The Spanish program offers a wide variety of courses dedicated to foster the linguistic and cultural development of students through the use of Spanish. Our catalog includes two different types of courses based on your proficiency in the language and on your academic and professional goals.
General language Courses
These classes are focused on the development of fluency in Spanish using a communicative approach to language teaching and learning. All students with previous or no experience with Spanish are required to take a placement test before enrolling in any of these courses.
940:101 all sections Elementary Spanish I (4 credits)
Training designed to lay a foundation for speaking, writing, reading, and understanding the language. For students with no knowledge of Spanish or with no more than two years of high school Spanish. Entering students with previous Spanish study will be placed according to the results of a placement exam. Students with three or more years of Spanish in high school may not take 50:940:101 for credit.
940:102 all sections Elementary Spanish II (4 credits)
Continuation of 50:940:101. Prerequisite: 50:940:101 or equivalent. For students with little knowledge of Spanish or with no more than three year
s of high school Spanish. Entering students will be placed according to the results of a placement exam. Students with four or more years of Spanish in high school may not take 50:940:102 for credit. Note that 50:940:102 is the minimum level for fulfilling the college general degree requirement in foreign languages.
940:121 all sections Intermediate Spanish I (4 credits)
This course aims to help students acquire communication skills in both oral and written Spanish through the interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational modes. Prerequisite: 50:940:102 or equivalent, or sufficient score on placement examination.
940:122 all sections Intermediate Spanish II (4 credits)
Continuation of 50:940:121. The course will have an emphasis on grammar and vocabulary review to achieve fluency in the language. Prerequisite: 50:940:121 or equivalent, or sufficient score on placement examination.
940:203 Spanish Conversation and Composition (3 credits)
This course aims to help students improve their comprehension and production of academic and non-academic texts and discussions focused on a wide variety of contemporary issues such as climate change, domestic violence, the role of technology in our lives or the growing presence of Spanish in the world.
940:204 Advanced Conversation and Composition (3 credits)
Continuation of 50:940:203. This course will be focused on perfecting advanced vocabulary and grammar through a communicative framework fostering the use of language in real-life situations.
Spanish for health
940:127 Spanish for the Professions I (3 credits)
A course that allows students with an elementary knowledge of Spanish (101). It develops the ability to develop basic, communication skills specifically adapted to the health care environment. Participants will acquire an elementary understanding of grammar and vocabulary in topics such as patient history, symptoms, physical conditions, and emergency response.
940: 103: Emergency Spanish ~Intensive course 101+102 in one semester (3 credits)
This course starts at a 101 level and reaches a 102 language proficiency in only one semester. It assumes no prior knowledge of Spanish, and provides all students and health professionals the ability to establish productive communication with Spanish-speaking patients. Prerequisite: None.
940:227 Spanish for the Professions II (3 credits)
For students with prior knowledge of Spanish interested in developing and improving oral and written skills in order to communicate effectively with Spanish-speaking patients, co-workers and professionals. It entails a solid review of grammar and a comprehensive acquisition of vocabulary in topics such as, patient history, symptoms, physical conditions, and emergency response. Prerequisite: Spanish 127 or interview with Director of Spanish for Health Professions Program.
50:940:327 Spanish for the Health Professions III (3 credits)
For the near-native, heritage or native speaker of Spanish who may have little to no formal training in the language, this course will help develop students’ clinical language abilities in Spanish by providing them with role-play scenarios in hospitals, clinics and nursing homes. Students are encouraged to communicate in paragraph level discourse and are taught extensive medical vocabulary and advanced grammatical structures for communication. Students will be able to give advice to patients about disease prevention, nutrition, infant care, maternity care, emergency care, mental health, addiction treatment and accommodations for physical disabilities. Prerequisite: Spanish 227 or interview with Director of Spanish for Health Professions Program.
50: 940: 391 Humanism in Healthcare
Originating from the ancient wisdom that health involves the unity of mind, body, and spirit, this course calls for a re-engagement with compassionate care practices. Embracing the teachings of historical figures like Hippocrates and Avicenna, this approach stresses the significance of a holistic approach to healing. In the contemporary medical landscape, the mechanization of healthcare has led to a shift towards a more clinical and detached approach. Recognizing the limitations of this environment, the current humanistic reintegration of values that is driving healthcare systems advocates for patient-centered care, shared decision-making, and empathy-driven interactions, striving to balance medical expertise with the nurturing of human connections.
50:940-427 Health and Wellness in the Latinx Community (3 credits)
For students with prior knowledge of Spanish at the intermediate or advanced levels strongly interested in developing and improving the oral and written skills needed to communicate with our community partners and their clients. Participants taking this course will expand their vocabulary in a variety of medical and social service contexts and specialized topics such as nutrition, elder patient care , mental health, and primary care. Prerequisite: Spanish 227 or interview with Director of Spanish for Health Professions Program.
50:940:437 The Community Interpreter (3 credits)
This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the profession of community interpretation. While the emphasis is on medical, educational, and social services interpreting is also addressed. The course, taught in English includes a sample code of ethics.Upon successful completion of the final exam, students will earn a nationally recognized certificate as a qualified Medical Community Interpreter. Prerequisite: None.
Content Courses
Culture and Civilization
50:940:207 Spanish Culture and Civilization (3 credits)
This course deepens the student’s understanding of the history, art, and diverse communities of the Iberian peninsula. It focuses on the way in which cultural forces shape artistic expression, individual experiences, and collective relations and structures.
50:940:208 Spanish-American Culture and Civilization (3 credits)
This course intends to acquaint the student with the cultural richness and diversity of Latin America. The course covers the religious, philosophical, geographical, historical, sociopolitical, and economic beliefs that form the identity of Latin America. Spanish American Culture and Civilization will also look at music, plastic arts, film, and architecture as reflective of identity.
Literature and the Arts
50: 940: 237 Spanish Media Culture in the Spanish Speaking World (3 credits)
This courses explores recurring cultural myths and historical misconceptions about Spain. It traces how the idea of “truth” has historically been manipulated by multiple traditions, discourses, and platforms in order to benefit particular agendas and special interests.
50: 940: 238 A Taste for Culture (3 credits)
The tastes and flavors of a country’s table are a powerful manifestation of its living collective memory. This course explores how this collective asset, a culinary heritage, is molded by the fluid intersection of social forces (historical events, economic dynamics, food production processes, social practices) and individual choices (family traditions, personal preferences, dietary restrictions). As the experience that bridges multiple paths to cultural understanding, food will become the unifying element of a wide range of discussions exploring topics such as food activism, nutritional equity, and sustainability culinary practices.
50:940:280 Speaking About Film (3 credits) Writing Intense Course
Conducted in Spanish, this conversation class uses film as its unifying subject matter. Carefully-chosen movies provide not only a powerful stimulus for conversation, but also an effective tool for cultural analysis. In discussing how particular films portray historical and cultural dynamics of the Spanish-speaking world, students will learn how to express their own ideas clearly and confidently, both in an oral and written form. Reaction-essays at the end of lively class debates will offer ample opportunity to master the elements that produce a coherent and well-organized Spanish narrative.
50:940:300 Introduction to Spanish Literature (3 credits)
An introduction to the study of Spanish literature. Acquaints the student with the main classical writers and the principal literary movements and tendencies from the origins of Spanish literature. Attention given to the relationship of the literary movements to social and historical movements, and the development of the arts. Prerequisite: 50:940:203.
50:940:301 Introduction to Spanish-American Literature (3 credits)
This course the student to the outstanding writers of Spanish-American literature from the conquest and colonial periods, through independence from Spain, to contemporary times. Attention paid to the relationship of literary and intellectual movements, to social and historic events, and to the development of the arts. Prerequisite: 50:940:203.
50:940:391 Princesses and Perverts: Gender and Sexuality in Span. Am. Modernismo (3 credits)
Spanish American Modernismo (1890-1920) offers a wide range of representations previously considered “taboo” in Spanish culture; we will look closely at transgressed attitudes toward sex and gender in the period via literary works that feature an array of “dangerous” people: the femme fatale, effeminate men, prostitutes, and hysterics. Authors include works of José Martí (Cuba), Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera (México), Julián del Casal (Cuba), José Asunción Silva (Colombia), Rubén Darío (Nicaragua), Delimira Agustini (Uruguay), among others.
50: 940: 420 Golden Wo/men (3 credits)
While raising questions both in the field of the history of women, this course will provide a general introduction to Spanish literature (from the Thirteenth to the Twenty-first Century) from the perspective of fe/male writers, writers that were forced to find an alternative way to express themselves, to vindicate an identity or social presence. The survey includes a variety of genres, cultures, social backgrounds, and historical time periods. The texts selected share some key concerns that will direct our focus: the representation of wo/men, gender, and sexuality; the frictions (regarding identity) between religious orthodoxy and secularism, the emergence and evolution of legal frameworks that define/limit the definition and autonomy of gendered subjects.
50:940:392 Women Writers of the Hispanic World (3 credits)
Bilingualism, Linguistics and Education
50:940:250 Speaking Latino: Spanish in the US (3 credits)
This course offers a critical overview of the linguistic practices present in different Spanish-speaking communities in the United States. During the semester, we will address contemporary issues related to Latino bilinguals from all over in the country, such as the use of Spanglish in the community, individual and social attitudes towards Spanish, and the presence of this language in the media and in the public sphere. The main objective of the course is to develop critical and linguistic awareness about the relationship between language, individuals, and society, placing a special emphasis on historical and current Hispanic migration patterns and settlements, characteristics of Spanish in contact with English, and bilingual language development.
50:940:251 From Reggeatón to Flamenco: Introduction to Spanish dialects (3 credits)
If you like music and want to practice your Spanish, this course is for you! In class, we will explore the differences that exist across the many dialects of Spanish and examine the characteristics of each dialectal group through the most representative music styles of their countries of origin. This course will also discuss issues about equity and power by analyzing how people perceive and discriminate certain accents and dialects different from their own and its effects on education.
50:940:391 Bilingualism in the US: from the Theory to the Classroom (3 credits)
This course was designed for students who wanted to gain a better understanding of the main tenets of bilingual language acquisition, with a particular emphasis on the integration of multilingualism and multiculturality in the foreign language classroom. Students were also be encouraged to reflect about current controversies regarding bilingualism in the US educational system and society as well as in their everyday lives.
50:940:292 Psychological Foundations of Teaching Spanish (3 credits)
This course explores the psychological conditions learning strategies, and cognitive and emotional responses required in the learning of Spanish as a Second Language. Effective teachers need to understand the learners’ cognitive make up (physical, social, and moral development), and how their development shapes their learning capacities (intelligence, special needs, multiculturalism, motivation). This course is designed to promote an understanding of how learning proceeds as mediated cognitive development, and develop the pedagogical skills that pre-service and in-service teachers need to optimize learning and second language development in the Spanish classroom.
50:940:491 Methods of Teaching Spanish (3 credits)
This course seeks to ask the fundamental questions in Spanish second language learning, teaching, and acquisition in order to provide an understanding of the major issues in theory and in practice faced by professionals in the field subsumed by Language(s), Literature(s) and Culture(s). As this course is one of the core courses aimed at the development of language teaching professionals, course content will have considerable value for participants who are considering their future roles as in-service teachers who need to know what a sound and cohesive language program looks like and need to know about the accreditation process. Upon completion of this course students will be able to demonstrate a familiarity with the presented terminology of linguistic theory and methods/pedagogy; exhibit knowledge of the linguistic theories and theories of pedagogy and understand their scope and limitations for application in effective language teaching/learning.