Department of  Spanish Italian & Portuguese

115 WILSON HALL
PO Box 400777
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
434-924-7159

FALL 2008
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS*
Italian
Portuguese
Spanish

*300 level +

FOR MORE ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT
www.virginia.edu/span-ital-port/

For specific days and times please consult the online Course Offering Directory
http://www.virginia.edu/cod

Italian
Fall 2008
Course Offerings

ITAL 301 Advanced Conversation I, 3 credits

This course offers an overview of contemporary Italian culture and language through selected readings, vocabulary study, and theme-based class discussions.  Emphasis is placed on strengthening speaking and communication skills. The course includes a selective review of fine points of grammar and an introduction to essay writing in Italian.

ITAL 312 Italian Literature & Culture, 3 credits

Study of a topic or topics related to Italian literary culture from one or more historical periods. The course will include discussion and written critical responses (both in Italian) to various texts that exemplify or treat the topic(s). Texts will be drawn from a variety of genres, including but not limited to journalistic writing, poetry, fiction, essay and film.

ITAL 373 Romanzo, 3 credits
Cristina Della Coletta

ITAL 400 Italian Literature & Culture II, 3 credits

Study of a topic or topics related to Italian literary culture from one or more historical periods. The course will include discussion and written critical responses (both in Italian) to various texts that exemplify or treat the topic(s). Texts will be drawn from a variety of genres, including but not limited to journalistic writing, poetry, fiction, essay and film.

ITAL 756 Three Crowns of Florence: Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, 3 credits
Deborah Parker

First coined by humanist Leonardo Bruni, this expression refers to Florence’s three great literary luminaries--Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch and their respective acclaimed works, the Divina Commedia, the Decameron, and the Canzoniere. This course will focus on important topics addressed in each work and the critical tradition surrounding them.

ITAL 792 Romanzo Storico Del 1900, 3 credits
Cristina Della Coletta

ITTR 226 Dante in Translation, 3 credits
Deborah Parker

Close reading of Dante’s acclaimed masterpiece, the Inferno. Lectures focus on Dante’s social, political, and cultural world. Incorporates The World of Dante, a multimedia pedagogical and research website, that offers a wide range of digital materials material related to the Comedy.

Portuguese
Fall 2008
Course Offerings

PORT 111 Beginning Intensive Portuguese, 3 credits
David Haberly

Portuguese 111 is an intensive course equivalent in coverage to Spanish 101-Spanish 102 and moves very rapidly, covering all of Brazilian  Portuguese grammar during the semester.  To succeed in the class, students should already have satisfied the language requirement in Spanish, French or Italian or have knowledge of one of those languages at least equivalent to that requirement.

Spanish
Fall 2008
Course Offerings

SPAN 309 Linguistics, 3 credits
Prerequisite: SPAN 311

This course offers a rigorous introduction to the formal study of the Spanish language. Topics include: articulatory phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, historical linguistics and dialectology. Taught in Spanish.

SPAN 310 Phonetics, 3 credits

This course consists of an in-depth analysis of the phonological system of Spanish, including both Peninsular and American varieties.  Of equal importance are the theoretical (phonological) and practical (phonetic) aspects of the course.  The aim of the course, therefore, is to provide the student with an understanding of phonological theory, while putting the theory into practice to improve the student's pronunciation.

SPAN 311 Grammar Review, 3 credits
Prerequisite: SPAN 202

This course strives toward a deeper understanding of grammatical aspects of the Spanish language through an intensive review.  It is assumed the student has a working knowledge of the mechanics.  Though this course is a review, it is intended to increase the student’s skills in reading, writing and speaking, in preparation for work in advanced-level courses.

SPAN 312 Composition, 3 credits
Prerequisite: SPAN 311 (students who have taken SPAN 411 may not take SPAN 312)

Attention will center on in-depth examination of the nuances of vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, grammar and style. Students will write on a broad range of topics in a variety of formats for a variety of purposes. Their work will serve as a point of departure for analysis of written language.

SPAN 314 Business Spanish

This is an advanced Spanish course that focuses on the uses of Spanish business terminology. It is designed to teach the fundamentals of practical commercial Spanish correspondence, advertising, foreign trade, insurance, transportation, and banking.  Other important aspects of the course will be studying Hispanic countries’ commercial behaviors, and their present economical reality.  This course is recommended only for  students with a solid background in Spanish.  (One or two 300-level Spanish courses required.)

SPAN 315 Conversation Cinema Latin America
Prerequisites: SPAN 311 Grammar Review

Conversation course whose subject matter is Latin American cinema. Films will be discussed in the context of the history and culture of various countries.

SPAN 330 Literary Analysis, 3 credits
SPAN 311, Grammar Review, must be completed before enrolling in SPAN 330 or an AP Spanish Language score of 5
NB: Students with an AP Spanish Literature score of 4 or 5 may not take this course for credit.
PLEASE NOTE: SPANISH 330, LITERARY ANALYSIS, IS A PREREQUISITE FOR ALL LITERATURE SURVEYS (340, 341, 342, 343) AND ALL LITERATURE AND CULTURE CLASSES. THIS IS A DEPARTMENT REQUIREMENT.

Drawing upon readings from different periods of both Spanish and Latin American literature, this course introduces the student to the fundamentals of analyzing narrative, lyric poetry, and drama.  Through daily readings and discussions, as well as several exams and papers, the student will develop a critical vocabulary that will allow him or her to make convincing oral and written arguments about the relationship between what a literary text says and how it says it.  All work will be conducted in Spanish.  This course is a pre-requisite for all further work in literature and culture & civilization in the Spanish program.  It is also a required course for Spanish majors. 

SPAN 340 Survey Spanish Literature I, 3 credits
Ricardo Padrón
Prerequisite: SPAN 330

An introduction to Spanish literature of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. A selection of works from various genres will be studied in their historical context. Completion of Spanish 330 is a pre-requisite. Grades will be based on a midterm, a short paper, class discussion, weekly reaction comments posted on a class e-mail list, and a final. The course is taught entirely in Spanish.

SPAN 341 Survey Spanish Literature II, 3 credits
Andrew Anderson
Prerequisite: SPAN 330

A survey of major Spanish texts and authors from the Enlightenment to the contemporary period.  We will study literary and cultural movements such as neoclassicism, romanticism, positivism, realism, symbolism, “modernismo”, existentialism, etc.  We will also study a range of works that exemplify all the major literary genres: lyric poetry, drama, novel, short story, and essay.  Seven short papers spaced throughout the semester.  All readings and all discussion in Spanish.

SPAN 342 Survey Latin American Literature I, 3 credits
David Haberly
Prerequisite: SPAN 330

This is a survey course of Spanish American Literature designed to introduce students to the major authors and literary movements of Spanish America from 1492 to 1900. Students will read and discuss selections from important and influential texts, studied in their historical context; all readings and discussions are in Spanish. Grades will be based on class participation, several short papers in Spanish, an hour exam, and a final.

SPAN 343 Survey Latin American Literature II, 3 credits
Gustavo Pellón
Prerequisite: SPAN 330

This course is a survey of Spanish American literature. The objective of the course is to introduce students to major authors, works, and literary movements of Spanish America from 1900 to the present. Students will read poetry and short prose selections from an anthology (Voces de Hispanoamérica) as well as a play (Rodolfo Usigli’s El gesticulador). Written work will consist of reaction papers (250 words each), a midterm exam; and a two part exam: the first part will be taken in class and will deal will require recall of information, the second part will be an open-book, open-notebook, take-home essay exam covering all the reading of the course. All the writing in the course is in Spanish and you are grades equally for grammar and concepts.

 
SPAN 413 Conversación/Cine, 3 credits
David Gies

This class is designed as an advanced-level conversation class, with a cultural component. The major course materials are contemporary Spanish (peninsular) films and supplementary readings. Students study Spanish-language films outside of class (materials are kept in the Robertson Media Center). Classroom activities are designed to track deficiencies in pronunciation, accent, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension; grade based on classroom participation, oral presentations, oral exams, quizzes, one written paper, and improvement. Through the content of the films, students study issues relating to the Spanish Civil War, the Franco period, the Transition, and modern democracy. Closed to native/heritage speakers and students who have taken a Spanish conversation class. All applicants on wait list will be interviewed.

SPAN 422 Translation, 3 credits

The aim of this course is to explore the general principles of written translation from Spanish to English. We will discuss and translate examples of modern prose and verse drawn from a wide variety of literary genres, with a section on journalism as well.  Each week the student will be required to: translate one text, and have it ready to share with the class, as well as read and prepare for discussion  the theory articles assigned for that week.  The student will select, in consultation with the instructor, a text to translate as a Final Project. Prerequisite:  two literature courses at the 300 level or above, one of which must be 330, or permission of the instructor

SPAN 423 Islamic Iberia, 3 credits
Michael Gerli

The course offers an introduction to Islam and a cultural history of al- Andalus (Islamic Iberia) from 711 until the expulsion of the Morsicos from early modern Spain in 1609. Lectures, videos, and oral reports will concentrate on several major moments: The rise of the Emirate/Caliphate of Córdoba and Islamic hegemony in the peninsula; fragmentation of the Caliphate and cultural splendor of the ta’ifa kingdoms in the eleventh century; the advent of Moslem fundamentalism from the Maghrib in the eleventh and twelfth centuries; the phenomenon of mudejarismo after the Christian conquest of Seville and Córdoba in the thirteenth century; the contradictions posed by Islam in Granada, a client state of Castile during most of its history, after the decline of Islam in the rest of the peninsula (1250-1492); and the problems created by the presence of Islamic culture in a Christian state during the sixteenth-century. Requirements: Two oral reports (7-10 minutes each), a research paper on a topic chosen in consultation with the instructor (8-12pp. in Spanish), a one-hour midterm examination and a final.

SPAN 426/526 1492 and The Aftermath, 3 credits
Ricardo Padrón

SPAN 427/527 Spanish Culture & Civilization, 3 credits
David Gies

This course will focus on the civilization, culture, and history of Spain from the earliest inhabitants of the Peninsula through the post-Franco Democracy. Class sessions (power-point) will review significant cultural, artistic, and architectural highlights in an historical context. Assignments include daily readings, periodic quizzes, midterm and final exams, and one final powerpoint presentation.

SPAN 456/556 Don Quixote
Alison Weber

Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quijote de la Mancha (1605/1615), considered by many to be the first modern novel, tells the story of a poor, aged hidago who imagines himself to be a vigorous knight errant, destined to right the wrongs of the world and rescue damsels in distress. His adventures with his rotund peasant “squire” often have disastrous consequences for the would-be rescuer as well as his supposed victims. A bestseller in the seventeenth-century, Don Quijote continues to be read, loved, and debated today. Is it the hilarious story of a madman who eventually recovers his sanity? Or is the tragic story of the impossibility of living out one’s ideas in an imperfect world? Or both? This course will be dedicated to a careful reading of Don Quijote as a meditation on the times in which it was written and as a creation of enduring significance and influence. Several 3-page papers and a 10-15 page paper.
Pre-requisites: At least one survey course. DMPs should register under the 556 rubric.

SPAN 485/585 Borges, 3 credits
Donald Shaw

The course is intended to cover a broad selection of Borges’s short stories examined chronologically plus a selection of his poetry. The aim is to chart his development in both cases. The course will be based on Borges, Narraciones ed. M.R. Barnatan (Madrid, Catedra) and a Xerox booklet for the course will be available from Brillig Books. The grade will be based on 2 short essays in Spanish and one slightly longer one in English.

SPAN 486/586 Mexican Literature, 3 credits
Daniel Chávez

Poets Writing Novels, Poligraphic Writing in Contemporary Mexican Literature
The landscape of Mexican literature is experiencing a rapid and profound transformation. One of the most important and seldom studied phenomenon of the new tendencies is the “crossing over” of poets and narrators to the “opposing camp.” Seasoned authors like Homero Aridjis and José Emilio Pacheco and younger women writers like Carmen Boullosa and Cristina Rivera Garza have made the commitment of reshaping their creative habits and skills to cross from the writing of poetry (Aridjis, Pacheco, Boullosa) to become successful novelists or crossing from prose (Del Paso and Rivera Garza) to the poem. What are the risks and efforts invested in these transformations? In what ways the practices of one discourse spur, hinder or dialectically engage the other? What can we learn as readers about literature and authorship by studying these transformations? Along with the thematic axis (historical violence, madness, desire) common to these authors, these are some of the questions to consider in this course specialized on contemporary Mexican literature.

SPAN 489/589 Latin American Novella (Short Novel), 3 credits
María Inés Lagos

This course presents a panorama of contemporary Latin American literature’s main trends through the study of novellas (short novels) published between 1935 and the present. The texts raise issues related to literature and writing, as well as gender, political and social conditions, family traditions, etc. Authors include María Luisa Bombal, Julio Cortázar, Julieta Campos, Ana María del Río, Carlos Fuentes, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Luisa Valenzuela, among others. Class participation, oral presentation, midterm, papers.

 
SPAN 492 Spanish in the United States, 3 credits
Fernando Tejedo Herrero

This seminar focuses on the main varieties of Spanish spoken in the United States. We will review the history of the Spanish language in what is now the United States. We will study the linguistic characteristics of the main varieties (vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar), and look at some sociolinguistic topics related to English-Spanish contact situations; for example, language policy issues, linguistic borrowing, and code-switching. We will also explore aspects related to Spanish-Spanish contact situations (does one variety of Spanish affect another?) Throughout the course, students will prepare short written and oral summaries of assigned readings, and a longer research paper.

Pre-requisite: 1) SPAN 311, and 2) SPAN 309 or SPAN 310 or any linguistics course.

SPAN 550 Medieval & Renaissance Literature, 3 credits
Michael Gerli

The course will deal with the “canonical” works of the Iberian Middle Ages and the early, early modern period. It will seek to provide an overview of current thinking regarding their nature and origin, while at the same time seeking to interrogate many of the prevailing assumptions and received ideas of Spanish literary historiography and literary history itself. Works and topics to be addressed are: the medieval Iberian lyric in its Pan-European context plus its problematic connection to Arabic muwashshah.at (i.e., the kharjas); the Castilian epic, especially the Poema de Mio Cid, in relation to the Romance epic in general; clerical poetry and the rise of literacy (Berceo, the so-called mester de clerecía, and the Libro de buen amor); the institutional rise and uses of vernacular prose (Alfonso X and the discourses of cultural authority: historiography, law, and science); the advent of imaginative prose and the class interests of the aristocracy (Don Juan Manuel and El conde Lucanor); medieval quest, sentimental, and etiological romance (Libro del cavallero Zifar, Cárcel de Amor, Estoria de la linda Melusina); and, finally, humanistic comedy (Celestina) and courtly culture. Course Requirements: Two papers (10-15 pp. each)

 
SPAN 710 Literary Theory, 3 credits
Gustavo Pellón

 
SPAN 758 Don Quixote, 3 credits
Alison Weber

The primary goal of this class is to give students a deeper appreciation of Cervantes’ aesthetic achievement through close readings and thematic analysis of Don Quijote. We will also investigate the literary and historical contexts that inform this work. For each class, students will be asked to read, in addition to specific chapters of the Quijote, selections from “great hits” of the Renaissance such as Erasmus’s Praise of Folly, Machiavelli’s The Prince, Castiglione’s The Courtier, and Fray Luis de León’s La perfecta casada. Finally, we will explore the Quijote’s reception and influence, its contribution to the rise of the modern novel, and contemporary debates regarding the significance and ideology of the novel. Two short essays and one term paper.

SPAN 765 Realism & Naturalism, 3 credits
Randolph Pope

SPAN 870 Lorca, Dalí and Buñuel, 3 credits
Andrew Anderson

This seminar will be concerned primarily with the decade 1920-30 when Federico García Lorca, Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel and became close friends.  We will study a range of cultural activities, literary texts, paintings, films, etc. whose immediate context is provided by these friendships.  Starting with the Residencia de Estudiantes as the primary locus of these encounters, we will consider student activities at the “Resi” (e.g. production of Don Juan Tenorio), the literary avant-garde, Lorca’s literary output most influenced by Dalí and Buñuel (e.g. “Oda a Salvador Dalí”, Poemas en prosa), Lorca’s drawings, Lorca’s lectures, Dalí’s cubist and surrealist paintings, Dalí’s poems and prose poems, Buñuel’s plays, poems and prose poems, Buñuel and Dalí’s early films (Un chien andalou, L’Âge d’or), and much more.  Seminar participation and end-of-semester research paper.

SPAN 885 Spanish American Modern Period: Borges, 3 credits
Donald Shaw

The course is intended to situate Borges in the crucial decade of the 1940s between the older pattern of Spanish American Literature on the one hand and the Boom and Vanguardism on the other. There will be a chronological survey of his short stories emphasizing both their thematic and techniques and the relevance of some of this essays especially in Otras inquisiciones. Later there will be discussion of the shift between his early and late poetry with consideration of his changing attitude towards diction in relation to the progress of poetry in Spanish America after 1950. The aim is to explore reasons for his huge influence on younger prose writers and his isolation as a poet after his initial contribution. Students will be expected to have to Borges’s work generally and to negotiate a paper title individually.