Undergraduate Spanish and Latin American Studies 2018-2019

This is a fast-paced and intensive language course for students with very little or no previous knowledge of Spanish who have been allocated onto this course by our diagnostic test. It is aimed at students intending to pursue an honours (single or joint) degree in Hispanic Studies but is also suitable for students on other degree programmes.

This is a fast-paced language course for students with some previous knowledge of Spanish who have been allocated onto this course by our diagnostic test. It is aimed at students intending to pursue an honours (single or joint) degree in Hispanic Studies but is also suitable for students on other degree programmes.

This course will introduce students to Latin American history, culture and society from the pre-Hispanic period to the present through a selection of archaeology, historical and contemporary writings, visual culture and music. All texts studied will be available in English translation.

This course follows Spanish Language 1 or can be taken by students who have the required level of Spanish as determined by the placement test (see below).

This is a fast-paced language course and It is aimed at students intending to pursue an honours (single or joint) degree in Hispanic Studies but is also suitable for students on other degree programmes.

This course focuses on cultural history in the Iberian Peninsula, from the early medieval period to the present day. It explores key cultural, social and political questions over the course of Spain's history as they are presented in a variety of written and visual texts, such as contemporaneous accounts, narrative fiction, poetry, film, painting and architecture. All texts studied will be available in English translation.

This course follows Spanish Language 2 or can be taken by students who have the required level of Spanish as determined by the placement test (see below).

This course aims to prepare intending Honours students of Hispanic Studies for their compulsory period abroad in a Spanish-speaking country.

The course will develop further Spanish language skills, both receptive and productive. Classes on grammatical and linguistic analysis will contribute to the development of both sets of skills. In addition students will complete a structured self learning programme of audio-visual study and grammatical reinforcement study.

This course uses texts, which can include plays, films, novels, music, letters and an etiquette guide, to understand issues, concerns and themes in Latin American history. The course is organised chronologically and each week classes focus on texts from a particular country as a means to discuss bigger questions, such as how to make a new nation after three hundred years of colonial rule and a decade of warfare, how to demonstrate your honourability in an anonymous city and what cultural models are the best source of inspiration. The course also focuses on 'context' shared throughout Latin America.

This course follows Spanish Language 2 or can be taken by students who have the required level of Spanish as determined by the placement test (see below).

This course aims to prepare intending Honours students of Hispanic Studies for their compulsory period abroad in a Spanish-speaking country.

The course will develop further Spanish language skills, both receptive and productive. Classes on grammatical and linguistic analysis will contribute to the development of both sets of skills. In addition students will complete a structured self learning programme of audio-visual study and grammatical reinforcement study.

This course follows Spanish Language 4 and aims to prepare non beginners intending Honours students of Hispanic Studies for their compulsory period abroad in a Spanish-speaking country.

The course will develop further Spanish language skills, expanding on the vocabulary and introducing formal documents and letters. Classes on grammatical and linguistic analysis will contribute to the development of both sets of skills. In addition students will complete a structured self learning programme of vocabulary and grammatical reinforcement study.

This course takes a broad look at different texts spanning from the late 15th century to the present day. We will study these texts in the original language but with the help of English translations, providing a smooth introduction into reading Spanish language literature. The first half of the course concentrates on the late medieval and early modern eras, through two highly entertaining texts: Celestina and Life Is Dream. The second half concentrates on the 20th century through a combination of poetry, short fiction and film.

This is a core prescribed course open only to Junior Honours Hispanic Studies students and a selected range of other programmes at the appropriate level. This course aims to enable you to identify and use, accurately, fluently, and with an appropriate level of sophistication, a range of vocabulary and linguistic registers at advanced level.

This is a core prescribed course open only to Mode B Junior Honours Hispanic Studies students. This course aims to enable you to identify and use, accurately, fluently, and with an appropriate level of sophistication, a range of vocabulary and linguistic registers at advanced level.

The aim of the Residence Abroad Project is to develop an in-depth understanding of a specific aspect (anthropological, political or cultural) connected with one of the Hispanic countries in which students are staying. Students are expected to study a topic in its socio-and to complete a report in Spanish of c. 2000-2500 words.

This course extends and refines students' practical translation skills from English into Spanish and Spanish into English. It will also enable students to think critically about linguistic and cultural issues associated with translation from English into Spanish and Spanish into English. 

This course will enable students to gain an insight into the theoretical framework of translation and will also enable students to grasp some of the main issues and concepts in translation theory and practice which go beyond linguistic concepts.

The texts for this course are interesting and varied and will appeal in particular to students with an interest in accurate translation from Spanish to English. 

Latin America is often described as a lawless land, where anything goes. Yet we will see in this course that law has been crucial to Latin America’s past and present. The problem is that the rich and powerful can put themselves above it, which means that law often ends up serving to keep the poor in their place. “Rule of law” means that the law should apply to everyone, including the powerful, and in recent years there have been calls for rule of law in Latin America. Can Latin Americans now hope for an end to impunity and injustice?

This course involves study of selected key topics, debates and texts relevant to advanced study of  Spanish and Latin American culture. The course may have different thematic emphases from year to year, and may include study of literary texts, visual culture, essays, testimonials, and histories.

The texts to be translated are varied and interesting and will appeal in particular to those students with a special interest in translation from Spanish into English.

This course extends and refines your practical translation skills from English into Spanish. It will also introduce you to selected key issues in translation studies and enable you to think critically about linguistic and cultural issues associated with translation from  English into Spanish at an advanced level.

This course will examine the novel form in Spain from the 1940s through the 1980s. This period was marked first by the cultural and political isolation of the Franco dictatorship and then by a gradual opening to the outside world, culminating in the transition to democracy and an embrace of global capitalism. We will analyze the changing role of the novel in these different contexts. We will also pay attention to shifting narrative forms influenced by realism, modernism and postmodernism.

In the twentieth (and twenty-first) centuries, Chile and Mexico experienced vast transformations, including votes for women, legalisation of divorce and adoption, earthquakes, revolution, a women president, military governments, dictatorship, tsunamis and, as a result of these events and more, new expectations for women's lives. This course examines these changes in Mexico and Chile, using a historical focus that puts women's lives and concerns at the centre of the story.

This year-long course unit combines dissertation research with research methods training. The dissertation is a piece of extended independent research (8,000-10,000 words long), structured as a critical evaluation, analysis or argument, about a topic germane to Spanish and Latin American Studies. The topic is chosen by the student, in conjunction with the dissertation coordinator and an individual Departmental supervisor, both of whom approve the topic. Students are encouraged to design their topic building on their previous studies, especially honours courses. The dissertation offers a chance for students to carry out in-depth independent study in Spanish and Latin American Studies, and to acquire and develop valuable research skills. The course begins, in the first half session, with workshops on diverse research methods and the creation of peer support groups. The second half session includes structured meetings with the dissertation supervisor and meetings with the peer support group, as well as independent research and writing.

This is the final Spanish language course within the degree that will provide students with advanced comprehension and writing skills in general and specialised registers.

This is the final Spanish language course within the degree that will provide students with advanced comprehension and writing skills in general and specialised registers including translation.

This course extends and refines students' practical translation skills from English into Spanish and Spanish into English. It will also enable students to think critically about linguistic and cultural issues associated with translation from English into Spanish and Spanish into English. 

This course will enable students to gain an insight into the theoretical framework of translation and will also enable students to grasp some of the main issues and concepts in translation theory and practice which go beyond linguistic concepts.

Latin America is often described as a lawless land, where anything goes. Yet we will see in this course that law has been crucial to Latin America’s past and present. The problem is that the rich and powerful can put themselves above it, which means that law often ends up serving to keep the poor in their place. “Rule of law” means that the law should apply to everyone, including the powerful, and in recent years there have been calls for rule of law in Latin America. Can Latin Americans now hope for an end to impunity and injustice?

This course involves study of selected key topics, debates and texts relevant to advanced study of Spanish and Latin American culture. The course may have different thematic emphases from year to year, and may include study of literary texts, visual culture, essays, testimonials, and histories.

This course extends and refines students' practical translation skills from English into Spanish. It will also enable students to think critically about linguistic and cultural issues associated with translation from English into Spanish at an advanced level. Students will translate texts on a variety of topics using a variety of discourses; evaluate published translations; discuss, analyse and apply different translation strategies; produce critically-annotated translations and an evaluation of a published translation.

This course will examine the novel form in Spain from the 1940s through the 1980s. This period was marked first by the cultural and political isolation of the Franco dictatorship and then by a gradual opening to the outside world, culminating in the transition to democracy and an embrace of global capitalism. We will analyze the changing role of the novel in these different contexts. We will also pay attention to shifting narrative forms influenced by realism, modernism and postmodernism.

In the twentieth (and twenty-first) centuries, Chile and Mexico experienced vast transformations, including votes for women, legalisation of divorce and adoption, earthquakes, revolution, a women president, military governments, dictatorship, tsunamis and, as a result of these events and more, new expectations for women's lives. This course examines these changes in Mexico and Chile, using a historical focus that puts women's lives and concerns at the centre of the story.