SPLA10420
Themes in Spanish and Latin American Studies
20
Full year
Undergraduate
Level 1
Jose Valentino Gianuzzi
Unit coordinator
Samuel Llano
Unit coordinator
1
FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' First part HE study/Bachelors '
European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 10.0
<p>This course unit is organised thematically around four major topics in Spanish and Latin American Studies: Race and Identity; Protest and Revolution; Modernity and Modernisation; and Power and Culture. Through the course students explore how these themes manifest themselves in different contexts across the Spanish-speaking world. At the same time, students are introduced to basic social and cultural theory and how it can be applied to the analysis of different cultural artefacts from the Spanish-speaking world. The course will introduce students to basic concepts, topics and theories that may inform the content of several future modules in their programmes.</p>
<p>This course unit is organised thematically around four major topics in Spanish and Latin American Studies: Race and Identity; Protest and Revolution; Modernity and Modernisation; and Power and Culture. Through the course students explore how these themes manifest themselves in different contexts across the Spanish-speaking world. At the same time, students are introduced to basic social and cultural theory and how it can be applied to the analysis of different cultural artefacts from the Spanish-speaking world. The course will introduce students to basic concepts, topics and theories that may inform the content of several future modules in their programmes.</p>
<ul> <li>To introduce students to basic social and cultural research theory and how it applies to specific Spanish and Spanish American cultural objects </li> <li>To further students’ knowledge and understanding of Spanish and Latin American culture and society </li> <li>To hone students’ skills of analysis, academic writing and independent research </li> <li>To aid the study of Spanish language and culture in a range of contexts</li></ul>
<p>By the end of this course students will be able to: </p><ul> <li>Demonstrate basic understanding of key themes in Spanish and Latin American Studies </li> <li>Demonstrate basic understanding of cultural theory for the analysis of Spanish and Spanish American cultural objects </li></ul>
<p>By the end of this course students will have: </p><ul> <li>Further developed their Spanish language competence through reading and viewing a range of Spanish and Spanish American cultural objects </li> <li>Improved their capacity to read critically </li> <li>Increased their ability to interpret, analyse and synthesise information </li></ul>
<p>By the end of this course students will have furthered their ability to: </p><ul> <li>Gather, organise and deploy evidence and information in writing an essay </li> <li>Use the library to find appropriate physical and electronic resources and reference them correctly </li> <li>Construct and back up arguments </li></ul>
<p>By the end of this course students will have furthered their ability to: </p><ul> <li>Express themselves confidently in English, both orally and in writing </li> <li>Manage time and work to deadlines </li> <li>Participate in group discussions and assess the relevance and importance of the ideas of others </li> <li>Present information, ideas and arguments orally and in writing with due regard to the target audience </li> <li>Draw on theory when analysing concrete objects and situations </li></ul>
Other
The skills outlined above can be valuable assets for the following job sectors, both in relation to Latin America and beyond: journalism and media, translation and publishing, business and management (group work, organisational skills, problem solving), advertising and design, tourism and travel (intercultural communication, cultural awareness), politics and policy-making, charities and volunteering.
<p>Indicative topics to be covered include:</p><p>Race and Identity in Spanish America (Identity politics, indigenismo, contemporary Indigenous movements)</p><p>Protestand Revolution (the Cuban Revolution, Spanish rock music)</p><p>Modernity (Modernisation and popular resistance, the rise of the City in Spanish America, euphoric and pessimistic cultural reactions to modernity)</p><p>Culture and Power (Nationalism, popular culture, cultural construction of gender identities)</p><p>Please note that this list is only indicative and topics may change from year to year. </p>
<p>The course is organised thematically into four major topics. These are divided into fortnightly units within which lectures and seminars explore specific events and developments in Spain and Spanish America. For each fortnightly unit two lectures take place on even weeks and a seminar on odd weeks to give students a chance to digest the content of lectures and prepare for seminar activities. </p><p>Lectures provide basic, subject-specific knowledge about the Spanish world, and introduce theoretical concepts. Seminars focus on applying theory to specific material related to what was covered on the previous lectures. </p>
0
Other
100%
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Assessment Task</td> <td>Formative or Summative</td> <td>Weighting within unit (if summative)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Essay</td> <td>Summative</td> <td>45%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Group Presentation</td> <td>Summative</td> <td>25%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Short Essay (textual analysis)</td> <td>Summative</td> <td>30%</td> </tr> </tbody></table><p> </p><p>Resit Assessment</p><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Assessment Task</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Essay</td> </tr> </tbody></table><p> </p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Feedback Method</td> <td>Formative or Summative</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Oral feedback on seminar participation</td> <td>Formative and Summative</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Written feedback on essays, group presentation</td> <td>Formative and Summative</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Additional one-to-one feedback (during the consultation hour or by making an appointment) </td> <td>Formative</td> </tr> <tr> <td>The short essay, due in the first semester, will serve simultaneously as formative and summative assessment. Feedback received on it will help students in preparing their group presentation and their final essay </td> <td> </td> </tr> </tbody></table>
<p>Available on: All programmes with Spanish.</p><p>Pre-requisite: A-Level Spanish or equivalent.</p><p>Taught and assessed in English; seminar materials in Spanish.</p>
N
<p><strong>Selections from: </strong></p><ul> <li>Mary Louise Pratt’s ‘Arts of the Contact Zone’ </li> <li>Hannah Arendt’s On Revolution </li> <li>Jane Tormey’s Cities and Photography </li> <li>Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities </li></ul><p><strong>Excerpts, clips or selected images from: </strong></p><ul> <li>Horacio Cópola photographs </li> <li>The work of Federico García Lorca </li> <li>Spanish TV events</li> <li>The work of Sor Juan Inés de la Cruz</li> <li>Diego Rivera murals </li> <li>Latin American comics and graphic novels </li></ul>
Lectures
22
Seminars
11
0
167