Hispanic Studies

Last updated: August 23, 2011 at 4:38 p.m.

Objectives

Hispanic Studies at Brandeis is the Spanish language, and much more. It is Spanish because students improve their language skills in all the courses that they take. And language is the matter of politics, advertisement, media, social communication. Students engage in the analysis of cultural artifacts and movements as they learn more about language and their own place in the world. Often study abroad for a semester or a year plays an important part in students’ academic careers and personal growth.

Students are prepared to pursue careers in a wide range of fields where effective communication and critical intercultural thinking are essential, including those in which they will have contact with Spanish speakers and/or Hispanic cultures, in this country or globally. Students often go on to graduate studies in the Humanities and the Social Sciences; they pursue careers in law and the public sector; they become health professionals and businessmen and women; they do creative work, applying themselves to the arts, to community organization, to media communication.

Learning Goals

Professionals who have expertise in more than one language are consistently preferred over those who do not in jobs that require international connections. These same language skills play an important role in admission selections for graduate, law and medical schools. Professionals interested in working in education and social work, as well as the medical fields, are often expected to know a language other than English. By the mid-century, it is projected, Hispanics will be the largest ethnic group in the United States.

Hispanic Studies at Brandeis is the Spanish language, and much more. It is Spanish because students improve their language skills in all the courses that they take. And language is the matter of politics, advertisement, media, social communication. A major in Hispanic Studies allows students to wrestle with such questions as: how does artistic production allow a community to examine its origins, identity, and memory? How do literature and the arts in the Hispanic world engage with socio-economic and political history at both a local and a transnational level? How to think across cultures? What do works of the imagination say about the world in which we live that other texts and practices cannot articulate?

Hispanic Studies courses involve literature and film, art and politics, cultures and places from Spain to Latin America and the United States, from the remote past to today. Students engage in the analysis of cultural artifacts and movements as they learn more about language and their own place in the world.

Knowledge:

  • an understanding of the diversity and richness of Hispanic cultures in a global context
  • competency in literary and cultural history, regarding the Hispanic in conversation with other world traditions
  • an appreciation for language as a shaper of identities, cultures, and events
  • a recognition of the multiple cultural interfaces between Latin America and the United States, particularly in relation to Latino communities

Core skills:

  • an ability to articulate complex ideas in Spanish orally and in writing
  • a capacity to enjoy literature and cultural expressions of the Hispanic world
  • an ability to comprehend literary, cultural, and theoretical texts, recognizing the various contexts in which they are produced and used
  • an ability to do research and analysis in the field of culture

Social Justice:
In a global society, if it is to be a socially just one, intercultural understanding is essential. A genuine intercultural exchange requires literacy in various languages and ways of life, thereby increasing the capacity mutually to influence and transform one other. Monolingual education will not be sustainable in an international world of mutual respect. Philosophers, writers, and historians posit that navigating more than one language has been crucial to the survival of communities in exile and under extreme forms of oppression.

Upon Graduation:
We train students to be capable of critical intercultural thinking. This prepares them to become professionals able to engage successfully in a complex world. Hispanic Studies majors and minors might continue graduate studies in any field of the Humanities and the Social Sciences; they pursue careers in law and the public sector; they become health professionals and businessmen and women; they do creative work, applying themselves to the arts, to community organization, to media communication.

How to Become a Major or a Minor

Students considering a major or a minor in Hispanic Studies should complete the language requirement as soon as possible, preferably by the end of their first year at Brandeis. Students who complete a 30-level Spanish course are advised to enroll in HISP 104b; students with an AP Spanish score of 4 or an SAT II score of 620 in Spanish should enroll in HISP 105a, and those with an AP Spanish score of 5 should enroll in HISP 106b. Bilingual Spanish speakers should enroll in HISP 108a. Either of these last two courses is the first in the sequence that counts toward the major or the minor.

Once students have completed HISP 106b or HISP 108a, they begin the sequence of literature and culture courses. Please note: many Hispanic Studies majors and minors choose to study in Spain or Latin America for all or part of their junior year. Normally, any full-credit Spanish or Latin American literature or film course taken abroad will count toward the Spanish major (up to two courses per semester) up to a maximum of four courses total for the major and, for the minor, up to two courses total. Students interested in learning more about the major or minor are encouraged to speak with the Undergraduate Advising Head in Hispanic Studies.

How to Fulfill the Language Requirement

The foreign language requirement is met by successful completion of a third semester course (numbered in the 30s) in the language program. Students who have earned a 4 or a 5 on the Advanced Placement exam in Spanish language or literature, or students who have earned a 620 or higher on the SAT II Spanish language exam are exempted from the language requirement at Brandeis University. Students with questions about the language requirement or who would like to take an exemption exam should contact the Director of Language Programs.

How to Choose a Course at Your Level

To choose the appropriate course, students need to take a placement exam. It is a self-graded exam that can be accessed by contacting Professor González Ros (elenag@brandeis.edu). The Director of Language Programs will then contact each student to discuss placement. Students who fail to take the placement exam will not be permitted to enroll.

Faculty

Jerónimo Arellano
Colonial and postcolonial studies. Latin American visual arts and media.

Jorge Arteta
Spanish language.

Mary Nasielskier de Burstin (on leave fall 2011)
Spanish language.

Dian Fox, Undergraduate Advising Head for Hispanic Studies (on leave spring 2012)
Spanish medieval and early modern drama, poetry, and prose. Cervantes. Women's and gender studies.

Elena González Ros
Spanish language and language pedagogy.

Scott Gravina
Spanish language.

James Mandrell
Modern and contemporary Hispanic literature. Comparative literature. Women's, gender, and sexuality studies. Film. 

Raysa Mederos
Spanish language.

Lucía Reyes de Deu (on leave spring 2012)
Latin American Studies. Nineteenth Century Argentine literature. Women's and Gender Studies. Spanish language and language pedagogy.

Fernando Rosenberg
Latin American and Latino studies. Comparative literature. Latin American Film.

Requirements for the Minor

The minor consists of five semester courses:

A. HISP 106b (Spanish Composition, Grammar, and Stylistics) or HISP 108a (Spanish for Bilingual Students).

B. At least one, but no more than two, of the following: HISP 109b (Introduction to Hispanic Cultural Studies), HISP 110a (Medieval and Early Modern Spanish Literature: Gender, Class, Religion, Power), or HISP 111b (Introduction to Latin American Literature and Culture).

C. The additional courses must be from the Hispanic Studies literature or film offerings numbered above 111. No more than one of these electives may be taken in English. Courses conducted in English include those abbreviated HECS (Hispanic and European Cultural Studies).

All students pursuing a Hispanic Studies minor will be assigned an advisor in the department. Enrollment in the Hispanic Studies minor must be completed by the end of the first semester of the senior year.

All courses are conducted in Spanish, unless otherwise noted.

Requirements for the Major

The major consists of nine semester courses:

A. HISP 106b (Spanish Composition, Grammar, and Stylistics) or HISP 108a (Spanish for Bilingual Students).

B. At least one, but no more than two, of the following: HISP 109b (Introduction to Hispanic Cultural Studies), HISP 110a (Medieval and Early Modern Spanish Literature: Gender, Class, Religion, Power), or HISP 111b (Introduction to Latin American Literature and Culture), to be completed as early as possible.

C. The additional courses must be from the Hispanic Studies literature or film offerings numbered above 111, at least two of which must deal with Spanish or Latin American literature before 1900. No more than two of the electives may be taken in English. Courses conducted in English include those abbreviated HECS (Hispanic and European Cultural Studies).

D. HISP 198a (Seminar in Literary and Cultural Studies) in the fall semester, normally, of the senior year.

Those seeking departmental honors will also take HISP 99b in the spring to complete the senior thesis. Honors students must have maintained a 3.60 GPA in Hispanic Studies courses previous to the senior year. Honors are awarded based on cumulative excellence in all courses taken in the major, including the senior thesis.

Students may petition the undergraduate advising head for changes in the above program. Students wishing to receive credit toward the Hispanic Studies major for courses that are cross-listed under ECS (abbreviated HECS) will be required to do the reading and writing in Spanish.

All students pursuing a Hispanic Studies major will be assigned an adviser in the department. Enrollment in the Hispanic Studies major must be completed by the end of the first semester of the senior year.

All courses are conducted in Spanish, unless otherwise noted.

Special Notes Relating to Undergraduates

Students may take two 30-level Hispanic Studies courses for credit with permission of the Director of Language Programs.

Courses of Instruction

(1-99) Primarily for Undergraduate Students

HISP 10a Beginning Spanish
Prerequisite: Students enrolling for the first time in a Hispanic Studies course at Brandeis must take the online placement exam by contacting Professor González Ros (elenag@brandeis.edu). Students must earn a C- or higher in HISP 10a in order to enroll in a 20-level Hispanic Studies course.
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. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HISP 20b Continuing Spanish
Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in HISP 10a or the equivalent. Students enrolling for the first time in a Hispanic Studies course at Brandeis must take the online placement exam by contacting Professor González Ros (elenag@brandeis.edu). Students must earn a C- or higher in HISP 20b in order to enroll in a 30-level Hispanic Studies course.
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 with focus on all five language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and sociocultural awareness. Usually offered every semester.
Staff

HISP 32a Intermediate Spanish: Conversation
[ fl ]
Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in HISP 20b or the equivalent. Students enrolling for the first time in a Hispanic Studies course at Brandeis must take the online placement exam by contacting Professor González Ros (elenag@brandeis.edu). Students must earn a C- or higher in HISP 32a in order to enroll in a 100-level Hispanic Studies course.
This course focuses on the development of oral expression and conversational skills in the context of continuing development of linguistic competence in Spanish. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HISP 34a Intermediate Spanish: Topics in Hispanic Culture
[ fl ]
Prerequisite: a grade of C- or higher in HISP 20b or the equivalent. Students enrolling for the first time in a Hispanic Studies course at Brandeis must take the online placement exam by contacting Professor González Ros (elenag@brandeis.edu). Students must earn a C- or higher in HISP 34a in order to enroll in a 100-level Hispanic Studies course.
Topics from Hispanic cultures are the context for continuing development of linguistic competence in Spanish. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HISP 98a Independent Study
May be taken only with the written permission of the Undergraduate Advising Head of the major.
Reading and reports under faculty supervision.
Staff

HISP 98b Independent Study
May be taken only with the written permission of the Undergraduate Advising Head of the major.
Readings and reports under faculty supervision. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HISP 99b Senior Thesis
Students should first consult the Undergraduate Advising Head.
Usually offered every year.
Staff

(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students

HECS 150a Staging Early Modern Spain: Drama and Society
[ hum ]
Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation.
Explores readings and representations of seventeenth-century Spanish drama in social and political contexts. Special attention to gender and violence in texts dealing with seduction, cross-dressing, revolution, and wife-murder, by writers such as Cervantes, Lope, Caro, and Calderón. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Fox

HECS 169a Travel Writing and the Americas: Columbus's Legacy
[ hum ]
Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation.
Following the arrival of Columbus, the continent later known as America engaged with other continents in a mutual process of cultural, historical, geographical, and economic representation. The development of some of those representations is explored, beginning with travel writing and ending with recent images of the encounter. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

HISP 104b Peoples, Ideas, and Language of the Hispanic World
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: 30-level Hispanic Studies course or equivalent.
Participants will expand their skills in Spanish while deepening their understanding of Hispanic cultures. Focuses on aspects of the history and idea that shape the Spanish-speaking world, from its peninsular origins to the realities of Spanish speakers in the Americas. Usually offered every semester.
Staff

HISP 105a Spanish Conversation and Grammar
[ fl hum ]
This is an experiential learning course. Prerequisite: HISP 104b, or an AP Spanish exam score of 4, or an SAT II Spanish exam score of 620 or higher, or permission of the instructor.
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 acquisition of vocabulary and grammar structures. Usually offered every semester.
Staff

HISP 106b Spanish Composition, Grammar, and Stylistics
[ fl hum wi ]
Prerequisite: HISP 105a, an AP Spanish exam score of 5, or permission of the instructor.
Focuses on written communication and the improvement of writing skills, from developing ideas to outlining and editing. Literary selections will introduce the students to the principles of literary analysis and serve as topics for class discussion and writing. Usually offered every semester.
Staff

HISP 108a Spanish for Bilingual Students
[ hum wi ]
Designed specifically for bilingual Spanish speakers who would like formal training in reading, writing, and critical thinking about Hispanic and Latino cultural themes. Students wishing to use this course to fulfill the language requirement must pass the department exemption exam after this course. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Reyes

HISP 109b Introduction to Hispanic Cultural Studies
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 106b, or HISP 108a, or permission of the instructor.
Introduces students to basic ideas with respect to the study of Hispanic cultures. "Texts" are drawn from a variety of cultures and traditions and might include literature, film, architecture, maps, music, and even pop stars and pop-star wannabes. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Mandrell

HISP 110a Medieval and Early Modern Spanish Literature: Gender, Class, Religion, Power
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 106b, or HISP 108a, 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 seventeenth century. Texts covered range from from lyric love poetry and the epic Cantar del Cid to Cervantes and masterpieces of Spanish Golden Age theater. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Fox

HISP 111b Introduction to Latin American Literature and Culture
[ fl hum nw ]
Prerequisite: HISP 106b, or HISP 108a, or permission of the instructor.
The goal of this course is to recognize trends in Latin American literary and cultural production. Examines canonical Latin American texts (poems, short stories, chronicles, and a novel) from the time of the conquest to modernity. Emphasis is placed on problems of cultural definition and identity construction as they are elaborated in literary discourse. Looks at continuities and ruptures in major themes (coloniality and emancipation, modernismo and modernity, indigenismo, hybridity and mestizaje, nationalisms, Pan-Americanism, etc.) throughout Latin American intellectual history. Usually offered every semester.
Mr. Rosenberg or Mr. Arellano

HISP 120b Don Quijote
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b, or HISP 110a, or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
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 fiction and films throughout the Western world. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Fox

HISP 121b Teatro Español: Lope y Lorca
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b, or HISP 110a, or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
Examines drama of Federico García Lorca (1898-1936) in the context of that of Lope de Vega (1561-1635), considering theories of theater, gender, and sexuality. Both writers were renowned during their lifetimes and mythicized afterwards for their art and their remarkable personal lives. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Fox

HISP 125b Literary Women in Early Modern Spain
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b, or HISP 110a, or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
Examines works by and about women in early modern Spain, with particular attention to engagements with and subversions of patriarchal culture in theater, prose, and poetry. Writers include Caro, Zayas, Cervantes, and Calderón. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Fox

HISP 140a Topics in Poetry
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b, or HISP 110a, or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
Topics vary from year to year, but may focus on different periods, poets, or poetics from both sides of the Atlantic. Study may include jarchas, Garcilaso de la Vega, Bécquer, the Generation of '98 or '27, Neruda, Vallejo, Rosario Castellanos, Octavio Paz, Huidobro, Borges. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Rosenberg

HISP 160a Culture and Social Change in Latin America
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b, or HISP 110a, or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
We will examine the relationship between art (including literature, film, and fine arts) and society in Latin America during the twentieth century. We will use significant examples drawn from three major socio-historical eras: the political and artistic vanguards of the 1920s (with particular attention to the Mexican Revolution and its aftermath); the 1960s and the cultural significance of the Cuban Revolution; and the 1990s period of transition to democracy and emergence of identity and minority-based social movements, with a renewed significance of artistic and literary languages. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Rosenberg

HISP 161b Reality Effects
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b, or HISP 110a, or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
Explores the pursuit of the illusion of reality in modern/contemporary Latin American narrative, documentary film, and media. We focus on four case studies: realist fiction; documentary film; testimonial discourses; reality television and its influence on contemporary fiction from the region. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Arellano

HISP 163a The Latin American Boom and Beyond
[ fl hum nw ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b, or HISP 110a, or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor. Course may be repeated for credit.
Examines texts of the Latin American "boom" as well as contemporary narrative trends. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Arellano

HISP 164b Studies in Latin American Literature
[ fl hum nw wi ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b, or HISP 110a, or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor. Course may be repeated for credit.
A comparative and critical study of main trends, ideas, and cultural formations in Latin America. Topics vary year to year and have included fiction and history in Latin American literature, nation and narration, Latin American autobiography, art and revolution in Latin America, and humor in Latin America. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Rosenberg or Mr. Arellano

HISP 165b The Storyteller: Short Fiction in Latin America
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b, or HISP 110a, or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
Reflects on storytelling, authority, cultural transmission, the power of narrative in shaping subjects and communities in Latin American short stories. We will reflect on more culturally specific topics such as the conflictive filiations of the short story (pre-Columbian, European, etc), the tension between literacy and oral traditions, peripheral modernities, and the formation of the public and citizenship. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Rosenberg

HISP 167b Colonial Imaginaries and Postcolonial Fictions in the Americas
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisites: HISP 109b, or HISP 110a, or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
Explores the ongoing and often conflicted dialogue that writers, essayists and filmmakers in the modern/contemporary Americas establish with texts, historical figures, and socio-cultural processes of the colonial period. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Arellano

HISP 170a Topics in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Spanish Literature
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b, or HISP 110a, or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor. Course may be repeated for credit.
Topics will vary from year to year, but might include Spanish Enlightenment and romanticism: costumbrismo, Romantic drama, Bécquer, Galdós (the novelas contemporáneas), or eighteenth- and nineteenth-century poetry of the sublime. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Mandrell

HISP 180a Topics in Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Spanish Literature and Culture
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 110a or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit. This is an experiential learning course.
Topics will vary from year to year but may include the Spanish Civil War, the post-Civil War novel, novels of the individual's quest, modern women's writing, or detective fiction. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Mandrell

HISP 181a Autores, narradores y lectores
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 110a or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor. This is an experiential learning course.
Considers the delicate relationships between and among authors, narrators, and readers across a spectrum of fiction, from medieval to modern, Spain to the U.S. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Mandrell

HISP 185b España 200X
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisites: HISP 109b, HISP 110a, HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
Looks at cultural production and its context in Spain for an entire calendar year. The goal is to familiarize students with what has been read and watched in Spain most recently and to understand it in terms of contemporary politics and society. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Mandrell

HISP 191a Hispanic Topics in Translation
[ hum ]
Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation. Course may be repeated for credit.
Topics vary from year to year, but might include realist representations of women, ideas of the modern and modernity, Spanish realism, "Latinidad," or the Spanish Civil War. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

HISP 192b Latin American Global Film
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisites: HISP 109b, or HISP 110a, or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor. May not be repeated by students who took SPAN 193b in fall 2007.
An examination of films from Latin America or about Latin American topics. Considering film production and circulation, the class focuses on how images travel, how local stories and images are projected globally, and how Latin America and its "local" cultures are processed outside of their borders. Close analysis of visual representation complemented by a historically and culturally informed background. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Rosenberg

HISP 193b Topics in Cinema
[ hum wi ]
Open to all students; conducted in English. Course may be repeated for credit.
Topics vary from year to year but might include consideration of a specific director, an outline of the history of a national cinema, a particular moment in film history, or Hollywood cinema in Spanish. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Mandrell or Mr. Rosenberg

HISP 194b The Art of Crossing: Trans-American Narrative and Visual Culture
[ hum ]
Open to all students; conducted in English.
Examines literature, visual arts, and cinema at the intersection between Southern (North) America, the U.S.-Mexico border, and Latino-America in order to rethink the boundaries between regional traditions in a hemispheric context. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Arellano

HISP 195a Latinos in the United States: Perspectives from Literature, Film, and Performance
[ hum ]
Open to all students; conducted in English.
Comparative overview of Latino literature and film in the United States. Particular attention paid to how race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and concepts of "nation" become intertwined within texts. Topics include explorations of language, autobiography and memory, and intertexuality. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Reyes

HISP 198a Seminar in Literary and Cultural Studies
[ fl hum wi ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 110a or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor. This is an experiential learning course.
A research seminar in which each student has the opportunity to become an “expert” in a Hispanic literary or cultural text/topic that captures her or his imagination, whether inspired by a study abroad experience; an earlier class in Hispanic Studies; a community-engaged learning experience; etc. Instruction in literary/cultural theory, researching a subject, and analytical skills necessary for developing a scholarly argument. Students present research in progress and write a research paper of significant length. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Rosenberg, Ms. Fox, or Mr. Arellano