Provisional University Bulletin (2025-2026)

• Minor
• Major (BA)

Hispanic Studies at Brandeis offers a dynamic and interdisciplinary exploration of the Spanish language, its cultural contexts, and its global significance. While students refine their Spanish-language proficiency in our courses, they also examine how language intersects with politics, media, advertising, and social discourse, among other topics. Through the critical analysis of cultural artifacts, literary traditions, and artistic movements, students gain a deeper understanding of Hispanic cultures and their own roles within a globalized world. Study abroad opportunities enhance linguistic immersion and provide transformative experiences that contribute to both academic and personal growth.

Majors and minors in Hispanic Studies develop strong analytical, communication, and intercultural competencies that prepare them for diverse career paths. Whether working directly with Spanish-speaking communities or engaging with Hispanic cultures in national and international contexts, graduates are well-equipped for professions in education, public policy, international relations, healthcare, media, business, and beyond.

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 and legal fields, are often expected to know a language other than English. Spanish is particularly helpful in this context as Hispanic communities constitute one of the largest demographic groups in the contemporary United States.

Coursework in Hispanic Studies involves the study of literature, film, theater and performance, to better understand the histories and cultures 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 cultural expressions 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 and languages, as in the context of the Latinx and Spanish speaking populations in this country?

Knowledge

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

Core Skills

1. An ability to articulate complex ideas in Spanish orally and in writing.
2. A capacity to understand and enjoy literature and cultural expressions of the Hispanic world.
3. An ability to comprehend literary, cultural, and theoretical texts, recognizing the various contexts in which they are produced and used.
4. 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 language 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 equip our students with the intercultural critical thinking skills necessary to navigate an increasingly complex and interconnected world. Hispanic Studies majors and minors pursue graduate studies across the Humanities and Social Sciences, establish careers in law and the public sector, and contribute to the fields of healthcare, business, and entrepreneurship. Many engage in creative and community-driven work, making an impact in the arts, media, and grassroots organizing.

In order to graduate, students must achieve an intermediate level in reading, writing, speaking, and listening proficiency 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, or an FL-designated course in Spanish above level 30, with a passing grade satisfies the language requirement.
• A score of 4 or higher on an Advanced Placement exam in language or literature, or 5 or higher on the International Baccalaureate Higher Levels Exam, or a Seal of Biliteracy that documents intermediate-level proficiency in Spanish. 
• 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.

We encourage students to continue studies in our department. Please email the Director of the Spanish Language Program. You will be asked to take a placement test. This test cannot be used to fulfill the language requirement. It’s only an indication of what your level might be. A conversation with the Director will help you determine what class is right for you.

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

Students considering a major or a minor in Hispanic Studies should complete the language requirement (see above) as soon as possible, preferably by the end of their first year at Brandeis.

The minor or major starts with classes numbered HISP 105a (Advanced Oral Communication through cultural topics) and above. If your language proficiency is considered above the HISP 105a level, you should start your minor or major at a more advanced level (e.g., HISP 106b or HISP 108a, or directly with the sequence of literature and culture courses starting with HISP 111b). You should contact the instructor for these classes to enroll, and/or the Director of the Spanish Language Program, Elena Gonzalez Ros, to test your language level.

Please note: Many Hispanic Studies majors and minors choose to study in Spain or Latin America for all or part of their junior year. Students may count up to two full-credit Spanish or Latin American literature or film courses per semester taken abroad, up to a maximum of four courses total towards the major or up to a maximum of two courses total towards the minor. Please see our study abroad guide. Students interested in learning more about the major or minor are encouraged to speak with the Undergraduate Advising Head in Hispanic Studies.

Zoila Castro
Spanish language and culture. Language proficiency. Curriculum design and pedagogy.

Beatriz Cobeta
Spanish language and culture. Language pedagogy. Peninsular studies. 19th- and 20th-century Peninsular literature.

María Durán, UDR Coordinator
Latinx Studies. 20th- and 21st-century Latinx literatures and cultures. Latinx theater and performance. Latina/x Feminisms. Literary criticism and theory.

Elena González Ros, Director of Spanish Language Program
Spanish language and culture. Language pedagogy, curriculum design and assessment.

Gustavo Herrera Díaz, Study Abroad Liaison
Assistant Professor of Latin American Cultural Studies

Raysa Mederos
Spanish language. Pedagogy of foreign language teaching. Hispanic/Latino cultures. Contemporary Cuban culture, literature and cinema.

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

Fernando J. Rosenberg, Undergraduate Advising Head
Latin American modernity 19th to 21st century. Contemporary literature, film and performance. Law and literature.

Kristen Turpin
Spanish language and language pedagogy. L2 teaching and learning. Latin American studies.

The minor consists of five semester courses:

1. Advanced Spanish classes starting with HISP 105a (Oral Communication), HISP 106b (Spanish for Written Communication through Contemporary Culture), or HISP 108a (Spanish for Heritage Speakers).
2. One survey class, usually HISP 111b (Introduction to Latin American Literature and Culture, offered every semester) to be completed as early as possible.
3. The additional courses must be from the Hispanic Studies (literature, film, theater) offerings numbered above 111, with the exception of HISP 85a (Introduction to U.S. Latinx Literatures and Cultures, taught in English), which may also count as an elective. No more than one of these electives may be taken in English. Courses conducted in English are usually Latin American cultural topics in translation and/or US Latinx cultural topics.
4. No course taken pass/fail may count toward the minor requirements. No grade below a C- will be given credit toward the minor.

The Undergraduate Advising Head is the advisor for all minors. Students must declare the Hispanic Studies minor by the end of the first semester of their senior year.

The major consists of nine semester courses:

1. Advanced Spanish classes starting with HISP 105a (Oral Communication), HISP 106b (Advanced Written Communication through Cultural Topics in Spanish), or HISP 108a (Spanish for Heritage Speakers) are the first classes that might count toward the major.
2. One survey class, usually HISP 111b (Introduction to Latin American Literature and Culture, offered every semester), to be completed as early as possible.
3. The additional courses must be from the Hispanic Studies (literature, film, theater) offerings numbered above 111, with the exception of HISP 85a (Introduction to U.S. Latinx Literatures and Cultures, taught in English), which may also count as an elective. No more than one of these electives may be taken in English. Courses conducted in English are usually Latin American cultural topics in translation and/or US Latinx cultural topics.
4. Foundational Literacies: As part of completing the Hispanic Studies major, students must fulfill the Writing Intensive, Oral Communication, and Digital Literacy requirements. Classes carrying such designations are clearly indicated in the bulletin and public schedule of classes every semester. In case a specific foundational literacy is not offered by our program during a major’s career, a Brandeis class with the appropriate literacy designation may be substituted with department approval.
   • • Fulfill the writing intensive requirement by successfully completing: Any WI-designated HISP course.
     • Fulfill the oral communication requirement by successfully completing: Any OC-designated HISP course.
     • Fulfill the digital literacy requirement by successfully completing: Any DL-designated HISP course.

   No single course may satisfy all three foundational literacies.

5. 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 advisor in the department. Students must declare the Hispanic Studies major by the end of the first semester of the senior year.

How to Choose a Course at the Appropriate Level

For more information, please refer to the Registrar’s website or to the Department of Romance Studies website.

HISP 10a Elementary Spanish I

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 basic 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.

HISP 20b Elementary Spanish II

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 cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. Active participation is essential. Usually offered every semester.

HISP 30a Intermediate Spanish I
[ 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.

HISP 40b Intermediate Spanish II: Gateway to Advanced Topics in Spanish
[ 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.

HISP 85a Introduction to U.S. Latinx Literatures and Cultures
[ deis-us djw dl hum ]

Offered in English.

Introduces students to U.S. Latinx cultural productions and to the interdisciplinary questions that concern U.S. Latinx communities. Latinxs have played a vital role in the history, politics, and cultures of the United States. U.S. Latinx literary works, in particular, have established important socio-historical and aesthetic networks that highlight Latinx expression and lived experiences, engaging with issues including biculturalism, language, citizenship, systems of value, and intersectional identity. Though the Latinx literary tradition spans more than 400 years, this course will focus on 20th and 21st century texts that decolonize nationalist approaches to Latinidad(es) and therefore challenge existing Latinx literary "canons." Usually offered every year.

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.

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.

HISP 98b Independent Study

Yields half-course credit. May be taken only with the written permission of the Undergraduate Advising Head.

Readings and reports under faculty supervision. Usually offered every year.

HISP 99b Senior Thesis

Students should consult the Undergraduate Advising Head.

Usually offered every year.

HISP 105a Advanced Oral Communication through Cultural Topics in Spanish
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: HISP 40b, or the equivalent. Students may repeat the course once for credit, provided the course covers a new topic. Students enrolling for the first time in a Hispanic Studies course at Brandeis should refer to www.brandeis.edu/registrar/newstudent/testing.html#spantest.

A content-based language course in which you will develop your ability to present information, persuade, and debate in Spanish. Throughout the semester, you will interact with a variety of authentic texts in order to acquire the sociolinguistic tools that you need to communicate effectively in different contexts. Each unit incorporates active learning strategies, cross-cultural comparisons, and social justice themes. Practice tasks and formal assessments will mirror real-world situations where both linguistic and intercultural competence will be evaluated. Usually offered every semester.

HISP 106b Advanced Written Communication Through Cultural Topics in Spanish
[ 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.

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.

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.

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.

HISP 121b Sexualidades disidentes del sur (ensayo, ficción, cine)
[ djw fl hum ]

Prerequisite: HISP 111b or instructor approval.

We will study cultural texts (fiction, essay, film) to approach issues of gender and sexuality in Latin America. The last three decades have been characterized by the emergence of gender and sexualities as central to the articulation of political and cultural dissent, with profound impact on all aspects of social life. LGBTQ+ and new generation feminist movements, artists, and cultural agents incorporate issues of class, ethnicity, coloniality, and the environment in their interventions and struggles. Usually offered every third year.

HISP 122b Made in las Americas: Stories about Growing up Latinx
[ deis-us djw hum ]

Offered in English.

Examines what it means to grow up Latinx in a multicultural United States through a focus on Latinx young adult literature and Latinx youth culture. Surveying a range of literary works that address the development of Latinx children and adolescents, we will pay special attention to coming-of-age stories that explore how Latinx negotiate ethno-racial identity, find and assert their own voice, and gain a greater understanding about their cultural differences. We will explore what intimate knowledge Latinx youth share and how they make meaning of critical, even ostensibly trivial, life moments to construct their ever-evolving sense of self and their relationship to both Latinx and non-Latinx communities. Usually offered every second year.

HISP 123b Supernatural Latin America: The Visual Culture of the Unknown
[ dl hum ]

May be taught in English or Spanish.

Latin America is haunted by the specters of countless colonial genocides, ritual sacrifices, fratricidal wars, thousands of disappeared. Its vast territory is swarming with ruins, ghost towns, the emptiness of devastated fauna and languages killed by ecocide. This course explores the numerous ways Latin American artists have made sense of their own experiences of the paranormal and the supernatural, developing a rich visual culture of the intangible. Some of the topics that we will address in this journey into the unknowable are: popular culture and the paranormal/supernatural; otherworldly visitors; aura, trauma, and art; avant-gardes and the supernatural; hauntology; contemporary witch culture; uncanny spaces. Works by Jayro Bustamante, Leonora Carrington, Guillermo del Toro, Mariana Enríquez, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Samanta Schweblin, Xul Solar, among others. Usually offered every third year.

HISP 124a Nature and Ecology in Latin American Culture
[ djw hum ]

HISP 125a Transatlantic Journeys: Cultural Intersections between Spain and Latin America
[ hum ]

Prerequisite: HISP 111b or permission of the instructor.

Explores the rich cultural and historical ties between Spain and Latin America from a transatlantic perspective. Emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach, it covers mutual influences, themes, and circuits of material and symbolical interchange between both territories, spanning from the era of colonization to contemporary globalization. The course places a strong emphasis on themes of myth, sorcery, and religious beliefs, with a special focus on transgressive identities such as rebels, madmen, witches, demons, and mythical creatures. It also delves into other important areas, such as the role of African and Indigenous cultures in the transatlantic colonial and postcolonial era, transnational narratives of race, processes of migration, and circuits of influence in arts and sports. Throughout the semester, students will critically analyze cultural artifacts, understand historical contexts, and engage in comparative studies to appreciate the unique and shared aspects of Spanish and Latin American cultural identities and narratives. This exploration aims to enhance their Spanish language proficiency and research skills, provide a nuanced understanding of the dynamic transatlantic exchanges that have shaped both regions, and invite discussion of past and present trends. Usually offered every third year.

HISP 126a Race and Media in Latin America
[ hum ]

HISP 127a Latin American Theater and Performance
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: HISP 111b.

Explores an array of rituals, performances, plays, and stage-to-film adaptations in Latin America from colonial times to the present. We will examine the transgressive nature of theater and performance in multiple dimensions: as alternative sites of cultural memory versus hegemonic texts and archives, as disruptors of media boundaries and realities, and as transformational acts that frequently challenge structures of power and oppression. Special attention will be devoted to Black theatrical practices and aesthetics: religious ceremonies, spirit possession, carnival, and related subgenres and movements such as Teatro bufo (a variant of Cuban blackface) and Teatro Experimental do Negro (one of the first and most influential Afro Brazilian theater groups). Our discussions will include not only works by renowned playwrights (Nelson Rodrigues in Brazil, Lola Arias in Argentina, Eugenio Hernández Espinosa in Cuba, and Sergio Blanco in Uruguay, among others), but also collective initiatives like Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani in Perú and Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol in Mexico. Usually offered every second year.

HISP 142b Literature, Film, and Human Rights in Latin America
[ djw fl hum nw wi ]

Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or instructor permission.

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.

HISP 158a Latina Feminisms
[ deis-us djw hum ]

Offered 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.

HISP 160a Culture, Media, and Social Change in Latin America
[ djw fl hum nw wi ]

Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.

Explores the role of various creative arts (creative writing, visual arts, music, film, performance) in their role as fostering political change in Latin America. We will examine key eras of 20th and 21st century cultural production in relation to shifting mass-media landscapes, from the revolutionary impetus of the early 20th century avant-gardes in literature and visual arts, the Mexican Revolution, popular music in the 1940s, documentary film and music, and the anti-establishment movements of the 1960s-1970s guerrillas, artistic resistance to the dictatorship, to the street art accompanying human rights, and grass roots identity movements of the 2000s. Usually offered every second year.

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.

HISP 163b Narratives of the Borderlands and Border Crossers
[ deis-us djw fl hum ]

Prerequisite: HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor. Taught in Spanish.

Explores the U.S.-Mexico border and the many ways in which it has intimately shaped the experiences of people living in the borderlands and/or moving across the border. It will examine literary works that survey the U.S.-Mexico borderlands in terms of their figurative and material realities, with specific attention to how the borderlands are represented in today's society and how the U.S.-Mexico border might be reimagined. This course will also probe the experiences of migrants and border-crosses through the lens of testimonios. Usually offered every second year.

HISP 164b Studies in Latin American Literature
[ fl hum nw ]

Prerequisite: 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.

HISP 165b The Storyteller: Short Fiction in Latin America
[ djw fl hum nw ]

Prerequisite: HISP 111b or permission of the instructor.

By reading (and listening to) modern short stories (20th and 21st century) from different Spanish-speaking countries, we will reflect on the power of storytelling and narrative for shaping subjectivity and community. Going from known literary classics (Borges, García Márquez) to contemporary, emerging younger authors (Bolaños, Enriquez, Schweblin), we will examine relevant topics that traverse Latin American cultural history (colonization, multi-ethnicity, oral and lettered cultures), as well as more contemporary struggles (gender identity, youth culture, ecological concerns). The literary concerns of this class dovetail with political and historical aspects, as issues of colonization, national identities, minoritarian or subaltern voices, and gender struggles, are at the core of Latin American literature. This class includes creative components (writing fiction in Spanish, podcast storytelling, translation) as forms of assessment, which students can choose instead of more traditional forms of interpretation. Usually offered every third year.

HISP 180a Topics in Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Spanish Literature and Culture
[ fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: 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.

HISP 192b Latin American Global Film
[ djw hum nw oc ]

May be taught in English or Spanish.

We will study the dynamic between local and global imagination and forces in the production, circulation, and reception of films from and/or about "Latin America." Local productions, traditional topics and genres are now refashioned for international audiences. Some film directors and actors have gained mainstream global visibility; U.S.-based ‘platforms’ finance local productions for international markets. How are all these new and old images and narratives mobilized? What are all these forces and projections doing? Analysis of visual representation and film techniques will be combined with an attention to socio-cultural backgrounds. Usually offered every second year.

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.

HISP 85a Introduction to U.S. Latinx Literatures and Cultures
[ deis-us djw dl hum ]

Offered in English.

Introduces students to U.S. Latinx cultural productions and to the interdisciplinary questions that concern U.S. Latinx communities. Latinxs have played a vital role in the history, politics, and cultures of the United States. U.S. Latinx literary works, in particular, have established important socio-historical and aesthetic networks that highlight Latinx expression and lived experiences, engaging with issues including biculturalism, language, citizenship, systems of value, and intersectional identity. Though the Latinx literary tradition spans more than 400 years, this course will focus on 20th and 21st century texts that decolonize nationalist approaches to Latinidad(es) and therefore challenge existing Latinx literary "canons." Usually offered every year.

HISP 123b Supernatural Latin America: The Visual Culture of the Unknown
[ dl hum ]

May be taught in English or Spanish.

Latin America is haunted by the specters of countless colonial genocides, ritual sacrifices, fratricidal wars, thousands of disappeared. Its vast territory is swarming with ruins, ghost towns, the emptiness of devastated fauna and languages killed by ecocide. This course explores the numerous ways Latin American artists have made sense of their own experiences of the paranormal and the supernatural, developing a rich visual culture of the intangible. Some of the topics that we will address in this journey into the unknowable are: popular culture and the paranormal/supernatural; otherworldly visitors; aura, trauma, and art; avant-gardes and the supernatural; hauntology; contemporary witch culture; uncanny spaces. Works by Jayro Bustamante, Leonora Carrington, Guillermo del Toro, Mariana Enríquez, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Samanta Schweblin, Xul Solar, among others. Usually offered every third year.

HISP 105a Advanced Oral Communication through Cultural Topics in Spanish
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: HISP 40b, or the equivalent. Students may repeat the course once for credit, provided the course covers a new topic. Students enrolling for the first time in a Hispanic Studies course at Brandeis should refer to www.brandeis.edu/registrar/newstudent/testing.html#spantest.

A content-based language course in which you will develop your ability to present information, persuade, and debate in Spanish. Throughout the semester, you will interact with a variety of authentic texts in order to acquire the sociolinguistic tools that you need to communicate effectively in different contexts. Each unit incorporates active learning strategies, cross-cultural comparisons, and social justice themes. Practice tasks and formal assessments will mirror real-world situations where both linguistic and intercultural competence will be evaluated. Usually offered every semester.

HISP 127a Latin American Theater and Performance
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: HISP 111b.

Explores an array of rituals, performances, plays, and stage-to-film adaptations in Latin America from colonial times to the present. We will examine the transgressive nature of theater and performance in multiple dimensions: as alternative sites of cultural memory versus hegemonic texts and archives, as disruptors of media boundaries and realities, and as transformational acts that frequently challenge structures of power and oppression. Special attention will be devoted to Black theatrical practices and aesthetics: religious ceremonies, spirit possession, carnival, and related subgenres and movements such as Teatro bufo (a variant of Cuban blackface) and Teatro Experimental do Negro (one of the first and most influential Afro Brazilian theater groups). Our discussions will include not only works by renowned playwrights (Nelson Rodrigues in Brazil, Lola Arias in Argentina, Eugenio Hernández Espinosa in Cuba, and Sergio Blanco in Uruguay, among others), but also collective initiatives like Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani in Perú and Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol in Mexico. Usually offered every second year.

HISP 192b Latin American Global Film
[ djw hum nw oc ]

May be taught in English or Spanish.

We will study the dynamic between local and global imagination and forces in the production, circulation, and reception of films from and/or about "Latin America." Local productions, traditional topics and genres are now refashioned for international audiences. Some film directors and actors have gained mainstream global visibility; U.S.-based ‘platforms’ finance local productions for international markets. How are all these new and old images and narratives mobilized? What are all these forces and projections doing? Analysis of visual representation and film techniques will be combined with an attention to socio-cultural backgrounds. Usually offered every second year.

HISP 106b Advanced Written Communication Through Cultural Topics in Spanish
[ 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.

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.

HISP 142b Literature, Film, and Human Rights in Latin America
[ djw fl hum nw wi ]

Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or instructor permission.

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.

HISP 160a Culture, Media, and Social Change in Latin America
[ djw fl hum nw wi ]

Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.

Explores the role of various creative arts (creative writing, visual arts, music, film, performance) in their role as fostering political change in Latin America. We will examine key eras of 20th and 21st century cultural production in relation to shifting mass-media landscapes, from the revolutionary impetus of the early 20th century avant-gardes in literature and visual arts, the Mexican Revolution, popular music in the 1940s, documentary film and music, and the anti-establishment movements of the 1960s-1970s guerrillas, artistic resistance to the dictatorship, to the street art accompanying human rights, and grass roots identity movements of the 2000s. Usually offered every second year.

HISP 180a Topics in Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Spanish Literature and Culture
[ fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: 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.

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.

HISP 85a Introduction to U.S. Latinx Literatures and Cultures
[ deis-us djw dl hum ]

Offered in English.

Introduces students to U.S. Latinx cultural productions and to the interdisciplinary questions that concern U.S. Latinx communities. Latinxs have played a vital role in the history, politics, and cultures of the United States. U.S. Latinx literary works, in particular, have established important socio-historical and aesthetic networks that highlight Latinx expression and lived experiences, engaging with issues including biculturalism, language, citizenship, systems of value, and intersectional identity. Though the Latinx literary tradition spans more than 400 years, this course will focus on 20th and 21st century texts that decolonize nationalist approaches to Latinidad(es) and therefore challenge existing Latinx literary "canons." Usually offered every year.

HISP 121b Sexualidades disidentes del sur (ensayo, ficción, cine)
[ djw fl hum ]

Prerequisite: HISP 111b or instructor approval.

We will study cultural texts (fiction, essay, film) to approach issues of gender and sexuality in Latin America. The last three decades have been characterized by the emergence of gender and sexualities as central to the articulation of political and cultural dissent, with profound impact on all aspects of social life. LGBTQ+ and new generation feminist movements, artists, and cultural agents incorporate issues of class, ethnicity, coloniality, and the environment in their interventions and struggles. Usually offered every third year.

HISP 142b Literature, Film, and Human Rights in Latin America
[ djw fl hum nw wi ]

Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or instructor permission.

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.

HISP 160a Culture, Media, and Social Change in Latin America
[ djw fl hum nw wi ]

Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.

Explores the role of various creative arts (creative writing, visual arts, music, film, performance) in their role as fostering political change in Latin America. We will examine key eras of 20th and 21st century cultural production in relation to shifting mass-media landscapes, from the revolutionary impetus of the early 20th century avant-gardes in literature and visual arts, the Mexican Revolution, popular music in the 1940s, documentary film and music, and the anti-establishment movements of the 1960s-1970s guerrillas, artistic resistance to the dictatorship, to the street art accompanying human rights, and grass roots identity movements of the 2000s. Usually offered every second year.

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.

HISP 163b Narratives of the Borderlands and Border Crossers
[ deis-us djw fl hum ]

Prerequisite: HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor. Taught in Spanish.

Explores the U.S.-Mexico border and the many ways in which it has intimately shaped the experiences of people living in the borderlands and/or moving across the border. It will examine literary works that survey the U.S.-Mexico borderlands in terms of their figurative and material realities, with specific attention to how the borderlands are represented in today's society and how the U.S.-Mexico border might be reimagined. This course will also probe the experiences of migrants and border-crosses through the lens of testimonios. Usually offered every second year.

HISP 164b Studies in Latin American Literature
[ fl hum nw ]

Prerequisite: 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.

HISP 165b The Storyteller: Short Fiction in Latin America
[ djw fl hum nw ]

Prerequisite: HISP 111b or permission of the instructor.

By reading (and listening to) modern short stories (20th and 21st century) from different Spanish-speaking countries, we will reflect on the power of storytelling and narrative for shaping subjectivity and community. Going from known literary classics (Borges, García Márquez) to contemporary, emerging younger authors (Bolaños, Enriquez, Schweblin), we will examine relevant topics that traverse Latin American cultural history (colonization, multi-ethnicity, oral and lettered cultures), as well as more contemporary struggles (gender identity, youth culture, ecological concerns). The literary concerns of this class dovetail with political and historical aspects, as issues of colonization, national identities, minoritarian or subaltern voices, and gender struggles, are at the core of Latin American literature. This class includes creative components (writing fiction in Spanish, podcast storytelling, translation) as forms of assessment, which students can choose instead of more traditional forms of interpretation. Usually offered every third year.

HISP 192b Latin American Global Film
[ djw hum nw oc ]

May be taught in English or Spanish.

We will study the dynamic between local and global imagination and forces in the production, circulation, and reception of films from and/or about "Latin America." Local productions, traditional topics and genres are now refashioned for international audiences. Some film directors and actors have gained mainstream global visibility; U.S.-based ‘platforms’ finance local productions for international markets. How are all these new and old images and narratives mobilized? What are all these forces and projections doing? Analysis of visual representation and film techniques will be combined with an attention to socio-cultural backgrounds. Usually offered every second year.

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.

HISP 180a Topics in Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Spanish Literature and Culture
[ fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: 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.

HISP 85a Introduction to U.S. Latinx Literatures and Cultures
[ deis-us djw dl hum ]

Offered in English.

Introduces students to U.S. Latinx cultural productions and to the interdisciplinary questions that concern U.S. Latinx communities. Latinxs have played a vital role in the history, politics, and cultures of the United States. U.S. Latinx literary works, in particular, have established important socio-historical and aesthetic networks that highlight Latinx expression and lived experiences, engaging with issues including biculturalism, language, citizenship, systems of value, and intersectional identity. Though the Latinx literary tradition spans more than 400 years, this course will focus on 20th and 21st century texts that decolonize nationalist approaches to Latinidad(es) and therefore challenge existing Latinx literary "canons." Usually offered every year.

HISP 122b Made in las Americas: Stories about Growing up Latinx
[ deis-us djw hum ]

Offered in English.

Examines what it means to grow up Latinx in a multicultural United States through a focus on Latinx young adult literature and Latinx youth culture. Surveying a range of literary works that address the development of Latinx children and adolescents, we will pay special attention to coming-of-age stories that explore how Latinx negotiate ethno-racial identity, find and assert their own voice, and gain a greater understanding about their cultural differences. We will explore what intimate knowledge Latinx youth share and how they make meaning of critical, even ostensibly trivial, life moments to construct their ever-evolving sense of self and their relationship to both Latinx and non-Latinx communities. Usually offered every second year.

HISP 123b Supernatural Latin America: The Visual Culture of the Unknown
[ dl hum ]

May be taught in English or Spanish.

Latin America is haunted by the specters of countless colonial genocides, ritual sacrifices, fratricidal wars, thousands of disappeared. Its vast territory is swarming with ruins, ghost towns, the emptiness of devastated fauna and languages killed by ecocide. This course explores the numerous ways Latin American artists have made sense of their own experiences of the paranormal and the supernatural, developing a rich visual culture of the intangible. Some of the topics that we will address in this journey into the unknowable are: popular culture and the paranormal/supernatural; otherworldly visitors; aura, trauma, and art; avant-gardes and the supernatural; hauntology; contemporary witch culture; uncanny spaces. Works by Jayro Bustamante, Leonora Carrington, Guillermo del Toro, Mariana Enríquez, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Samanta Schweblin, Xul Solar, among others. Usually offered every third year.

HISP 158a Latina Feminisms
[ deis-us djw hum ]

Offered 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.

HISP 192b Latin American Global Film
[ djw hum nw oc ]

May be taught in English or Spanish.

We will study the dynamic between local and global imagination and forces in the production, circulation, and reception of films from and/or about "Latin America." Local productions, traditional topics and genres are now refashioned for international audiences. Some film directors and actors have gained mainstream global visibility; U.S.-based ‘platforms’ finance local productions for international markets. How are all these new and old images and narratives mobilized? What are all these forces and projections doing? Analysis of visual representation and film techniques will be combined with an attention to socio-cultural backgrounds. Usually offered every second year.

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.

HUM 1a Tragedy: Love and Death in the Creative Imagination
[ hum ]

Enrollment limited to first-year Humanities Fellows. Satisfies the First-Year Seminar core requirement.
 

Our seminar concerns elemental experiences, above all love and death. The medium through which we will explore them is tragedy, an ancient literary form closely allied with myth. Consider this remark by philosopher Simone Weil: Nothing is so beautiful and wonderful, nothing is so continually fresh and surprising, so full of sweet and perpetual ecstasy, as the good. No desert is so dreary, monotonous, and boring as evil. This is the truth about authentic good and evil. With fictional good and evil it is the other way around. Fictional good is boring and flat, while fictional evil is varied and intriguing, attractive, profound and full of charm. (S.W., On Science, Necessity, and the Love of God, 160)

Hence, the appeal of the tragic, which directly addresses evil. There will be abundant, and sometimes horrifying evil in the plays, fiction, and poetry we read this term. We begin with Cormac McCarthy’s shocking Blood Meridian, a tragic tale of the American West, much as the Iliad is a tragic tale of ancient Greece. But why belabor the tragic, the mythic? Because in myth and tragedy we find not merely the self-confident moral posturing so common in modern writing but instead an attempt to get at that which underlies morality: good and evil, love and death. They are more fundamental, possibly divine, and therefore the remit of myth and tragedy rather than science and law. Usually offered every year.