course for French credit will do readings in French and participate in a weekly French discussion section.

This course will consider the foundational transformations of Western thought from the end of the Middle Ages to the threshold of modernity. It will provide an overview of the three self-conscious and interlinked intellectual revolutions which reshaped early modern Europe: the Renaissance revival of antiquity, the "new philosophy" of the seventeenth century, and the light and dark faces of the Enlightenment. It will treat scholasticism, humanism, the scientific revolution, Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Voltaire, Diderot, and Sade. Students taking FREN 29322/39322 must read French texts in French. First-year students and non-History majors welcome. Assignments: short and long papers, alternative projects

This course offers a close reading of Giambattista Vico's masterpiece, "The New Science" (1744) - a work that sets out to refute "all opinions hitherto held about the principles of humanity." Vico, who is acknowledged as the most resolute scourge of any form of rationalism, breathed new life into rhetoric, imagination, poetry, metaphor, history, and philology in order to promote in his readers that originary "wonder" and "pathos" which sets human beings on the search for truth. However, Vico argues, the truths that are most available and interesting to us are the ones humanity "authored" by means of its culture and history-creating activities. For this reason the study of myth and folklore as well as archeology, anthropology, and ethnology must all play a role in the rediscovery of man. "The New Science" builds an "alternative philosophy" for a new age and reads like a "novel of formation" recounting the (hi)story of the entire human race and our divine ancestors. In Vico, a prophetic spirit, one recognizes the fulfillment of the Renaissance, the spokesperson of a particular Enlightenment, the precursor of the Kantian revolution, and the forefather of the philosophy of history (Herder, Hegel, and Marx). "The New Science" remained a strong source of inspiration in the twentieth century (Cassirer, Gadamer, Berlin, Joyce, Beckett, etc.) and may prove relevant in disclosing our own responsibilities in postmodernity.

The course will offer a close, discussion-based reading of Dante’s "Inferno." The course begins with an introduction to the fundamental features and meanings of the "Commedia" (genesis; structure; models; language; realism; literal and allegorical sense; poetry and prophecy). We will then proceed with the reading and analysis of the most significant cantos of the "Inferno." In particular, the protagonist’s path of redemption will be examined in its autobiographical and allegorical dimension. In his dual identity of author and character, Dante takes on the role of judge (the author), who accuses and condemns his contemporaries, and of penitent (the character), who finds himself in front of the same passions and sins that tormented his earthly life. We will try to understand how the ambiguous and eternal charm of the great characters of the "Inferno" (Francesca, Farinata, Pier della Vigna, Brunetto, Ulysses, Ugolino) arises from the conflict between these two dimensions.

Upon completion of the course, students should have improved their ability to think critically, and to understand and analyze a literary text on different levels of meaning. Furthermore, they should have developed an in-depth knowledge of Dante’s works and the methodologies of Dante studies.

A new form of literature, “indispensable for those who know and do not close their eyes” (Elias Canetti), was supposed to have emerged from the contemplation of the harrowing ruins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This new literature was supposed to have been a form of reconciliation; and it should have been able to engender, with its rhetorical devices, an antidote against the human instinct of destruction. This is the kind of literature that Elsa Morante calls for in her lecture “For or Against the Atomic Bomb”, in which she chooses to tackle such a “gloomy topic”, and yet one that “nobody should dare ignore”—nobody, and especially not a writer.
During our course we will read essays and novels written throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s that faced the issues posed by the atomic bomb. We will privilege Italian works, but we will also be attuned to the echoes of these themes within a global literary context. Topics to be investigated include the writer’s ethical response, the scientist’s responsibility and dilemmas, the spreading of apocalyptic fear, and the specter of humanity’s death drive.
Readings include texts by Italo Calvino, Elsa Morante, Alberto Moravia, Leonardo Sciascia, Hannah Arendt, Jacques Derrida, Günther Anders, Hans Jonas, among others.

The course consists of a close, discussion-based reading of Dante’s "Vita nuova," examined within its biographical, literary and cultural context. The aim is to understand why the "Vita nuova," an autobiographical narration in vernacular about Dante’s love for Beatrice, represents a revolutionary book in the panorama of Medieval literature. The course will proceed with the reading and analysis of the most important chapters and poems, which will be contextualized within the author’s self-representation strategy. In this way, we will retrace the fundamental stages of the inner renewal that lead Dante to discover a new conception of love and poetry. Furthermore, some episodes will be read in relation to the cantos of "Purgatory" in which Dante returns to confront his past as a love poet. Finally, special attention will be paid to the relationship with Guido Cavalcanti, celebrated by Dante as "first friend" and dedicatee, but ultimately surpassed by Dante's new representation of love.

Upon completion of the course, students should have improved their ability to think critically, and to understand and analyze a literary text on different levels of meaning. Furthermore, they should have developed an in-depth knowledge of Dante’s works and the methodologies of Dante studies.

This course is an introduction to the Italian art of theatrical improvisation or commedia dell'arte, a type of theater featuring masked characters and schematic plots. We will look at the influence of Boccaccio's "Decameron" on the formation of stock-characters, the introduction of women into the realm of theatrical professionalism, the art of costume and mask making, and the Italian knack for pantomime and gestural expression. Readings include such masterpieces in the tradition of comic theater as Machiavelli's "The Mandrake" and Goldoni's "Harlequin Servant of Two Masters," as well as their renditions in film.

This course proposes a cultural history of the Amazonian region. Through films, novels, visual arts, essays, manifestos, and works on cultural and environmental history, we will explore the history of Amazon from a range of perspectives. We will examine indigenous cultures and epistemologies, extractivist activities, environmental policies, contemporary literature and film, and a global imagination of the Amazon. Authors and projects may include Claudia Andujar, Gaspar de Carvajal, Milton Hatoum, Euclides da Cunha, Ciro Guerra, Susanna Hecht, Davi Kopenawa, Ailton Krenak, Chico Mendes, Daniel Munduruku, Lúcia Sá, Silvino Santos, Candance Slater, Mario Vargas Llosa, Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Video in the Villages, among others.

This course is designed to expose students who already have experience in Python programming and text processing to more advanced computational approaches to text analysis. Over the course of the quarter, students will learn how to leverage existing Python libraries to extract the morphological structure from texts, they will become adept at building, analyzing, and refining their own machine-learning models using a variety of preprocessing and feature engineering methods. We will be covering clustering methods such as topic modeling, as well as different supervised learning or word embedding approaches. Our class content will be supplemented by readings which highlight the uses of these computational methods in current academic research. The source material for the course will be drawn from literary and/or media resources, and students will be free (and encouraged) to use texts which are relevant to their own research interests. At the end of the course, students will be expected to produce their own digital project using some of the methods covered in class.

The purpose of this course is to introduce students in the humanities to digital methodologies for the study of text. Students will not only learn how to construct a digital text collection, but also how to process text as data. Among the various digital approaches which will be introduced in class are concordances (retrieving occurrences of words), semantic similarity detection (finding similar passages across texts), sentiment analysis, or stylometry (analysis of literary style). The course will highlight how these approaches to text can provide new avenues of research, such as tracing intellectual influence over the longue durée, or uncovering the distinguishing stylistic features of an author, work, or literary movement. Students need no prior knowledge of such methods, and the course will aim at providing both the basics of computer programming in Python and to give students the necessary tooling to conduct a digital humanities project. The source material for the course will be drawn from literary sources, and students will be free (and encouraged) to use texts which are relevant to their own research interests. Students will need to bring a laptop to class.

This course is an introduction to Erich Auerbach’s Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, often hailed as the masterpiece of twentieth-century literary criticism, through a historical contextualization that recovers the theoretical, ethical, and existential underpinnings of so-called Romance Philology, as purveyed by Auerbach, the influential Dante scholar Karl Vossler (1872–1949), the medievalist Ernst Robert Curtius (1886–1956); and, especially, Leo Spitzer (1887–1960), the author of innumerable seminal essays in the French, Italian, and Spanish literary traditions. We will home in on these scholars’ quarrelsome sodality among themselves and others (e.g., Benedetto Croce, Martin Heidegger, Arthur Lovejoy, and Georges Poulet) by reviewing some of the discipline-defining debates, such as debates about canonical authors (including, Dante, Cervantes, and Proust) and the (dis)advantages of periodization in textual interpretation (Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque). We will also take stock of this generation’s shared reliance on 18th- and 19th-century sources and methodologies (Giambattista Vico and German Hermeneutics, among others) and their remarkable foreknowledge of the many turns literary analysis would take at a time when textual concerns and/or close readings gave way to a more theoretical outlook. Taught in English.

Reading Spanish for Research Purposes prepares students to read and do research using scholarly texts in Spanish. Students will build on their fundamental knowledge of Spanish grammar and the most common vocabulary terms used in scholarly writing, while developing reading comprehension skills and working intensively with academic texts in their areas of research specialty. Students who perform well in SPAN 23333/33333 will be able to comprehend difficult scholarly texts and begin using them in their own research. The course also includes practice of skills necessary to pass the Academic Reading Comprehension Assessment (ARCA) in Spanish, administered by the Office for Language Assessment (OLA). Undergraduate students have the option of taking the ARCA, or completing another final assignment to complete the course. Note: This course may fulfill the graduate language requirement in some departments.

En este curso estudiaremos los espacios y las arquitecturas de las Novelas ejemplares (1613) de Cervantes. Nos dedicaremos a analizar: lugares íntimos, espacios herméticos, rutas imposibles, arquitecturas simbólicas y esferas míticas. Tendremos en cuenta la división entre espacio y lugar siguiendo los postulados de Yi Fu Tuan. También estudiaremos las estructuras de estas novelas, y nos preguntaremos por qué algunas son muy leídas (La gitanilla, El coloquio de los perros, El celoso extremeño) y otras olvidadas (Las dos doncellas, La señora Cornelia). Nos preguntaremos si estas obras son una “mesa de trucos” o si esconden misterios tras elementos ecfrásticos, arqueológicos y onomásticos; o si los trucos y misterios pueden hallarse conjuntamente en las extrañas cronologías, el doble presente, la subversión del romance, la amplitud geográfica, la vigilancia imperial, etc. La clase terminará con una breve discusión de una de las novelas de María de Zayas, Tarde llega el desengaño, para entrever cómo transforma el modelo cervantino y el italiano.

This seminar reviews the cultural production of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (sixteenth to eighteenth century). It takes as its point of departure the cultural exchange between Europe, America, and Asia. The opening of new routes (terrestrial and maritime) fostered a circulation of ideas and artifacts anchored in complex socio-cultural structures. The analysis of their transfer along migration routes will allow to understand how their aesthetic values and symbolical meanings are transformed within the allied goals of religion (church) and political power (state) involved in the colonial enterprise. The seminar will take into consideration visual material (engravings, paintings) of the time as well as primary textual sources.

In this course we will discuss a number of Catalan texts, dating from the 1930s to 2016, on the experience of immigration and its social, cultural, and subjective impact. Representing a variety of genres, these texts will allow us to get a grasp of the complexity of a phenomenon that challenges binarisms such as us/them or foreign/native, and problematises concepts such as origins, roots, home, authenticity, citizenship, sameness and difference. We will explore the link between the representations of immigration and issues such as trauma and mourning; memory, the past and the future; national identity; gender and sexuality; the construction of discourses about identity and otherness in Catalan culture; how immigration interlinks with language conflict, and how it is framed by various linguistic ideologies; what role the subject of immigration plays in the political conflict between Catalonia and Spain; how the literature of the ‘new Catalans’ is transforming existing notions of Catalan identity; and whether we can speak of a “post-migrant condition” in Catalan literature and culture.

This course proposes a cultural history of the Amazonian region. Through films, novels, visual arts, essays, manifestos, and works on cultural and environmental history, we will explore the history of Amazon from a range of perspectives. We will examine indigenous cultures and epistemologies, extractivist activities, environmental policies, contemporary literature and film, and a global imagination of the Amazon. Authors and projects may include Claudia Andujar, Gaspar de Carvajal, Milton Hatoum, Euclides da Cunha, Ciro Guerra, Susanna Hecht, Davi Kopenawa, Ailton Krenak, Chico Mendes, Daniel Munduruku, Lúcia Sá, Silvino Santos, Candance Slater, Mario Vargas Llosa, Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Video in the Villages, among others.Taught in English. Materials available in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

The Inquisition was, if not the most important juridical and religious institution of premodern Iberia, certainly the most emblematic. In truth, there was not one Inquisition, but many. Without them, terms such as heresy, conversion, or auto-da-fé would not have the currency they do today. These terms are best understood as tools for the disciplining of religious communities and the controlling of the circulation of ideas. This is a class designed to help students understand the Inquisition as a complex historical phenomenon that left a rich archive where anthropological research and theological debate were made to coexist. Taught in Spanish.

Alluring dance, virtuosic guitar playing, and deep song. This course provides and introduction to the history and theory of flamenco—developed in Andalusia by the oft-marginalized gitano people (Spanish Roma) and recognized as World Heritage Treasure by UNESCO. Students will learn to describe musical and choreographic elements and techniques and to distinguish between the different subgenres that constitute flamenco. Through a study of the music and complementary readings, we will investigate the role of flamenco in Spanish culture and explore issues of identity, ethnicity, class, and gender.

This experimental course is based on the model of Sabores y Lenguas, a project realized in eight Latin American metropoles between 1997 and 2007. At the beginning of the course, students will be guided to analyze materials from the vast documentary archive from Sabores y Lenguas (including photography, video, writing, and objects) of locally specific foodways, foodlore, and food-related material culture. They will then transform the materials into conceptual and representational units of an imaginary museum as an interactive space organized around themes and questions that emerge from collective discussion and workshop practice. In a second phase, the course will engage students in concrete ethnographic research to document and develop critical interpretations of the cultures of food in Latin American Chicago: the taxonomies of cuisines, their distribution in urban space, the history and movement of recipes and ingredients, popular celebrations and ritual feasts, food language and music, food-related memories, and the politics of achieving a gustatory good life. In the final phase of the course, students will be asked to design the imaginary museum itself-not just its exhibits or the presentations in its auditorium, but its garden, meeting spaces, dining hall, and more. The goal is to collectively create an open-ended web-based resource that will accommodate further additions and revisions by students and/or community members long after the course has ended.

This course examines representations of women's bodies and sexualities in early modern Iberian and colonial Latin American writings. We will study the body through a variety of lenses: the anatomical body as a site of construction of sexual difference, the witch's body as a site of sexual excess, the mystic's body as a double of the possessed body, the tortured body as a site of knowledge production, and the racialized bodies of women as sites to govern sexuality, spirituality, labor, and property in the reaches of the Spanish Empire. Taught in Spanish.

On September 11, 1973, a US-backed military coup in Chile brought down the government of Salvador Allender, the first democratically elected Marxist president in Latin America. The military dictatorship that governed over the course of the following two decades brought about radical transformation to the macro- and micropolitical dynamics of Chile. This course is a survey of the art and literature produced during the years of dictatorship. We study the work of some of the most consequential literary and artistic figures active during the years of the dictatorship. The unprecedented level of experimentation in the arts and literature of this period will be studied vis-a-vis the radically shifted social and affective coordinates faced by those living in Chile during the dictatorship. Works by Catalina Parra, Diamela Eltit, Lotty Rosenfeld, Nelly Richard, Adriana Valdés, José Donoso, Raúl Zurita, and others.