Courses
Click on the following links to skip to a certain section of this page:- Language Courses
- Upper-Level Courses (above HISP 108)
- Courses Also Taught by Hispanic Studies Faculty
Spring 2025 Course Listings
All schedule information is tentative. Please see the Registrar's site for the latest information.
For short video introductions to many of our courses, click on the course titles.Questions about major/minor requirements, course offerings, or studying abroad? Contact our Undergraduate Advising Head: Professor Zoila Castro.
Language Courses
Are you interested in starting or continuing your study of Spanish?
NO MATTER YOUR LEVEL, WE HAVE A COURSE FOR YOU!
- if you’re brand new to Spanish
- if you’ve taken some Spanish, have an official test score, or Seal of Biliteracy
- if you grew up speaking Spanish at home
For next steps, see the full Spanish Language Courses Summary PDF.
For more information about HISP 10-108 placement/enrollment, please see our Language Programs Placement page. If you have any questions, please contact Prof. González Ros.
(1) M,W,Th, 10:10 –11:00 AM, González Ros
Prerequisite: Permission required (please see instructions on our Language Programs Placement page).
For students who have had no previous study of Spanish. 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.
(1) M,W,Th,F 11:15–12:05 AM, Mederos
(2) M,W,Th 10:10–11:00; F 10–10:50 AM, Mederos
Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in HISP 10a or the equivalent. Permission required (please see instructions on our Language Programs Placement page).
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.
(1) M,T,W,Th 9:05–9:55 AM, Turpin
(2) M,W,Th 10:10 –11:00 AM, Turpin
(3) M,W,Th 12:20–1:10; F 12:45–1:35 PM, Reyes de Deu
(4) M,W,Th,F 11:15–12:05 PM, Cobeta
(5) M,W,Th 12:20–1:10 PM; F 12:45–1:35 PM, Cobeta
(6) M,W,Th 1:20–2:10; T 12:45–1:35 PM,
Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in HISP 20b or the equivalent. Permission required (please see instructions on our Language Programs Placement page).
Students in HISP 32 will bring their proficiency up to an intermediate level. 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.
*HISP classes listed below (104 and above) are conducted in Spanish, unless otherwise noted.*
(1) M,W,Th 10:10–11:00 AM, Cobeta
(2) M,W,Th 1:20–2:10 PM, Mederos
(3) M,W,Th 11:15–12:05 PM,
Prerequisite: HISP 32 or 34. Permission required (please see instructions on our Language Programs Placement page).
Participants will expand their language skills in Spanish while deepening their understanding of Hispanic cultures. Students will explore how their identity and those of others is expressed through language, images, and cultural practices.
(1) M,W,Th 12:20–1:10 PM, Turpin
Prerequisite: HISP 104b or the equivalent. Permission required (please see instructions on our Language Programs Placement page).
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.
(3) M,W,Th 11:15–12:05 PM, González Ros
Prerequisite: HISP 104b or the equivalent. Permission required (please see instructions on our Language Programs Placement page).
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.
(1) M,W 2:30 –3:50 PM, Castro
(2) M,W 4:05–5:25 PM, Castro
Prerequisite: HISP 105a or the equivalent. Permission required (please see instructions on our Language Programs Placement page). [WI]
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.
Upper-Level Courses (above HISP 108)
(1) T,Th 2:20–3:40 PM, Herrera Diaz
Taught in Spanish. Prerequisite: HISP 106b, or HISP 108a, or permission of instructor. [DJW; Cross-listed with COML, IGS, LACLS, and MUS]
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.
(1) T,F 9:35–10:55 AM, Duran
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or 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
(1) T,Th 3:55–5:15 PM, Herrera Díaz
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.
This course explores the role of material and spirit possessions in Latin America and their impact on notions of agency, gender, labor, and race. We will discuss how Latin America's history and cultural traditions have been shaped by complex experiences of possession, from commodities and bodies (e.g., gold, sugar, digital money, enslaved communities, migrants, sex workers) to Afro-diasporic practices and religious ceremonies. We will devote special attention to spirit possession—that is, the act of controlling spirits or being controlled by them— in religions such as Santería, Palo Monte, Candomblé, Umbanda, Vudú, and Espiritismo. Students will also analyze how artists and intellectuals have represented and theorized these forms of possession through diverse cultural productions.
(1) M,W 2:30–3:50 PM, Rosenberg
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or 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.
(1) M,W 5:40 - 7:00 PM, Rosenberg
Taught in English
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.
(1) T,F 11:10–12:30 PM, Duran
Taught in English.
This discussion-based course examines Latinx theatre as a creative and political force for social change in the United States from the 1960s to the present. We will examine artistic expressions, cultural practices, and politics, evincing how Latinx theatre and performance have contributed to broader discourses of identity, race, gender, community, and nation, among other themes. We will engage a variety of plays and theatrical performances through written texts, recordings, and live enactments. Other readings will draw from theoretical, historical, and literary texts; modes of inquiry we will use include performance studies, gender studies, and critical race theory.
Literature and Culture Courses (Taught in English)
(1) T,F 11:10 AM–12:30 PM , Durán
Taught in English. [DEIS-US; DJW; DL; Cross-listed with LACLS & ENG.]
This discussion-based course introduces students to U.S. Latinx cultural productions and to the interdisciplinary questions that concern U.S. Latinx scholars, peoples, and 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 Latinidades and therefore challenge existing Latinx literary “canons.”
Also Taught by Hispanic Studies Faculty:
(1) T,F 9:35–10:55 AM, Durán
Taught in English. [NW, OC, Cross-listed with IGS]
Provides a broad overview of the histories, cultures, and politics that continue to shape the Americas; specifically of the vast regions and populations of what came to be labeled as "Latin America," "the Caribbean" and what we now call "Latinx " populations in the USA. The class provides an introduction to Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies. It draws from different disciplines and fields of study that compose this field, such as history, anthropology, literature, visual arts, film, political science, among other perspectives and methodologies.