Spanish

This course reflects on the ways in which literature establishes links with society. It examines the distinction between culture and society, the distinction between meaning and reference of literary texts, and the types of society that can be identified within those distinctions through literary analysis.

This course aims at studying the pre-Hispanic civilization looking into problems linked to politics, socioeconomics, and culture of the periods of the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas. It also focuses on analyzing two documents: HISTORIA VERDADERA DE LA CONQUISTA DE NUEVA ESPAÑA, BERNAL DIAZ DEL CASTILLO and NUEVA CORÓNICA Y BUEN GOBIERNO (TEXTO E ILUSTRACIÓN), GUAMÁN POMA DE AYALA.

This course analyzes the Spanish of the Americas from a socio- linguistic perspective with attention to its historical and descriptive elements. Emphasis is placed on the evolution of the theories of dialectology and linguistics, as well as on the methodologies necessary to research into Spanish American dialects.

How is cultural identity built in a framework that transcends national borders? How is transnational identity expressed and developed? These are the main research questions that guide the reflection and discussions in the first part of this course. As a case study, the course focuses on the complex identity situation of Latinos (Cubans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans) in the United States living between two cultures and two languages. This course offers argumentation strategies that can be applied in the construction of a convincing argumentative discourse in different professional circumstances. In addition, the course offers techniques to write a critical discourse on the subject discussed in class.