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Spring 2010 Course Descriptions

All schedule information is tentative. Please see the Registrar's Web site for the latest information.

French and Francophone Studies

FREN 20b Continuing French (limit 25)
(1) M,W,Th 9:10 AM - 10:00 AM
  F 8:40 AM - 9:30 AM   Ratner
(2) M,W,Th 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM  Ratner

Prerequisite: FREN 10a or the equivalent
How do the French perceive space? How does the experience of an American student differ from that of a French student in high school and university?  How do the French plaisirs de la table differ from American attitudes toward food?  Learners will deepen their knowledge of French and Francophone cultures while expanding their ability to speak, read, listen, and write in French.  Through readings and a film, learners will gain a more complete picture of the complexities of French culture.

ATTENTION!  Students who have taken one 30-level course may re-enroll in a different 30-level course for credit.

FREN 32a Intermediate French: Conversation (limit 25)
(1) M,T.W,Th 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM      Voiret
(2) M,W,Th 1:10 PM - 2:00 PM
T 12:40 AM-1:30 PM      Voiret
Prerequisite: FREN 20b or the equivalent.
Did you study French in the past and feel now that what you need most is to be able to speak? The French Conversation class is for you! It will focus on oral communication skills: pronunciation, oral comprehension, acquisition of common vocabulary, and conversational practice. Our materials will include radio and television programs, film, and newspapers.

FREN 34a Intermediate French: Topics in French and Francophone Cultures (limit 25)
M,W,Th 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM, T 9:40 AM - 10:30 AM Eichelburg
Prerequisite: FREN 20 or the equivalent.
What central ideas lie behind the representations of French culture that we see in French film, literature, art, and everyday life?  Students explore cultural attitudes and behaviors while improving their skills in speaking, writing, and reading.
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The following classes require a 30-level French course or permission of the instructor or Director of Language Programs (ROMS).

FREN 104b Advanced Language Skills through Culture (limit 25)
Topic: French Culture Through Cuisine
MWR 12:10 PM - 1:00 PM     Ratner
Students advance their study of the French language by continuing to hone speaking, writing, listening and reading skills. We will watch and analyze movies representing major periods of French history: the bloody religious wars to the pivotal French Revolution and the 20th century Algerian conflict. For the final project, students will analyze a movie not studied in class and present a scene from it to the class.

FREN 105a France Today: French Conversation  (limit 20)
  MWR 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM                            Harder
Improve your speaking skills while learning about and discussing socio-cultural issues that distinguish the French view of the world from that of Americans. Students will focus on expressing themselves better orally while continuing their work on reading, listening, and writing.
 
FREN 106b L’Art d’écrire: French Composition (limit 20)
MWR 9:10 AM - 10:00 AM                         Theobald
Prerequisite: French 30 or its equivalent and one other course above 100
Study of French composition through analysis of passages from novels, poems, short stories and newspaper articles. Emphasis will be placed on techniques of writing in French, such as dissertation and explication de texte.

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The following classes require FREN 106b, the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

This course may not be taken for credit by student who took FREN 190b section 1 in fall 2006.
An examination of how French literature has often represented the "Orient" or "the East," in particular North Africa, parts of the Middle East and Southeast Asia, as its opposite, its imaginary "other." Will also look at how some twentieth-century writers of North-African backgrounds have reacted to these misrepresentations. The course includes paintings, film, and readings in many different genres (novels, travel literature, etc.).

FREN 145a Baudelaire et son monde: Evil, Beauty, Finitude (limit 18)
MW 2:10 PM- 3:30 PM        Kaplan
Prerequisite: FREN 110a or the equivalent.
The complete works of Baudelaire, germinal figure of a European literary and cultural revolution, including Les Fleurs du Mal, prose poems, and critical essays. Topics: sex and love, painting, music, laughter, the drug experience, good and evil, the city, and modernity

FREN 155b French Drama of the Twentieth Century (limit 18)
TF 1:40 PM- 3:00 PM Hale
A study of plays corresponding to the following movements, era, and styles: Jarry's Ubu Roi revolutionized what could happen on stage, announcing the absurdist theater of such authors as Ionesco, Genet, and Beckett. Sartre, Camus, and Yourcenar wrote neoclassical plays in the same years. Francophone theater in the Caribbean, Quebec, and Africa (Schwarz-Bart, Farhoud, Mbia) borrowed from and adapted aesthetic principles from the French dramatists to dramatize colonial and postcolonial experiences. Students may choose to perform a play as a final class project

Hispanic Studies

HISP 10a Beginning Spanish (limit 25)
(1) MWR 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM
    T 9:40 AM- 10:30 AM        Gravina
(2) MTWR 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM        Gravina
0 For students who have had no previous study of Spanish. A systematic presentation of the basic grammar and vocabulary of the language within the context of Hispanic culture, with focus on all five language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and sociocultural awareness.

HISP 20b Continuing Spanish (limit 25)
(1) MWR 9:10 AM - 10:00 AM       
    T 8:40 AM – 9:30 AM        Burstin
(2) MTWR 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM                Burstin
(3) MWR 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM; F 9:40 AM  - 10:30 AM Hernandez
(4) MWRF 12:10 PM - 1:00 PM Hernandez
Prerequisite: SPAN 10 or equivalent or permission of the instructor or the Director of Language Programs (ROMS)
For students with some previous study of Spanish. Continuing presentation of the basic grammar and vocabulary of the language within the context of Hispanic culture and practice of the four language skills. Special attention to reading and writing skills, as well as guided conversation.

HISP 32a Intermediate Spanish:  Conversation (limit 25)
(1) MWR 9:10 AM - 10:00 AM        
    F 8:40 AM – 9:30 AM    Gonzalez
(2) MWR 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM
    F 9:40 AM – 10:30 AM    Gonzalez
(3) MWRF 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM    Reyes
(4) MWRF 12:10 PM – 1:00 PM           Reyes
Prerequisite: SPAN 20 or equivalent
This course focuses on the development of oral expression and conversational skills in the context of continuing development of linguistic competence in Spanish.

HISP 34a Intermediate Spanish:  Topics in Hispanic Culture (limit 25)
(1) MWR 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM        
           T 9:40 AM- 10:30 AM    Mederos
(2) MWR 1:10 PM – 2:00 PM
           T 12:40 PM - 1:30 PM    Mederos
Prerequisite: SPAN 20 or equivalent or permission of the instructor or the Director of Language Programs (ROMS)
Topics or themes from Hispanic cultures are the context for continuing development of linguistic competence in Spanish.

HISP 104b Peoples, Ideas, and Language of the Hispanic World (limit 25)
(1) MWR 1:10 PM - 2:00 PM       Mederos   
(2) MWR 1:10 PM - 2:00 PM        Burstin
(3) MW 3:40 PM - 5:00 PM        Staff
Prerequisite: 30-level Spanish course or equivalent
Participants will expand their skills in Spanish while deepening their understanding of Hispanic cultures.  Focuses on aspects of the history and ideas that shape the Spanish-speaking world, from its peninsular origins to the realities of Spanish-speakers in the Americas.

HISP 105a Spanish Conversation and Grammar (limit 20)
(1) MW 2:10 PM - 3:30 PM    Gravina
(1) MWR 12:10 PM - 1:00 PM        Hernandez
Prerequisite:  SPAN 104, the equivalent, an AP score of 4, or permission of the Director of Language Programs (ROMS).
Students learn to communicate effectively in Spanish through class discussions, oral and written exercises, presentations, literary and cultural readings, film, and explorations of the mass media. Emphasis on improvement of oral and written fluency, and the continued acquisition of vocabulary and grammar structures. 

HISP 110A Introduction to Peninsular Spanish Literature (limit 15)
TF 3:10 PM – 5:00 PM Fox
Prereq: HISP 106, or HISP 108, or permission of the instructor.
Was el Cid a political animal? How do women, Jews, and Muslims fare in classical Spanish literature? Study of major works, authors, and social issues from the Middle Ages to the end of the 17th century. Texts covered range from the epic Cantar del Cid to Cervantes and masterpieces of Spanish Golden Age theater. Counts as an elective for the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program.

HISP 111- Introduction to Latin American Literature (limit 15)
MW 2:10 PM – 3:30 PM            Rosenberg
The goal of this course is to recognize the major trends of Latin American literary and cultural production. This course examines canonical Latin American texts (poems, short stories, chronicles, and a novel) from the time of the conquest to modernity. Our reading will emphasize problems of cultural definition and identity construction as they are elaborated in literary discourse. We will discuss major themes (coloniality and emancipation, modernismo and modernity, indigenismo, hybridity and mestizaje, nationalisms, Pan-Americanism, etc.) by looking at their continuities and ruptures throughout Latin American intellectual history.
 
The following classes require HISP 109/110/111 or permission of the instructor and are limited to an enrollment of 15 per class.

HISP 120 Don Quijote (limit 15)
TF 1:40 PM - 3:00 PM Fox
A reading for fun and critical insight into what is often called "the first modern novel." Discusses some reasons for its reputation as a major influence on subsequent fiction throughout the Western world and view several film interpretations.

HISP 121B Teatro Espano: Lope y Lorca (limit 15)
TF 12:10 PM – 1:30 PM   Fox
Connects drama of Lope de Vega (1561-1635) to that of Frederico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936), considering theories of theater, gender, and sexuality. Both were renowned during their lifetimes and mythicized afterwards, for their art and their remarkable personal lives.

HISP 164b Studies in Latin American Literature: Pasos Perdidos y encontrados (limit 15)
MW 5:10 PM -6:30 PM Ochoa

Italian Studies

ITAL 20a Beginning Italian (limit 25)
(1) M,W,Th 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM, F 9:40 AM - 10:30 AM            Servino
(2) M,W,Th,F 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM      Servino
Prerequisite: ITAL 10a or the equivalent.
Are you interested in experiencing a taste of Italy right here on campus? If reading an Italian menu with the right accent, understanding Bocelli and Botticelli, speaking the language, learning about love and passion behind the stereotypes is not enough to get you involved, there are many more reasons we can find to make your Italian experience worthwhile. (If you have no specific reason to study Italian, we will make one up just for you!)

ITAL 120b Modern Italian Literature
M,W,Th 1:10 PM - 2:00 PM Servino
Prerequisite: ITAL 30a or the equivalent. Analysis of major works by Svevo, Pirandello, Moravia, Silone, Lampedusa, Pavese, Primo Levi, Montale, and Vittorini with respect to the political, economic, and social problems of post-Risorgimento Italy. Conducted in Italian. Conducted in Italian.