HISP 206 - Reading and Writing about Hispanic Culture

Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)

Reading, writing and speaking skills are developed through study of cultural and literary texts and audiovisual materials. Augusto Hatchoun and Andrew Bush (a); Augusto Hatchoun, Mihai Grünfeld, and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert (b).

Topic for 2019/20a or b: Hyperbole to hype: Cuba: An examination of, and a reflection about, how particular acts, experiences and eventualities are publicly reported, privately memorialized, chronicled in histories, transformed into literature, and revived in films. Readings, written essays, oral discussions and presentations.Taught in Spanish. Augusto Hatchoun.

Topic for 2019/20a: Reading, writing and speaking skills are developed through study of cultural and literary texts and audiovisual materials. Andrew Bush.

Topic for 2019/20b: Latin America: Past and Present. This course is an introduction to Latin American history and culture, while it develops reading, writing and speaking skills in Spanish. Through the study of cultural and literary texts (short stories, poetry and essays) and audiovisual material (music, fine arts and films) we cover the main Latin American historical periods and also discuss the Hispanic presence in the United States. Some of the texts studied are: Popol Vuh, Nicolás Echevarría’s Cabeza de Vaca, María Luisa Bemberg’s Yo la peor de todas and Camila, the murals of Diego Rivera, Nicolás Guillén’s afro-Cuban poetry, Violeta Parra’s protest song, Luisa Valenzuela’s short novel Cambio de armas and Luis Valdes’s Zoot Suit. Mihai Grünfeld.

Topic for 2019/20b: Musical Traditions of Spain and Latin America. The course examines the salient musical traditions of Spain and Latin American through film, literature and art. Organized as a survey of music in Spanish–from flamenco to reggaetón–our readings will include Federico García Lorca, Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges, and Julio Cortázar, among others. Lizabeth Paravisini Gebert.

Prerequisite(s): HISP 205 or four years of high school Spanish.

Two 75-minute periods and one hour of conversation.

Course Format: CLS