Hispanic Studies

Last updated: September 2, 2020 at 1:54 PM

Hispanic Studies at Brandeis focuses on the Spanish language, and much more. Students improve their Spanish-language skills in the courses they take. But language is also the matter of politics, advertising, media, and social communication. Students, therefore, engage in the analysis of cultural artifacts and artistic movements as they learn more about language and their own place in the world. Study abroad for a semester or a year may play an important part in students’ academic careers and personal growth.

Majors and minors in Hispanic Studies are prepared to pursue careers in a wide range of fields where effective communication and intercultural critical thinking are essential, including those in which they will have direct contact with Spanish speakers and/or Hispanic cultures, both in this country and globally.

Learning Goals

Professionals who have expertise in more than one language are consistently preferred over those who do not in jobs that involve international assignments. These same language skills play an important role in gaining admission to graduate, law, or medical school. Professionals in education and social work, as well as the medical fields, are often expected to know a language other than English. Spanish is particularly helpful in this context as the Hispanic community is one of the largest ethnic groups in the contemporary United States.

Coursework in Hispanic Studies involves the study of literature and film, art and politics, cultures and places from Spain to Latin America and the United States, from the remote past to today. A major in Hispanic Studies encourages 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 do we think across cultures? What do works of the imagination say about the world in which we live that other texts and practices cannot articulate?

Knowledge

An understanding of the diversity and richness of Hispanic cultures in a global context
Competency in literary and cultural history, regarding the Hispanic world in and of itself as well as in conversation with other cultures and regions
An appreciation for language as a shaper of identities, cultures, and historical events
A recognition of the multiple cultural interfaces between Latin America and the United States, particularly in relation to immigrant Latinx 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

Intercultural understanding is essential for the pursuit of social justice in a globalized world. Genuine intercultural exchanges require literacy in more than one languages and knowledge of diverse cultures, in order to increase the capacity for mutual understanding. Multilingual and multicultural education fosters the creation of a climate of respect, nationally and internationally.

Upon Graduation

We prepare our students for intercultural critical thinking. This allows them to become professionals capable of navigating an increasingly complex world. Hispanic Studies majors and minors pursue graduate studies in various fields of the Humanities and the Social Sciences; they build 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, and to the media industry.

How to Fulfill the Language Requirement

In order to graduate, students must be able to function at an intermediate level in reading, writing, speaking, and listening in a foreign language. They may satisfy this requirement in several ways:

The study of a language at Brandeis. Completion of a 30-level course with a passing grade satisfies the language requirement.
A score of 620 or higher on the SAT II language exam, 4 or higher on an Advanced Placement exam in language or literature, or 5 or higher on the International Baccalaureate Higher Levels Exam. We encourage students to continue studies in our department (please see below to choose a course at the appropriate level).
Or, a passing score on the Exemption Exam that shows you have gained an intermediate-level proficiency in Spanish. Please contact Professor González Ros (elenag@brandeis.edu) to make arrangements to take the Exemption Exam.

Students with further questions about the language requirement should contact the Director of the Spanish Language Program, Professor González Ros.

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.

After students complete a 30-level Spanish language course, they are advised to enroll in HISP 104b.
Students who scored 620–710 on the Spanish SAT II, 4 on the Spanish Advanced Placement exam, or 5 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Levels Exam are usually advised to enroll in HISP 105a.
Students who scored 720 or above on the Spanish SAT II exam, 5 on the Spanish AP exam, or 6 or higher on the International Baccalaureate Higher Levels Exam should enroll in HISP 106b.
Heritage Spanish speakers are encouraged to enroll in HISP 108a.
Either HISP 106b or HISP 108a is the first course in the sequence that counts toward the major or the minor in Hispanic Studies.

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, up to two full-credit Spanish or Latin American literature or film courses per semester taken abroad will count toward the Hispanic Studies major, up to a maximum of four courses total for the major and up to two courses total for the minor. Students interested in learning more about the major or minor are encouraged to speak with the Undergraduate Advising Head in Hispanic Studies.

Faculty

Fernando J. Rosenberg, Chair of Romance Studies
Latin American modernism and modernity. Film and visual arts. Law, human rights and literature.

Jerónimo Arellano
20th and 21st century Latin American literature. Colonial Latin American Studies. Media Studies.

María Durán
Florence Levy Kay Fellow in U.S. Latinx Cultural Studies.

Elena González Ros, Director of Spanish Language Program
Spanish language and language pedagogy.

Christa Gould
Lecturer in Hispanic Studies.

James Mandrell
Modern and contemporary Hispanic literature. Comparative literature. American studies. Film.

Raysa Mederos
Spanish language.

Juan Sebastián Ospina León
Visiting Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies.

Lucía Reyes de Deu, Undergraduate Advising Head
Latin American studies. Nineteenth century Argentine literature. Women's, gender, and sexuality studies. Spanish language and language pedagogy.

Andrew Sewick
Hispanic Studies lecturer.

Kristen Turpin
Hispanic Studies lecturer.

Requirements for the Minor

The minor consists of five semester courses:

HISP 106b (Spanish for Written Communication through Contemporary Culture) or HISP 108a (Spanish for Heritage Speakers).
At least one of the following: HISP 109b (Introduction to Hispanic Cultural Studies) or HISP 111b (Introduction to Latin American Literature and Culture).
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. HECS 42b may count as an elective. Courses conducted in English include those abbreviated HECS (Hispanic and European Cultural Studies).
No grade below a C- will be given credit toward the minor.
No course taken pass/fail may count toward the minor requirements.

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:

HISP 106b (Spanish for Written Communication through Contemporary Culture) or HISP 108a (Spanish for Heritage Speakers).
At least one of the following: HISP 109b (Introduction to Modern Spanish Cultural Studies) or HISP 111b (Introduction to Latin American Literature and Culture), to be completed as early as possible.
The additional courses must be from the Hispanic Studies literature or film offerings numbered above 111. Students that major in Hispanic Studies must take at least one course above 111 in each of the two areas currently represented in the program: Peninsular literature and culture and Latin American/Latinx literature and culture. No more than two of the electives may be taken in English. HECS 42b and one semester of HISP 92a (Internship and Analysis) may count as electives. Courses conducted in English include those abbreviated HECS (Hispanic and European Cultural Studies).
HISP 198a (Experiential Research Seminar in Literary and Cultural Studies) in the fall semester, normally, of the senior year.
Foundational Literacies: As part of completing the Hispanic Studies major, students must:
- - Fulfill the writing intensive requirement by successfully completing one of the following: HISP 106b, HISP 108a, HISP 160a, HISP 167b, HISP 170a, HISP 180a, HISP 193b, HISP 196a, or HISP 198a.
  - Fulfill the oral communication requirement by successfully completing: HISP 198a.
  - Fulfill the digital literacy requirement by successfully completing: HISP 198a.
No single course may satisfy all three foundational literacies.
No grade below a C- will be given credit toward the major.
No course taken pass/fail may count toward the major requirements.

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.

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

Courses of Instruction

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(1-99) Primarily for Undergraduate Students

HISP 10a Beginning Spanish
For students with no previous knowledge of Spanish and those with a minimal background. Students enrolling for the first time in a Hispanic Studies course at Brandeis should refer to www.brandeis.edu/registrar/newstudent/testing.html#spantest.
An introduction to the Spanish language and culture, this course focuses on the acquisition of effective communication skills in Spanish and cultural awareness. Students will actively speak, write, listen, and read in the target language. A variety of media and texts relating to authentic familiar topics will be used. Active participation is essential. Usually offered every semester.
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 should refer to www.brandeis.edu/registrar/newstudent/testing.html#spantest. For students with some previous study of Spanish.
Students will continue the development of all language skills (speaking, reading, listening, writing, and culture) using a variety of media and texts relating to authentic familiar topics. The focus of the class is to communicate effectively and to learn more about the culture of the Spanish-speaking world. Active participation is essential. 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 should refer to www.brandeis.edu/registrar/newstudent/testing.html#spantest.
Prepares students to communicate on a variety of topics which are familiar or of personal interest. All language skills will be practiced with a special emphasis on interpersonal communication and cultural competence. Usually offered every semester.
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 should refer to www.brandeis.edu/registrar/newstudent/testing.html#spantest.
Topics from Hispanic cultures are the context for continuing development of linguistic competence in Spanish. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HISP 92a Internship in Hispanic Studies
Written permission of the Undergraduate Advising Head required. Students may take no more than one departmental internship for major credit.
Internships combine off-campus and on-campus work, supervised by a departmental faculty sponsor, that provides a significant learning experience in Hispanic cultural academic study. Students doing summer internships register for course credit in the following fall semester. Junior or Senior Hispanic Studies majors with a minimum GPA of 3.5 in Hispanic Studies courses may substitute one internship for an elective course. Usually offered every year.
Staff

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

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

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

(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students

HISP 104b Peoples, Ideas, and Language of the Hispanic World
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: 30-level Hispanic Studies course or equivalent. Students enrolling for the first time in a Hispanic Studies course at Brandeis should refer to www.brandeis.edu/registrar/newstudent/testing.html#spantest.
Students will improve their ability to communicate in Spanish and analyze the products, practices, and perspectives of the Spanish-speaking world. Specifically, students will explore how language, history, traditions, texts, and images express their own identities and those of Spanish speakers around the world. Coursework and assessment will focus on developing language proficiency and intercultural competence. Usually offered every semester.
Staff

HISP 105a Oral Communication through Cultural Topics
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 104b, or the equivalent. Students enrolling for the first time in a Hispanic Studies course at Brandeis should refer to www.brandeis.edu/registrar/newstudent/testing.html#spantest.
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 for Written Communication through Contemporary Culture
[ fl hum wi ]
Prerequisite: HISP 105a or the equivalent. Students enrolling for the first time in a Hispanic Studies course at Brandeis should refer to www.brandeis.edu/registrar/newstudent/testing.html#spantest.
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 Heritage Speakers
[ fl hum wi ]
Designed specifically for students who grew up speaking Spanish and who would like to enhance existing language skills while developing higher levels of academic proficiency. Assignments are geared toward developing skills in reading, writing, and critical thinking about U.S. Latino/as and the Spanish-speaking world. Students may use this course to fulfill the foreign language requirement. Usually offered every year.
Lucía Reyes de Deu or Staff

HISP 109b Introduction to Modern Spanish Cultural Studies
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 106b, or HISP 108a, or permission of the instructor.
Focuses on Spanish literature and culture from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries. Topics will vary from semester to semester, but might include modernity; España 20XX; or the Spanish Civil War, before and after. Usually offered every year.
James Mandrell

HISP 111b Introduction to Latin American Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum nw ]
Prerequisite: HISP 106b, or HISP 108a, or permission of the instructor.
Examines key Latin American texts of different genres (poems, short stories and excerpts from novels, chronicles, comics, screenplays, cyberfiction) and from different time periods from the conquest to modernity. This class places emphasis on problems of cultural definition and identity construction as they are elaborated in literary discourse. Identifying major themes (coloniality and emancipation, modernismo and modernity, indigenismo, hybridity and mestizaje, nationalisms, Pan-Americanism, etc.) we will trace continuities and ruptures throughout Latin American intellectual history. Usually offered every semester.
Jerónimo Arellano, Lucía Reyes de Deu, or Fernando Rosenberg

HISP 120b Don Quixote
[ hum ]
Taught in English.
Don Quixote is: a) a compendium of prior literary genres; b) the first modern novel; c) a funny book; d) a deep meditation on the human condition; e) the best novel ever written; f) all of the above. Usually offered every second year.
James Mandrell

HISP 142b Literature, Film, and Human Rights in Latin America
[ hum nw ]
May not be taken for credit by students who took HECS 42b in prior years. May be taught in English or Spanish.
Examines literature, film (fiction and non-fiction) and other artistic expressions from Latin America, in conversation with the idea of human rights—from the colonial arguments about slavery and the 'natural rights' of the indigenous, to the advent of human rights in the context of post-conflict truth and reconciliation processes, to the emergence of gender and ethnicity as into the human rights framework, to the current debates about rights of nature in the midst of a global ecological crisis. Usually offered every third year.
Fernando Rosenberg

HISP 150a Staging Early Modern Spain: Drama and Society
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
Explores social class, gender, and violence in seventeenth-century Spanish dramas that deal with seduction, cross-dressing, revolution, and wife-murder. Authors to be studied include Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Alarcón, Tirso de Molina, and Calderón. Usually offered every second year.
James Mandrell

HISP 152b Monsters and Creatures in Latin American and Latinx Culture
[ hum nw ]
Taught in English.
Explores the role of the monstrous and the creaturely in Latin American and Latinx genre cinema, literary fiction, visual and performance art, and biomedia. We pay particular attention to the ways in which Latin American and Latinx monsters reflect and wrestle with systems of racial inequality, ethnic and sexual difference, and the rise of new technologies on the peripheries of global capitalism. Usually offered every second year.
Jerónimo Arellano

HISP 158a Latina Feminisms
[ deis-us djw hum ]
Taught in English.
Explores the theoretical frameworks and literary productions of feminisms developed by Latina/xs. It introduces students to a diversity of backgrounds and experiences (Chicana, Dominican American, Cuban American, Salvadoran American, and Puerto Rican authors) as well as a variety of genres (i.e. novel, poetry, short stories, drama). Using intersectionality as a theoretical tool for analyzing oppressions, students will explore the complex politics of gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity, and race in the lives of Latina/xs. They will also explore Latina/x feminists’ theoretical and/or practical attempts to transcend socially-constructed categories of identity, while acknowledging existing material inequalities. Usually offered every third year.
María J. Durán

HISP 160a Culture and Social Change in Latin America
[ fl hum nw wi ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
Examines the relationship between the arts (including literature, film, and fine arts) and society in Latin America during the twentieth century by focusing on three historical conjunctures when this relationship was particularly rich: the political and artistic vanguards of the 1920s (with particular attention to the Mexican Revolution and its aftermath); the 1960s, marked by the historical turning point of the Cuban Revolution; and the decade of the 1990s, characterized by the transition to democracy, the emergence of human rights and other social movements. Usually offered every second year.
Fernando Rosenberg

HISP 162b New Latin American Cinema: From Revolution to the Market
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
Studies and compares two pivotal periods of film production, both of which were considered "new waves" of Latin American cinema. On the one hand, the new cinemas of the 1960s and 1970s, which accompanied moments of radical change and movements of revolutionary insurrection. On the other hand, the film boom of the 1990s and 2000s, in which aesthetic experimentation intersected with new realities of neoliberal policies and market globalization. Usually offered every second year.
Fernando Rosenberg

HISP 164b Studies in Latin American Literature
[ fl hum nw ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor. Course may be repeated for credit. Does not fulfill writing intensive beginning fall 2020.
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.
Juan Sebastián Ospina León

HISP 165b The Storyteller: Short Fiction in Latin America
[ djw fl hum nw ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
Through a study of Latin American short stories, some of them by consecrated writers, some of them by less well-known, we will reflect on the power of storytelling and narrative to shape subjectivity and community. We will examine topics that traverse Latin American cultures and are expressed in these stories, such tensions between literacy and oral traditions, hegemonic and minority voices, cultural diversity, ethnicity, class, migration, as well as contemporary concerns around issues of gender and sexuality, and in relation to the natural world. This class has an optional creative writing component, as students will have the chance, if so inclined, to write fiction applying concepts and themes studied in class (instead of critical/analytical assignments). Usually offered every third year.
Fernando Rosenberg

HISP 170a Topics in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Spanish Literature
[ fl hum wi ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor. Course may be repeated for credit.
Topics will vary from year to year, but might include eighteenth- and nineteenth-century theater, fictions of the body, and realist representations of gender. Usually offered every second year.
James Mandrell

HISP 175b Millennial Latin American Fiction and Graphic Novels
[ fl hum ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor. Taught in Spanish.
Examines literary fiction and graphic novels written in Latin America in the last twenty years. We will explore how new generations of writers and graphic novelists in Latin America distinguish themselves from preceding generations and set out to explore a range of new narrative forms and social issues, such as new forms of horror and fantasy, contemporary forms of precarity and social marginality, global commodity culture, and online dating, among others. Usually offered every second year.
Jerónimo Arellano

HISP 178b Latinx Futurisms
[ deis-us djw hum ]
Examines critical theory about and cultural productions of Latinx futurisms. Engaging with Latinx speculative and science fiction aesthetics, it will explore questions of race, ethnicity, citizenship, immigration, gender, and sexuality, among other sociopolitical issues. Special one-time offering, spring 2020.
Maria Duran

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

HISP 182a Narco Cultures in Latin America and the United States
[ fl hum nw ]
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
Explores literature, cinema, visual art, and music that engage with narco cultures and the war on drugs in contemporary Latin America and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. We will situate these narratives and artworks in relation to the history of the commerce and prohibition of mind- and mood-altering substances (e.g. coca, tobacco, mescaline, chocolate) in the colonial Americas. Usually offered every second year.
Jerónimo Arellano

HISP 192b Latin American Global Film
[ hum nw ]
May be taught in English or Spanish.
Studies films that re-imagine Latin America’s place in the world, focusing on how images are produced and consumed transnationally. ‘Traditional’ topics like cultural identity are refashioned for international consumption, and local issues are dramatized as already crisscrossed by global flows of which the films themselves partake. Close analysis of visual representation and film techniques will be complemented in each case by a study of historical and cultural background. Usually offered every second year.
Fernando Rosenberg

HISP 193b Topics in Cinema
[ fl hum ]
Open to all students; conducted in Spanish. Course may be repeated for credit. Does not fulfill writing intensive beginning fall 2020.
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.
Juan Sebastián Ospina León

HISP 196a Topics in Latinx Literature and Culture
[ hum wi ]
May be repeated for credit. May be taught in English or Spanish.
Offers students the opportunity for in-depth study of a particular aspect of the diverse literary and cultural production of U.S. latinx. Topics will vary from year to year but may include autobiography, detective fiction, or historical fiction. Usually offered every third year.
James Mandrell, Lucía Reyes de Deu or Staff

HISP 198a Experiential Research Seminar in Literary and Cultural Studies
[ dl hum oc wi ]
May be taught in English or Spanish.
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, inspired by a study abroad experience; an earlier class in Hispanic Studies; community-engaged learning; 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.
Fernando Rosenberg or Jerónimo Arellano

HISP Peninsular Literature and Culture

NEJS 143a Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Spain
[ djw hum ]
Examines interactions among the three religious communities focusing on political and social development, intra-religious conflict, and intellectual and artistic production. We will investigate the degree to which Castilian culture can be described as "Christian" or as "Muslim-Christian-Jewish" in character. Usually offered every second year.
Jonathan Decter

HISP Latin American/Latinx Literature and Culture

Cross-Listed in Hispanic Studies

HUM/UWS 1a Tragedy: Love and Death in the Creative Imagination
[ hum uws ]
Enrollment limited to Humanities Fellows.
How do you turn catastrophe into art - and why? This first-year seminar in the humanities addresses such elemental questions, especially those centering on love and death. How does literature catch hold of catastrophic experiences and make them intelligible or even beautiful? Should misery even be beautiful? By exploring the tragic tradition in literature across many eras, cultures, genres, and languages, this course looks for basic patterns. Usually offered every year.
John Burt and Stephen Dowden

University Bulletin (2020-2021)