Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Prerequisite: HISP-S 324 or HISP-S 328 or Consent of Department.

A captain gone rogue conquering a magnificent city and empire; an escaped nun fighting in the king’s army abroad disguised as a soldier; an Inca scholar publishing in Spain a translation from Italian; a Mexican rascal traveling to the Philippines; a Black man advocating for the rights of white women; an Indigenous author writing the Mexican national novel; a Cuban journalist at the opening of Coney Island; a princess without purpose, a Nicaraguan poet defying President Roosevelt, and a man who believes X-rays will let him photograph the soul; a boy who becomes a gaucho at a time when gaucho lifestyle is disappearing in a modern world.

This cast of both real and fictional characters are part of the unique Latin American cultural archive developed from colonial times to the dawn of the 20^th century. As we discuss these and others iconic figures, we’ll explore what they can tell us about the social, political, ideological, and cultural milieux from which they sprang and that they also helped create. Conducted in Spanish, this class will help you:

• acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of Spanish American cultures
• improve ethical, critical, and analytical thinking
• develop awareness and appreciation of other cultures, world views, and cultural achievements and a understanding of historical, social, and cultural processes that may be different from those of your own society.
• become better, more sophisticated speaker, reader, and writer in Spanish through regular practice in class discussions, activities, and assignments.
• develop career competencies: communication and teamwork, critical and ethical reasoning, creativity, cultural and intellectual diversity, and professionalism.

HISP-S 471     #29528      (3)       11:10A-12:25P    MW      BH 140      Prof. Alejandro Mejias-Lopez

Note: Above class meets with HISP-S 498, section #30443

• A&H
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