SPAN 145 A-Z - (LT) Journeys through the Spanish-speaking WorldSemester Hours: 3
Periodically
Conducted in Spanish, this special-topics course focuses on specific themes related to the Spanish-speaking world’s literary, historical, and cultural traditions. Topics vary each time, and students can take the course for credit more than once under a different theme. This course, as all courses with the SPAN prefix, is taught in Spanish.
Current Special Topics
SPAN 145G - (LT) Love, Romance, and Eroticism in Spanish Literature
This course focuses on Spanish literary works from the early periods to the 20th century in which the topics of eroticism, love, and romance play an important role. The course will analyze how these subjects are related to ideology, power, and politics. While some canonical works will be included, we will tend to study works that do not normally appear in introductory courses. Among these works, we will analyze Prison of Love (1492), Erotic Arabic poetry from Al-Andalus (11th century), Prison of Love (15th century), the love stories by María de Zayas (17th century), the poems and legends written by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (19th century), and different works by Federico García Lorca (20th century). This course is taught in Spanish, counts towards the minor and major in Spanish, and fulfills the Literature (LT) Distribution Requirement.
SPAN 145H - (LT) Taking Our Time with Books
This course invites you to take a digital break, hold a book in your hands, and connect with it free from distractions. In a world inundated with screens and constant notifications, we will explore the transformative power of slowing down and reflecting together on our reading experiences. This course is conducted in Spanish (you will need an intermediate high/advance low level of proficiency) and counts towards the minor and major in Spanish, as well as the Literature (LT) Distribution Requirement.
We will delve into three contemporary works published in Spain over the past twenty years: Hay algo que no es como me dicen: El caso de Nevenka Fernández contra la realidad by Juan José Millás (2004), based on a true story; Estamos todas bien, a graphic novel by Ana Penyas (2017); and La mala costumbre, the 2024 novel by Alana Portero, (Dua Lipa selection for her book club in September 2024. Each book averages around 200 pages, so you can be sure we don’t have to rush through the texts, and will have time, as well, to explore the social and cultural contexts in which they came to be.
While most reading will take place outside of class, we will also engage in group reading sessions, dedicating time to explore challenging sections and share the most beautiful or expressive passages we encounter. Close reading will be a key focus, as we pay careful attention to language and narrative structure.
You will develop skills in literary interpretation, and through active participation, writing assignments, and presentations, you will learn to articulate your insights and support your analyses with evidence from the texts.
This course is conducted in Spanish (you will need an intermediate high/advance low level of proficiency) and counts towards the minor and major in Spanish, as well as the Literature (LT) Distribution Requirement.
View Course Offering(s):
Fall 2025
January 2026
Spring 2026
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