Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

University of Delaware

Student Friendly Course Descriptions

Level 200 and Above – Spring 2008 Courses

Arabic

Chinese

Classics

FLLT

German

Hebrew

Italian

Japanese

Portuguese

 French

Russian

Spanish

Arabic

ARAB  200:  Advanced Intermediate Arabic    (3 credits)

Ikram Masmoudi

A continuation of ARAB 107. Emphasis is on reading and viewing authentic materials from Arab media, in order to improve reading and listening skills, and to increase knowledge of Arab culture.

ARAB  205:  Arabic Conversation    (3 credits)

Ikram Masmoudi

Focuses on improving oral communication skills through discussion of various topics related to modern social and cultural life in the Arab world. Includes grammar review and writing practice.

Chinese

CHIN  201:  Advanced Intermediate Chinese I    (3 credits)

Renee Dong

This course is part of a two-course series, designed to further consolidate the knowledge students have learned from CHIN200. Learning activities include oral, reading and writing exercises on selected topics. Students will learn to use various grammatical forms to convey different nuances in the Chinese language.

CHIN  355:  A Multimedia Course in Chinese Culture and Society    (3 credits)

Haihong Yang

This course is designed to further improve students' integrated language of listening, speaking, reading and writing through spoken dialogues, original television programs, and films. Students will develop their abilities to comprehend authentic language materials, understand the distinguishing features of spoken and written Chinese, and produce paragraph-level Chinese on familiar topics. Besides language objectives, the class also helps students to expand their knowledge of contemporary Chinese society and culture.

CHIN  455:  Classical Chinese    (3 credits)

Haihong Yang

This class offers basic training in classical Chinese. Classical Chinese is a language shaped in the latter half of the first millenium B.C. that still persists as a living medium of expression today. Knowledge of classical Chinese is important to help students read and understand sophisticated modern Chinese texts, which make frequent use of classical allusions and constructs. In this course, students will be introduced to basic grammatical structures of classical Chinese, its syntactic patterns and historical development. We will focus on grammar, systematic sentence analysis, and distinctive functions of grammatical particles through translation and discussion in class focusing on grammar and vocabulary. The course is taught in English and Chinese.

CHIN  467:  Advanced Readings in Chinese Literature and Culture    (3 credits)

Haihong Yang

This course aims to improve students' reading and writing proficiency through rigorously reading and responding to literary works and essays related to the issues facing Chinese intellectuals. Students will have chance to develop their skills to accomplish abstract reasoning in addition to being able to narrate and describe. The selected essays will provide an intensive look at some of the most important social and cultural issues in modern and contemporary China. The course may have a dual-track approach, requiring the completion of both class-wide and individually designed projects.

Classics

LATN  202:  Intermediate Latin    (3 credits)

Lynn Sawlivich

The final course of a four-semester sequence (101-102-201-202) fulfilling the language requirement of the UD College of Arts and Sciences. We spend the semester translating selected short poems of Catullus, with special emphasis on reading aloud in the poetic meters of hendecasyllables and elegiac couplets. Grammar review as needed. Prerequisite: Latin 201 or placement (four years of high school Latin).

GREK  202:  Intermediate Ancient Greek    (3 credits)

Lynn Sawlivich

Greek 202/302 introduces students to Ancient Greek poetry, with special emphasis on reading poetry aloud in correct meter. Topic for Spring 2013: Homer’s Odyssey. Greek 202 and Greek 302 meet jointly; the students in Greek 302 do additional translation assignments, along with a 5-7 page paper.

LATN  301/401:  Pliny the Younger and Pompeii: Advanced-Intermediate and Advanced Latin Prose    (3 credits)

Annette Giesecke

This course focuses on the daily life of the ancient Romans, specifically on details revealed in the letters of Pliny the Younger. Among many other topics, Pliny writes of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii. Pompeii in the archaeological record and in literature will form a significant component of this course.

Course requirements for the Honors Section include an analytical paper and an in-class presentation.

GREK  302:  Advanced Intermediate Ancient Greek    (3 credits)

Lynn Sawlivich

Greek 202/302 introduces students to Ancient Greek poetry, with special emphasis on reading poetry aloud in correct meter. Topic for Spring 2013: Homer’s Odyssey. Greek 202 and Greek 302 meet jointly; the students in Greek 302 do additional translation assignments, along with a 5-7 page paper.

FLLT

FLLT  319:  Modern and contemporary French Jewish writers    (3 credits)

Bruno Thibault

This course will focus on the Jewish experience in France with a special focus on the Dreyfus Affair; the Holocaust, the Vichy regime and French Collaboration, the decolonization era and the Sephardic experience, as well as secularism and the French Republic. The course will address important concepts or issues such as identity and belonging; traditionalism, modernity and secularism; Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim relations; Anti-Semitism, Diaspora, race and ethnicity. In this course, students will look at varieties of Jewish culture which have shaped and been shaped by France, the first nation to grant Jews full citizenship in 1807. Novels by Marcel Proust, Romain Gary, Patrick Modiano and Georges Perec will be discussed, as well as plays and films by Yasmina Reza and Agnès Jaoui.

FLLT  327:  Petersburg in Russian and Soviet Literature in Translation    (3 credits)

Julia Hulings

Come explore Peter the Great’s "window to the West" through the works of well-known Russian authors such as Dostoevsky, Gogol, Pushkin, Bely and Solzhenitsyn. Decide for yourself, as the authors did: Is St. Petersburg the intolerable whim of an eccentric and overly ambitious tsar who settled a malarial swamp in the far north, or is it an enchanting muse, full of contradictions and beauty, to which one feels repeatedly obliged to return? The city Dostoyevsky called "the most abstract and premeditated city in the whole world" repulsed and excited authors during its 300 year history. It has survived natural disasters ranging from flood, famine, and disease, to man-made strife in the form of civil war, Stalinist purges, and an epic Nazi siege. Though it has suffered identity crises, undergoing numerous name changes and competing with Moscow as the favored center of government, Petersburg retains its beloved place in the soul of many Russians. This great city has generated its own spirit in literature and art and has taken on a life of its own; join us on a sweeping and memorable journey to know this “Venice of the north”!

FLLT  330:  Women in Transformation: Contemporary Chinese Women Writers    (3 credits)

Maria Tu

Through readings of and in-class discussions on feminist theories, psychology, and philosophy from western intellectual tradition, this course aims to help students explore, by means of a close textual analysis of the novels by Chinese women writers, the roots of women’s sufferings and contentment, depression and jouissance. It aims to seek, by unveiling the surge of repressed sexuality and desire, how women initiate a self-transformation both psychologically and historically in a male-dominated culture, as inscribed in the works of Contemporary Chinese women writers. By applying the western theoretical models to the Chinese women writers’ works, this course also provides a comparative perspective for students to analyze literature of the East by using the theories of the West. The interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspectives adopted in this course will shed light on the sub-conscious energy in human mind and how it gives rise to the feelings of love, passion, or conversely, the feelings of trauma, and depression as experienced by women. This course raises the following questions: What is the difference between love and desire? What is the connection between our deep consciousness and femininity? How can the traumatic wounds arising from love be self-healed and how does the self-healing become empowerment and transform women in their life journey? How does one’s cultural background contribute to this goal? Selected films and power-point slides will be used to complement the lectures and in-class discussion. Students will complete several short writing assignments and a semester-long research project.

FLLT  331:  Love, Death, and Gender in Chinese Films    (3 credits)

Jianguo Chen

This course introduces students to the treatment of recurring themes in Chinese films such as those related to various forms of love, death, and gender roles. Specifically, the course examines issues of love (passion, desire, and revenge), death, sexuality, masculinity and femininity in relation to those of duty (filial piety, loyalty to the state, etc.), politics and nationalism. The course will also focus on the issues of gender politics and female sexuality of various ideological persuasions and psychological dispositions and on how such issues are articulated cinematically both from historical and contemporary perspectives. The course not only introduces students to Chinese culture/society through the cinematic perspective, but acquaints them with a knowledge of Chinese film aesthetic (the cinematic language) and film making on the other. The comparative approach adopted in the course will enable students to appreciate and explore cultural differences and similarities between Chinese and Western cultures in terms of the issues to be discussed. The course counts towards Chinese Minor and also East Asian Major/Minor.

FLLT  338:  Introduction to Japanese Film    (3 credits)

Rachael Hutchinson

This course acquaints students with both famous and little-known works of Japanese cinema, and reassesses how these films have been treated in the literature to date. By examining Japanese films through a number of different thematic issues, we can avoid the monolithic and teleological narrative of ‘national cinema’ that has so often been applied to Japanese film. We will focus on feature live-action narrative films (as opposed to documentary, animation or short films), from the 1950s to the present. Topics for discussion will include wartime and occupation censorship, the visuality of violence, and discourses of adaptation and the remake. We will study Kurosawa Akira’s samurai films and their relationship to Hollywood, the 1970s yakuza film and its modern incarnation in the films of Takeshi Kitano, and representations of masculinity and femininity in Japanese film. We will end with an extended study of Battle Royale, considering the original novel by Takami Koushun and recent interpretations such as The Hunger Games.

FLLT  421/621:  Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages    (3 credits)

Dr. Ali Alalou

Interested in improving your teaching skills? Wondering how to organize your foreign language lessons more effectively? This introductory course on Foreign Language Pedagogy will give you the opportunity to study current perspectives on foreign language instruction, and extensive hands-on experience with the implementation of effective language teaching strategies. Special emphasis will be given to the enhancement of your proficiency in class planning and materials preparation, as well as the use of technology for the learning and teaching of foreign languages.

FLLT  429/629:  Methods of Teaching Foreign/Second Languages in Elementary Schools    (3 credits)

Iris Busch

Have you ever asked yourself why children have a reputation for being natural language learners? Languages and children are a perfect match. The course will highlight the principles and strategies for teaching languages to children with their distinctive characteristics and needs. Focus is on curriculum design, lesson planning, classroom management and advocacy. There will be games, songs and chants. And of course: Stories! This course offers you the unique opportunity to combine the study of FL theory with practice in a classroom of the University's Early Learning Center. Everything that you learn in this course will be useful once you start teaching at a middle school or high school.

FLLT/ARTH/MCST  467:  EARTH PERFECT? Nature, Utopia, and the Garden    (3 credits)

Annette Giesecke

An interdisciplinary seminar exploring the garden as an emblem of humanity’s desire to define an ideal relationship with nature. From time immemorial, gardens have been sources of nourishment for the body and the soul, they have been symbols of wealth and power, they have served as barriers against the wild, and much more. This seminar focuses on the importance and meaning of gardens in the past, present, and the future, and that from a wide range of perspectives, including, the following disciplines: art, art history, architecture, anthropology, agriculture, philosophy, literature, history, horticulture, botany, landscape architecture, garden design, nutrition, and law as well as earth and life sciences more generally. Topics will include: wellness and the garden, environment and society, historic preservation and land use, CSAs, the garden in the visual arts, the garden in literature, the meaning and function of domestic and public gardens, architecture and the garden, the spiritual associations of gardens, gardening the planet in the face of ecological decline, political aspects of gardening, and economies of the garden. While the topics addressed in this course are appropriate for any “age,” they is particularly appropriate now when people are more than ever engaged in discourse about our relationship with and responsibilities towards the natural environment. This course will enable physical engagement with a variety of gardens via on-site, experiential learning at venues including: University of Delaware Botanic Garden, UD’s Garden for the Community, Longwood Gardens, the White Clay Creek Preserve, the Delaware Center for Horticulture, the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, and Bartram’s Garden.

FLLT  491:  Foreign Language Education Capstone    (3 credits)

Dr. Bonnie Robb

In this course, which accompanies your student teaching placement, you will share experiences and reflect on your teaching, benefiting from interaction with your peers and guidance from your supervisors. As you and your peers complete your teaching portfolios, you will consider together how to apply and increase your knowledge as scholars of foreign language in effective lesson planning and assessment, how to meet classroom management challenges, and how to cultivate partnerships with students, colleagues, administrators and parents. Issues such as teaching methods and techniques, discipline, assessment, record-keeping, parent conferences, professional affiliations, teaching resumes, and job search will be discussed.

FLLT  495:  One World: Literary Perspectives Humanity Under Siege: War in the Global Arena    (3 credits)

Cynthia Lees

A University-approved Second Writing Course which also satisfies the Capstone requirement for foreign language majors, this course introduces students to 21st century fiction in translation from around the globe, texts that depict humanity's darkest days: suicide bombings in Jerusalem, the torture of enemy combatants at Guantanamo's prison camp, the rape of women in Bosnian death camps, the exploitation of child soldiers in Liberia, the holocaust in Belgrade, the plight of delinquent Japanese boys in a remote village, and the violent impact of colonialism in Sudan. These may be horror stories in the truest sense. This class is student-centered, and as one participant wrote last semester, "this kind of class is what being in college is all about...I found the course a very eye-opening experience and I enjoyed what I read." Please join us for an "eye-opening experience" about the world we all live in!

FLLT  622:  Language Syllabus and Materials Development    (3 credits)

Dr. Jorge Cubillos

Wondering how to select a textbook, or how to put together the syllabus for your next language course? Interested in creating your own teaching materials? This course will give you the opportunity to learn about the latest approaches to syllabus and materials design, while giving you extensive hands-on experience in the creation of your own classroom tasks and homework assignments.

French

FREN  200-010/080:  French Grammar and Composition    (3 credits)

Donna Coulet du Gard

This course provides a comprehensive grammar review contextualized in literary works. Students complete grammar exercises, respond to comprehension questions on the readings, and write essays in order to improve their language skills.

FREN  200-011/081:  French Grammar and Composition    (3 credits)

Cynthia Lees

This course provides a comprehensive grammar review contextualized in contemporary readings including non-fiction texts, product advertising, and North American Francophone literary selections. Responding to comprehension questions on texts read and writing micro-themes are tasks that encourage grammatically correct writing. The completion of grammar exercises from the text and workbook foster correct usage of the French language.

FREN  209-010/080:  French Conversation through Film    (3 credits)

Edgard Sankara

A conversation course contextualized in recent mainstream films, animated shorts, and popular short documentaries, this class invites you to build and to practice your oral and aural skills in French while watching a variety of cinematic products from the French-speaking world. Many films are as close as your nearest laptop, and students will actively blog reactions at our class website.

FREN  211-010/080:  French Reading and Composition    (3 credits)

Cynthia Lees

This course includes reading and discussion of French and Francophone literature and the writing of compositions. The emphasis of this course is on improving critical reading skills and on writing formal academic essays. Therefore, a close reading of the text (in regard to character development, historical or social context, and narrative voice for example) encourages the student to move beyond the level of plot summary to analyze the works under study. Students will be introduced to literary movements such as theater of the absurd, the new novel, la négritude, and le fantastique.

FREN  211-011:  French Reading and Composition    (3 credits)

Judy Celli

This course includes reading and discussion of French literature and the writing of short papers. The emphasis of the course is on improving critical reading skills and on writing formal analyses of literature. Students will be introduced to several literary movements. Honors credit involves supplementary readings, papers and meetings outside of class with the professor.

FREN  301:  Introduction to French Literature – Prose    (3 credits)

Edgard Sankara

What did Montaigne have in mind when he wrote his famous Essais? Why did Rousseau pen his Confessions? Did Voltaire write anything besides Candide? What makes Chateaubriand's René a Romantic hero? Are Proust's sentences as meandrous and insidious as you've always heard they were? This course explores a few masterpieces in French prose from the Renaissance through the twentieth century. Along the way, you'll discover the science fiction of Voltaire, you'll experience le mal du siècle with Chateaubriand, you'll meet a humble servant and a colorful parrot in a short story by Flaubert, and you'll reflect on phenomenology and war in Sartre's "Le Mur." Furthermore, you will learn the various methods of literary analysis as you perform close readings and explications de texte.

FREN  302:  Introduction to French Literature: Poetry and Theatre    (3 credits)

Edgard Sankara

A gladiator, returning victorious from battle, slays his sister for her lack of patriotism; a young prince succumbs to the wrath of Neptune rather than betray the confidences of his evil stepmother. Enter the world of monsters, madmen, and maidens in distress! Introduction to French Poetry and Theater explores poets and dramatists from the Renaissance through the twentieth century with particular attention to the methods and language of literary analysis through close readings and explications de texte. In this course you will learn the terminology of literary criticism, employ this terminology in critical analyses of poems and plays, and discuss the recurring themes – power, love, deception, loss, patriarchy, totalitarianism – in the works studied.

FREN  314-010/080:  French Phonetics    (3 credits)

Ali Alalou

Studies the sounds of the French language (both individual phonemes and items of connected speech, such as liaison, linking, intonation, etc). Helps improve pronunciation of the language.

Do you know the difference between the pronunciation of “Louis” and “lui”? Do you still choke over your French “r”? Are you unsure of when to pronounce final consonants and when to drop them? Do Frenchmen pick you out as American as soon as you pronounce the first syllable of what you thought was their language? Then FREN 314 may be the course for you! Two hours of each week are spent learning the rules of pronunciation, practicing auditory discrimination, and transcribing French discourse, using the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet); one hour a week is given to practicing the sounds in small groups. Oral exercises to accompany the textbook are available on the Internet.

FREN  325:  French Civilization I    (3 credits)

Gary Ferguson

Offering an exploration of the cultural history of France from Ancient Gaul to the Revolution, this course examines the evolution of French culture from its earliest expressions in the cave paintings of Lascaux through to the end of the Old Regime in 1789. In particular, we will study the 1000-year period known as the Middle Ages, followed by the Renaissance, the Classical Age, and the Enlightenment. Important political events will be discussed along with major artistic, cultural, and intellectual movements, both in terms of their historical context and in terms of how they have been viewed and used by later generations, including their significance in modern-day France. Films, visual images, and online resources will supplement our reading of historical texts and authentic documents from the periods to help deepen our understanding of France's rich and diverse cultural heritage.

FREN  350-010/080:  Advanced Business French    (3 credits)

Bonnie Robb

For students hoping to put their foreign language skills to use in business careers, this course offers the opportunity to acquire commercial vocabulary, develop the ability to speak French in a professional context, communicate effectively in writing, and intelligently consume business literature. Students become familiar with French business culture through readings, discussion, individual and team projects, and interactions with guest speakers. The Honors section includes scheduled meetings with the professor and an Honors project with additional readings and an oral presentation.

FREN  404:  Advanced Grammar and Composition    (3 credits)

Karen Quandt

For those seeking to sharpen writing skills and hone expression in French, this course combines systematic grammar study with work on stylistics. In a workshop format that will include in-class peer editing, you will compose frequent short but carefully prepared writing assignments that target specific goals (description, reviews of current events in the media, literary analysis, etc.) with an accompanying focus on incorporating certain grammatical structures.

FREN  455/655:  Paysages de la vie moderne    (3 credits)

Karen Quandt

Using landscape in the literal sense of a point of view, as well as in the broader sense of a cultural and historical setting, this course will examine the literary and artistic manifestations of the conflict between the individual and its spatial milieu in major 19th-century French works. After first braving the aftershocks of the Revolution as they are expressed in anxiety-ridden Romantic works, we will then navigate the turbulent history of the Empire, Restoration period, and the early years of the July Monarchy as writers such as Hugo, Stendhal and Balzac defined their creative role by expressing the flux of contemporary society and history. Also addressing the literary and artistic representations of the city in the later part of the century as Haussmannization, urban sprawl and industrial advances exploded the Parisian map and culture, we will end by considering the crisis of natural landscapes in Symbolist literature as ushering in the 'fin de siècle' view of a degenerate and meaningless world. This course is interdisciplinary and will account for philosophical narratives, lyric poetry, short stories, novels, prose poems, and films, as well as the visual arts and music. Class discussions will also address relevant cultural topics.

FREN  875:  The New Wave and the New Novel    (3 credits)

Bruno Thibault

"It is often said that no one reads anymore and that we live in an age of sound bites, cliches and zapping. It is also said that film is an industry geared solely toward profit and entertainment for the the masses. But is it truly so? In this graduate seminar, students will explore the interaction between cinema and literature through the works of such famous French filmmakers as Resnais, Malle, Rohmer, Godard, Truffaut, Rivette, and Agnes Vada, as well as through the complex narrative strategies of such novelists/filmmakers as Marguerite Duras and Alain Robbe-Grillet. We will thus focus on two of the most influential esthetic movements in literature and cinema in France in the 1950s and 1960s: the New Wave and the New Novel."

German

GRMN  200:  Grammar Review    (3 credits)

Lisa Thibault

Are you still not exactly sure where to place the verb? Are you still taking wild guesses on adjective endings? Do you rely a little too heavily on your imagination in order to form past participles? Would you benefit from a course where you can take another look at the topics you covered in 105, 106 and 107 (or in high school)? Then German 200 is right for you! This course is designed to provide you with an opportunity to improve and refine your basic language skills, thus building greater confidence and proficiency. Our systematic review of grammar includes activities for improving reading, speaking and writing skills. There will be quizzes and (very) short compositions, as well as a final exam.

GRMN  255:  Germany in the News    (3 credits)

Nancy Nobile

What are the hopes and realities that concern people in today's Germany? What role does Germany play in the expanding focus of the European Union? What are the most talked about cultural issues of the day? To find answers to these and other questions, we’ll read and discuss online newspaper and magazine articles, and view excerpts from German TV news. Discussion of emergent issues in Germany—from pop culture to world politics—will improve your speaking, reading, and listening skills. Students will work on creative short projects, do one oral report, and take midterm and final exams.

GRMN  311:  Introduction to Modern German Literature    (3 credits)

Ester Riehl

Topic for Spring 2013: Manipulation, Mischief, and Murder - Greed, power mongering, and political machinations: Central conflicts of a 21st-century Hollywood film, or an 18th-century German drama? In this course we will read and discuss literary texts that explore how dishonest people deal with personal and political conflicts, sometimes with disastrous consequences. We’ll begin with some short stories from the 20th & 21st centuries before moving on to some of the Grimms’ fairy tales, and finally some short novellas and dramas from the 18th and 19th centuries. The goals of the course are to provide students with an overview of German literature and culture from the18th to the 20th centuries, improve their German skills and learn how to do close reading. Students will write several short papers, two essays, and a midterm and final exam.

GRMN  325:  German Civilization and Culture    (3 credits)

Nancy Nobile

How did today’s Germany develop from the old Empire of a scant hundred years ago? In the span of a century the politics and culture of Germany have changed dramatically several times over. Some of the topics we’ll discuss include urban modernization at the turn-of-century, the Weimar Republic, the rise and fall of the Third Reich, the two Germanys of the Cold War period, Unification, and the continuing development of the European Union. To help illustrate these topics, we’ll also consider paintings, architecture, music, and films. Students will be asked to participate actively in class discussions, to write several short essays/homeworks, and to take a final exam.

GRMN  455/655:  Berlin in Literature and Art    (3 credits)

Ester Riehl

The city of Berlin has stood at the center of Germany’s political and social turmoil for centuries. Its architecure remains a physical symbol of Prussia’s rise to power and still contains remnants of Hitler’s mad plans for an empire. The wall that cut the city in half was the central symbol of the Cold War. What did Berlin mean throughout the tumult of Germany’s history? What does it mean today? We’ll ask those questions as we read and discuss literary texts from 19th to the 21st centuries, from such authors as Theodor Fontane, Irmgard Keun, Peter Schneider and Judith Hermann. In addition, films, music, paintings and photography will help us understand the history and image of Germany’s capital city. Students will complete several short writing assignments, two essays, and a final exam. Graduate students will have an additional project, to be determined at the beginning of the semester.

GRMN  465/665:  Post-wall Germany: Literature & Culture    (3 credits)

Monika Shafi

This seminar will survey German literature and culture from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the present. We’ll read works that focus on reunification, multiculturalism, and consumerism, but also discuss texts that address more personal issues such as the role of memory as well as contemporary expressions of love and romance. In our discussions we’ll pay attention both to the innovations and continuities of German literary traditions and thus become more familiar with the exciting developments of the past two decades. Readings will include fiction by F.C. Delius, Ingo Schulze, Jenny Erpenbeck, Zafer Şenocak, and Christian Kracht, and, if time permits, we’ll also watch a contemporary film. Students will be asked to participate actively in class discussions, to write several short papers/homeworks, and to take a midterm and a final exam.

GRMN  875:  Romanticism and Representation    (3 credits)

Nancy Nobile

This course will explore issues of representation in German Romanticism: attempts to depict that which is at—or beyond—the limits of representation, the portrayal of trauma, of non-linear time, of doubled or fragmented subjectivity, and of the sublime. We will read and discuss texts by authors including Novalis, Eichendorff, Tieck, Hoffmann, Kleist, and Goethe.

Hebrew

HEBR  205:  Hebrew Conversation    (3 credits)

Eynat Gutman

Come and strengthen your conversational skills, learn/improve future tense, and be exposed to Israeli culture, through discussions, conversations, texts, audio and visual material – and have fun.

In this course, our main focus is perfecting our speaking and listening skills, although some emphasis is put on reading and writing. The students who come to Conversational Hebrew are expected to be proficient in the present and past tenses, and able to apply all language skills to many of the following topics: the University, food, family, body parts, aches and pains, the days of the week and time. Throughout the course, the students will carry discussions, conversations, perform pair-work, and listen to auditory and visual materials. The topics of this semester will include “the revival of Hebrew,” “my future home” and “future plans.” Grammatically, we will focus mainly on acquiring the future tense in conversation and writing.

Italian

ITAL  200:  Italian Grammar Review    (3 credits)

Riccarda Saggese

You want to learn a second language, but you’re afraid of being bored. Then take this opportunity to change your opinion! You will be engaged in learning Italian and its grammar through stories, movies, music, debates, and many other activities. Don’t hesitate! Choose Italian. Choose Italian 200.

ITAL  205:  Italian Conversation    (3 credits)

Giorgio Melloni

You’re so close to proficiency in Italian! Consolidate your hard-earned language skills in a series of conversations and oral presentations, with grammar review and written work when appropriate. Students will discuss current events along with material from film, the Internet and other sources.

ITAL  211:  Italian Reading and Composition    (3 credits)

Meredith Ray

Let the masters of the Italian short story teach you to write! This course emphasizes vocabulary acquisition and written expression. Students will read and discuss short works of literature and film. You will improve your writing skills, add to your rich stock of conversation topics in Italian, and begin your love affair with contemporary Italian authors.

ITAL  305:  Advanced Italian Conversation and Composition    (3 credits)

Giorgio Melloni

This course teaches Italian conversation and composition through a variety of materials: Italian newspaper and magazine short articles, film, Internet research, etc. The themes of the course are content-based and will explore the crucial importance of the diverse cultural local culture of regions and dialects for contemporary Italian identity in the age of globalization. Emphasis is on improving conversational fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, and listening comprehension skills as well as writing skills.

ITAL  325:  Italian Civilization and Culture I    (3 credits)

Meredith Ray

Explore the legacy of the Etruscan and ancient Roman cultures and their influence on modern-day Italy. Study the rise of the feudal states and wonder at the glories of the Renaissance. Marvel at the poignant beauty of the Baroque. Different accounts from history, literature, art and cinema will weave for you a tapestry of Italian civilization, more dazzling and fascinating than ever.

ITAL  355:  The Art of Translation    (3 credits)

Laura Salsini

This course offers students an opportunity to improve their writing and comprehension skills by working closing with traditional texts (short stories, plays and poetry) as well as non-traditional texts (song lyrics, promotional materials, web pages). Students will translate from English to Italian and from Italian to English.

ITAL  455:  Italian Detective Fiction and Film    (3 credits)

Meredith Ray

This course focuses on the origins and development of Italian detective fiction, from the first mass-market gialli published in the 1930s to the present-day popularity of Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano. We will explore how crime-writing is used to confront issues of justice, morality, politics, and regional identity in the Italian context, and how this genre conveys and questions ideas about knowledge, meaning, and “truth.” In addition to reading a selection of short stories and novels, we will also view film adaptations of several works in order to investigate the different functions and capacities of the detective story as cinema.

Japanese

JAPN  201:  Advanced Intermediate Japanese I    (3 credits)

Mutsuko Sato

This course covers the first six chapters of the Genki II text book. Students learn to use various grammatical forms to convey different nuances. Classes are conducted mostly in Japanese. Activities include oral, reading and writing exercises on various topics. About 90 additional Kanji will be introduced.

JAPN  204:  The Art of Japanese Calligraphy    (3 credits)

Chika Inoue

This is an introductory course in the art of Shodo, Japanese calligraphy. Students will learn the esthetics and styles of traditional calligraphy through exposure to works done by masters and develop basic brush technique through rigorous practice. Once the rudimentary technique is mastered, students will move on to Japanese Kana poems, such as haiku and tanka, and Chinese Kanji poems. Abstract shodo is also explored.

JAPN  209:  Intermediate Situational Japanese    (3 credits)

Chika Inoue

This is a course designed to improve fluency and expand one's own "story repertoire." The goals include acquisition of situationally appropriate language, including casual speech and honorifics. Emphasis will be on fluency, grammatical complexity and kanji vocabulary building.

JAPN  355:  Introduction to Japanese Literature    (3 credits)

Rachael Hutchinson

This course explores the format and conventions of the Japanese short story, comparing them to the format and conventions of haiku and the novel or shōsetsu. Students are exposed to a large amount of Japanese text in the original, learning vocabulary with which to discuss literature using the Japanese language. Students practice literary analysis through informal class discussion, a short oral presentation, and a written essay. Students learn to appreciate the rhythms and nuances of literary Japanese through class discussion as well as through translation. We will begin with some short stories by the famous contemporary writer Murakami Haruki. After Spring Break we will take advantage of the cherry blossom season to study haiku poetry and compose some of our own. Towards the end of the course we will read some work by Natsume Sōseki, taking note of the difference between modern literary style and that of the Meiji period (1868-1912). Murakami Haruki is sometimes seen as the ‘modern Sōseki’, so we will explore the similarities and differences between these two authors.

JAPN  405:  Translation Theory and Practice: Modern Japanese Literature    (3 credits)

Rachael Hutchinson

This course explores both the process of translation and the nature of Japanese literature. As well as translating excerpts from Nagai Kafū’s Furansu monogatari (1909), a text currently unavailable in English, students will also have the opportunity to compare the text and writing style to other works of Meiji literature. Students will discuss major issues involved in translating a literary text from Japanese to English, including the effect of synonym choice, literal versus loose translation, poetic license and the tense-aspect controversy. Students will also gain an appreciation for writing style in terms of sentence construction, kanji use, poetic language and the effect of literary quotation. Students will improve and polish their translation skills to a high degree, and will be encouraged to find their own method of translation, balancing creative expression with accuracy and fidelity to the original text. Throughout the course we will read and discuss translation theory, using Mona Baker’s book In Other Words as well as articles by Rebecca Copeland and Walter Benjamin.

JAPN  467:  Japanese Capstone: Research Thesis    (3 credits)

Rachael Hutchinson

This course enables students to plan and write a research thesis in the Japanese language. Students are taken through the stages of writing a thesis, from choosing a subject for study and thinking about possible approaches to the topic, to information gathering using Japanese and English sources, submitting a formal research proposal and completing writing assignments such as an annotated bibliography and outline. By the outline stage, written work will be completed in Japanese, and students will submit word-processed drafts of their essays towards the end of the course. The structure of the course is thus similar to any research-based course at the 400 level, but it adds the use of written Japanese sources and the production of a longer piece of writing in the Japanese language. It thus serves as the capstone experience of the Japanese Major course of study, where students can use their advanced language skills in a new way, as well as furthering the field of Japanese Studies!

Portuguese

PORT  316:  Intensive Portuguese for Spanish Students, II    (3 credits)

Carolina Correa

PORT 316 is a continuation of PORT 216. Students will continue to refine their command of the four language skills - listening, speaking, reading, and writing - and will complete the study of the basic grammatical structure of Brazilian Portuguese.
As in PORT 216, there will be an emphasis on Brazilian culture through films, Power Point presentations, readings, and plenty of Brazilian music.

Once again, come prepared to groove to the rhythm and lyrics of samba and bossa nova, to speak lots of Portuguese, and to have a lot of fun learning a really cool language!

PORT 316 is part of Options II and IV of the Spanish major and can count toward the Latin American Studies major and minor. It is also part of the Foreign Language Certificate in Brazilian Portuguese.

Russian

RUSS  200:  Russian Grammar Review    (3 credits)

Natallia Cherashneva

Continue your study of Russian at the 200 level, expanding on the knowledge and developing the skills acquired over previous semesters of study. Students will practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Russian through a variety of activities, using the outstanding textbook V puti, supplemented with authentic up-to-date materials from the modern media. At the same time, you will systematically review and complete your study of the fundamentals of Russian grammar, building a solid foundation for further mastery of the language. All 300-level and 400-level Russian courses will build on what we cover here.

RUSS  211:  Russian Reading and Composition    (3 credits)

Natallia Cherashneva

Read entertaining and deep 20th-century Russian short stories from a variety of genres (detective fiction, satire, tales of adventure, children's literature) to improve your reading skills and expand your vocabulary. Discussions will help you improve your speaking and listening skills, while writing exercises will facilitate your mastery of the material and develop your skills in composition. Designed to be taken at the same time as RUSS 200, this course will strengthen your grasp of the grammar covered in that course while allowing you to focus on reading techniques and the construction of the complex Russian sentence. Taking the two courses together will enable you to make a significant leap forward in learning the language.

RUSS  325:  Russian Culture and Civilization    (3 credits)

Julia Hulings

Culture is a system of ideas expressed in linguistic, religious, literary, artistic, social, scientific, and technological forms, fleshed out by creative people. Some of these ideas are constants that persist through change, while others are variable. This course will identify and explore what it means to be "Russian" through such topics as marriage and dating, family life, cuisine, traditions and behaviors, the dacha and banya, environmental concerns, and art, illustrating them with journal and newspaper articles, samples of the works of various Russian writers and artists, and other authentic visual and written materials such as menus, maps, and photographs. This course will deepen students’ understanding of Russia’s past, present, and future while improving their mastery of both written and spoken Russian. To truly understand the complex nature of the culture of such a huge country, oral reports will concentrate on the other major ethnic groups in Russia (which compose approximately 20% of the population) and their approaches to the unit topics.

RUSS  455:  Manuscripts Don’t Burn: Early Soviet Union in the Works of Mikhail Bulgakov    (3 credits)

Victoria Finney

This course introduces students to the works of one of the most prominent Russian writers Mikhail Bulgakov continuing to increase students' linguistic and cultural proficiency. It focuses on the skill development and refinement in the areas of critical reading and writing in Russian. Writing in and reflecting upon Stalin’s Russia in the first half of the 20th century, Bulgakov created bitterly satirical works which he disguised as science fiction. Among the works we are going to explore are Heart of a Dog (1925), where an ideal New Soviet man is a dog transformed into a human via a series of surgical interventions, The Fatal Eggs (1924) with its massive invasion of the Soviet Union by aggressive reptiles, and Bulgakov’s most acclaimed novel The Master and Margarita (1937) revolving around the devil’s visit to the Soviet society.

Spanish

SPAN  200:  Spanish Composition and Grammar    (3 credits)

Lee Glen
Fatima Haq
Stacey Hendrix

An intensive study of selected grammatical topics (ser-estar, preterite and imperfect, present subjunctive and commands); vocabulary; grammatical exercises and short compositions. Offered with an Honors section (080).

In this course you will acquire new vocabulary, broaden and improve your knowledge of grammatical structures (agreement, verb tenses, pronouns, and much more). You will learn strategies for developing and refining your written communication skills.

SPAN  201:  Spanish Reading and Composition    (3 credits)

Jesús Botello
Lee Glen
Christina Guardiola

America Martinez
Meghan McInnis-Dominguez

Susan McKenna

This course places major emphasis on the development of reading, writing and analytical skills while studying literary selections from Spain and Latin America.

In this course the student has the opportunity to read a wide variety of Spanish and Latin American literature in three genres: poetry, narrative and drama. The student will develop reading skills as well as a solid knowledge of the literary terms and movements which will be encountered in more advanced literature classes. Compositions will be based on interpretation of the readings and will be directed towards reinforcing the use of literary terminology.

SPAN  203:  Spanish for Heritage Speakers    (3 credits)

Asima Saad Maura

If you grew up speaking Spanish but have not studied it formally, this is the course you need to take instead of 200, 205 and 300, since it is intended specifically for native and/or heritage speakers with oral proficiency but little or no formal training in the language. The course is designed to build on the language base you already have. Its primary purpose is to develop your reading and writing skills, although all four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) will be emphasized via a variety of activities.

SPAN  205:  Spanish Conversation: A Cultural Approach    (3 credits)

Carmen Finnicum
Thomas McCone
Krystyna Musik

Milena Rodriguez

The goal of this course is to enable each learner to achieve increased mastery of practical spoken Spanish in its cultural context. The language will be used strategically – to accomplish objectives and resolve conflicts – in realistic situations. Linguistic and cultural topics include travel, health, geography, education, social interactions, cuisine, sports, housing, family life, entertainment, technology, and business. An array of methodologies is used to build oral competence in real-world situations. Course components include role-playing activities, vocabulary expansion, cultural readings, films and other nonprint media; oral reports, Internet research, listening activities, pronunciation practice, grammar repair and review, short compositions, and an individual final project. The Honors section features additional proficiency activities.

SPAN  300:  Grammar and Composition II    (3 credits)

Lee Glen
Asima Saad-Maura

This course is a comprehensive study of basic and complex grammatical structures with both oral and written practice to facilitate further mastery of vocabulary and structures. Cultural topics are explored through readings that raise awareness of the Hispanic world while building up vocabulary to express abstract ideas.

SPAN  302:  Survey of Spanish Literature    (3 credits)

Meghan McInnis-Dominguez
Susan McKenna

This course will cover Spanish literature from the 18th century to the present, including selections of representative works, discussions and collateral readings.

In this course we will explore the literature and culture of modern Spain chronologically, from the eighteenth century to the present. We will gain exposure to classic modern authors in every genre of Spanish literature. We also will sample the action, humor, wit and beauty of many other masterpieces, honing critical skills while exploring the evolution of modern Spain. Multimedia enrichment will add to our appreciation of Spanish literature and culture.

SPAN  304:  Survey of Spanish-American Literature    (3 credits)

Gladys Ilarregui
America Martinez

Megan McInnis-Domíngo

Representative works in all genres of Latin American literature in the 20th century.

A survey of Spanish-American literature that covers from the beginning of the 20th century until the most recent literary manifestations. Reading selections (excerpts) of famous writers (including Nobel Prize winners Gabriela Mistral [1945], Pablo Neruda [1973], Gabriel García Márquez [1982], and Mario Vargas Llosa [2010]) will provide a better understanding of a wide variety of peoples, cultures, and societies of those nations that we call Latin America.

SPAN  305:  Oral Communication    (3 credits)

Jorge Cubillos

For individuals with a comprehensive knowledge of Spanish grammar and vocabulary. Emphasis on refinement of expression of abstract ideas as well as mastery of practical communication.

You love Spanish. You would love to travel to Spanish-speaking countries. You can read Spanish and you can communicate but you want to be able to have meaningful Spanish conversation. This course is designed to help you speak Spanish more fluently and expand your vocabulary while learning current issues and customs in the Hispanic world. The goal is to enable you to sustain conversations and express your opinions on diverse topics. The course draws from a variety of resources, including short stories and essays, articles from the Spanish press, slides, videos, and satellite newscasts. Interactive formats such as class discussions, debates, oral presentations and scenarios will be used.

SPAN  325:  Spanish Civilization and Culture    (3 credits)

Survey of geography, history, art and society of Spain. This course offers a survey of the geography, history, culture, politics and society of Spain. You will study key historical events, from prehistoric times to the most recent developments, as well as cultural movements that have shaped Spanish national identity. The course is conducted in Spanish and the readings are in Spanish.

SPAN  326:  Latin American Civilization and Culture    (3 credits)

Persephone Braham
America Martinez

This is a student-centered class in which students will research and analyze fundamental aspects of the geography, history, politics and cultural production of Latin America from pre-Columbian times to the present. We place particular emphasis on questions of human rights, colonialism and nationalism, intervention, and globalization and migration. This is a process-oriented course, in which students are encouraged to:

• Discover the historical causes of modern-day problems in Latin America;
• Improve research and analytical skills;
• Develop independent learning skills;
• Master practical academic and presentation technologies

SPAN  401:  Advanced Spanish Grammar II    (3 credits)

Hans-Jörg Busch
Asima Saad Maura

SPAN 401 is not a systematic study of Spanish grammar (that is the purpose of SPAN 200 and 300). In this course you will practice and apply what you have learned in previous courses, as well as broaden your vocabulary through different kinds of writings (i.e.: summaries, opinion papers, narrations, feature articles, descriptions, poems, short stories, etc.), projects and class participation. Furthermore, you will have the opportunity to study and practice more in-depth those structures that traditionally cause the most problems. For example: subjunctive vs. indicative, past tenses, prepositions and pronouns, reflexivity, active vs. passive, text progression, determination, word order, direct vs. indirect speech, sequence of tenses, use of complex tenses, etc. The SPAN 401 textbook contains an array of authentic readings about the culture, history, and politics of Spain and Latin America. The overall goal of SPAN 401 is to help students reach the ACTFL Language Testing Advanced-Low Level.

SPAN  420:  Women in Medieval Literature and Culture    (3 credits)

Christina Guardiola

What was life like in the middle ages for the medieval woman? Through a discussion and analysis of historical, literary, television, and movies from and about the middle ages we will explore the laws and customs particular to the Castilian middle ages, and delve into the position of women within the context of the court, the town, the convent, the brothel, and the outskirts of society.

SPAN  440:  Late Nineteenth-Century Spanish Narratives    (3 credits)

Susan Mckenna

This course focuses on late nineteenth-century Spanish narratives and their social, political, economic, and literary contexts. We will discuss and analyze the novels and short stories of some of Spain’s most important writers of this period including Juan Valera, Benito Pérez Galdós, Emilia Pardo Bazán, and Leopoldo Alas (Clarín).

SPAN  455/655:  Women in Colonial Latin America    (3 credits)

Gladys Ilarregui

In this course we will explore the knowledge space and intimacy found in the lives of women, from the conquest and colonization of Latin America described in the writings of Catalina Xuarez la Marcaida and Marina Jaramillo, through the challenges of transatlantic travel experienced by immigrant women, to the perspectives of early Latin American Women writers such as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Catalina de Erauso, and María Francisca Josefa del Castillo. The class will focus on convent life in all of its aspects including: kitchen recipes, life in the cloister, chanting, clothing, and beautification practices as they manifest themselves in times of celebration and seclusion. In the process, we will explore a mystical language found in pre-Hispanic America through the Baroque period in Mexico. Virgins, saints, and the development of a special language that reveals all aspects of being a woman in both feast and ceremony will be part of this exciting class available to you here and now in the XXI century. Theory: Mignolo/ Todorov/De Certau/ Glantz, among others. Book: Madres del Verbo edited by Nina Scott.

SPAN  462/662:  Masters of the Latin American Short Story    (3 credits)

Cynthia Schmidt-Cruz

This course will consist of an in-depth study of four major short story writers of Latin America: Juan Rulfo, Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, and Gabriel García Márquez; we will also analyze selected stories by women writers such as Clarice Lispector, Elena Garro, and Cristina Peri Rossi. Class discussion will focus on the obsessive themes and writing techniques of these authors. From the cosmopolitan ambiance of Buenos Aires to rural Mexico and the steamy tropical coast of Colombia, these masterpieces of short fiction offer a fascinating insight into Latin America.

SPAN  475-010:  Imagining the Hispanic World    (3 credits)

Alexander Selimov

What is the contribution of music to the process of shaping political and social identities in Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean during the second half of the 20th century? How instrumental is the work of politically engaged songwriters for the process of nation-state building in the Hispanic World? These and other related questions will be answered throughout this course, as we will explore the special role music has played in twentieth century politics and culture. In addition to listening and analyzing a large body of politically engaged songs in Spanish, all students will read and summarize several scholarly articles on nationalism, identity, ethnicity, race and class, as they relate to music.

SPAN  475-011:  From Amazons to Zombies    (3 credits)

Persephone Braham

Why have Latin American intellectuals repeatedly turned to Amazons, sphinxes, vampires, mermaids, cannibals, and zombies to describe their world? The discovery of the Americas upset existing hypotheses about the nature of the world and man’s place in it, and the New World became the arena for an exceptionally transformative encounter with monsters, real and imagined. In this course we will examine these monsters and their role in Latin America's ongoing discourse of self-discovery.

SPAN  490:  Hispanic World Through Literature: Identity Politics    (3 credits)

Alexander Selimov

This undergraduate seminar is conducted in Spanish and is devoted to the study of the Hispanic culture through literature from a transatlantic perspective. It is designed to serve as an integrating academic experience, to promote intellectual curiosity and openness to new artistic and cultural experiences, as well as to synthesize prior literary and cultural studies in Spanish through immersion in an area that integrates and expands student's existing knowledge. The course emphasizes independent research and critical writing. The seminar focuses on debating issues of identity and identity Politics in Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean. The reading list includes both primary and secondary sources: a) two Latin American novels and two Spanish plays written in Spanish; b) scholarly articles in Spanish and English.

SPAN  491:  El Cid: Tradition in Culture    (3 credits)

Christina Guardiola

This course deals with the relationship between epic and history, of media and its manipulation. In it we'll discuss the evolution of the Cid's image from the 13th to the 21st century. We'll explore how the Cid has been manipulated through centuries to reflect the social and ideological aspirations of kings, caudillos, and modern consumers.

SPAN  620:  Women in Medieval Literature and Culture    (3 credits)

Christina Guardiola

What was life like in the middle ages for the medieval woman? A discussion and analysis of many of the Master's Reading list works (El Cantar de mio Cid, Libro de buen amor, Cárcel de amor, La Celestina, and varios romances), informs us of the laws and customs particular to the Castilian middle ages, and delves into the position of women within the context of the court, the town, the convent, the brothel, and the outskirts of society.

SPAN  875:  Cultural Studies, Theory, Analysis, and Research Methods    (3 credits)

Alexander Selimov

This seminar offers a set of general frameworks and practical guidelines for conducting research in the area of cultural studies and analyzing literary discourse from a cultural perspective. The course offers a substantial theoretical component which all students apply to the practical analysis of texts (four nineteenth century Spanish plays and three Latin-American novels). This seminar also focuses on research methods, intended to help students develop sound research practices and to overcome the obsolete dichotomy between humanities and social science disciplines. All students will be encouraged to use mixed methods and to take an eclectic interdisciplinary approach to research topics when writing the seminar paper.