Spanish 161: Latin American Civilization and Culture
Class Time: T/TH 9:45-11:20
Instructor: Professor María Luisa Ruiz
Office Location: Dante 301
Course Description:
mlruiz@stmarys-ca.edu
Office Hours: TBA
What defines Latin America? Is it national boundaries,
language, and politics or activities and forms of expression like lucha
libre, music, religious festivals, telenovelas, television, certain forms of
fiction and film? Latin American culture is not static, nor is it easily
summarized.
A literature based course that uses an interdisciplinary approach
focused on the intersections of gender, race and social class in the
context of Latin American popular cultural production, this course
introduces students to the richness and diversity of the cultures of Latin
America in order to discuss the political, social and artistic components
that contributed to unique cultural developments of Latin America.
Additionally, students will develop an understanding of how
‘Latin America’ as a category develops through literary works and other
texts from a specific non-U.S. and non-Western European viewpoints.
This course recognizes that it is impossible to fully do justice to the
richness and diversity of the cultures of Latin America from their
inception to the present. Such a large project requires the selection of
themes that will reveal the social, artistic, literary and political
components that contributed to the unique cultural development of
Latin America. We will focus on representative moments that took
place in specific areas in Latin America and exploring themes that link those representative areas together. So, for
example, when we discuss the role of caricature and newspapers in popular culture, we will compare the broadsides
published in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution to the comic strip Mafalda published in Argentina during its
repressive dictatorship.
Furthermore, students will develop an awareness of the social and historical contexts in which
manifestations of popular culture have developed in various regions of Latin America, analyze cultural artifacts;
understand the complexity of how culture transforms and evolves; and think about ways in which different cultural
manifestations compete for legitimacy and power. In order to gain this understanding, we will use different
theoretical perspectives to analyze how, in an era of globalization, Latin American popular cultures are shaped by
other cultures and in turn, influence other expressions of culture (i.e. U.S. Latino cultures).
Learning Outcomes:
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
1. Define the terms “culture” “popular culture” and “Latin America” as well as the various terms used to describe
its inhabitants.
2. Develop an understanding of how ‘Latin America’ as a category develops through literary works and other
expressions of popular culture from specific non-U.S. and non-Western European viewpoints.
3. Develop an awareness of the social and historical contexts in which manifestations of popular culture have
developed in various regions of Latin America
4. Understand and be able to identify the major events of the broad outline of representative moments from Latin
American history to the present.
5.. Effectively identify and explain the major components of Latin-American culture through critical reading of
different ‘texts’, literary and visual.
6. Explain the influence of Spain, Portugal, Africa, the U.S. and Native Americans on the culture of Latin America.
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7. Write clear, precise, and well-organized short papers and longer essays using conventions of the MLA style.
8. Improve Spanish language skills especially in terms of reading, writing and speaking.
9. Draw upon course materials to develop further, meaningful questions about the political, social and historical
dimensions of literature and other popular culture texts
10. Develop an awareness of ‘identities’ (national, regional, continental, western and nonwestern), its colonial
legacy and the place race, class, and gender hold in its construction.
11. Present well-thought out ideas on texts during class discussion and formal presentations.
12. Use different theoretical perspectives to analyze how, in an era of globalization, Latin American popular
cultures are shaped by other cultures and in turn, influence other expressions of culture (i.e. U.S. Latino
cultures).
Required Textbooks:
Latinoamérica: su civilización y su cultura, 4th ed. Chang-Rodríguez, Eugenio
Course Reader
You are also required to have a Spanish/Spanish or a Spanish/English dictionary for this course.
A copy of the textbook and additional reading materials are available on reserve at the library under the course
number. You can also access the additional reading materials on Moodle.
Course Requirements:
Your course grade will be based on the following:
Class participation/Activities/attendance:
Response papers on readings:
Presentations:
Midterm Project/Exam:
Final paper/Exam:
Total
15%
20%
10%
25%
30%
100%
Class Participation/Activities/Attendance: 15%
We will have a series of in-class activities that involve group work, work in pairs and discussion. Therefore, it is
important that you attend class on time and come prepared to participate as fully as possible. You are expected to
complete all reading assignments before coming to class. In addition to the readings, I will, on occasion, assign
activities such as bringing advertisements from magazines or writing poems or other creative pieces. These will
count towards your participation grade.
*You may miss two classes during the semester without being penalized. Your grade will go down for each absence
beyond two.
*In addition, you may be late for class or leave class early twice during the semester without being penalized. After
that, arriving late or leaving early counts as one half of an absence.
*On those rare occasions when you do miss all or part of a class, you are responsible for finding out about any
information that you missed (especially additional or modified
assignments). Talk to a classmate or to me.
Response Papers: 20%
You are to write 2 FULL pages, (typed, double spaced, 12 font
New Times Roman, one inch margins) on the readings for the
week, in which you attempt to formulate an answer to meaningful
questions about the political, social and historical dimension of
popular culture. You may focus on just one aspect of a text, or
compare the different themes found in the readings. For example:
how do both the Argentian comic strip Mafalda and the short story
“La muñeca menor” by Puerto Rican author Rosario Ferré
present gender inequality and social class differences? How are
they different? How are these both expressions of popular
culture? How does an analysis of these texts help us develop an
awareness of ‘identities’ (national, regional, continental, western
and nonwestern)?. These will be used as part of our in class
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Syllabus 161, Spring 2013
Mafalda, by Quino
discussions and can be used to develop paper topics for your final project. These are due on THURSDAYS, unless
otherwise noted. NO LATE, EMAILED, OR HAND-WRITTEN PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
These typed responses will be graded as a whole at the end of the semester. Save all of your responses. You will
receive brief comments on them, indicating with a check +, check, or check- how well you are meeting class
objectives and making suggestions about how you can improve. Please note that if you miss class, you are still
responsible for turning in a reading response for that day. You must turn it in by the end of the day in my box
(Dante 301).
**You are allowed to miss 2 responses during the semester without penalty.**
Presentations: 10%
For each of the topics and texts discussed in class, you are asked to give in-class presentations. These are planned
as paired/group activities, depending on class enrollment. The groups will make a 15-20 minute presentation about
the texts assigned for that day. This presentation should include:
1) web based research on the text
2 ) clarification of significant vocabulary related to the class
3) questions for class/group discussion that should help us develop an awareness of ‘identities’ (national, regional,
continental, western and nonwestern) Questions can be about:
the political, social and historical dimension of the readings, the development of Latin American
‘identities’ its colonial legacy and the place race, class, and gender hold in its construction, themes
(i.e. race, class, gender) as manifested in Latin American popular culture and how they are different in
distinct communities,
4) I strongly suggest that the groups meet with me prior to their presentation.
5) The rest of the class will be spent on discussing the questions brought by the presenters that will help us analyze
how, in an era of globalization, Latin American popular cultures are shaped by other cultures and in turn,
influence other expressions of culture (i.e. U.S. Latino cultures).
6)The presentations can be used to explore potential topics for your final papers, thus, I ask the groups to submit a
one page, typed summary/outline of their presentation.
7) These presentations should be creative, interactive and demonstrate that the group has read the text. For example,
a group presenting can act can have the class be the jury in a trial in which we judge the first person
accounts of the post-conquest period in Mexico as described by indigenous voices found in the Codex
Mendoza, those of the foot soldier Bernal Díaz de Castillo and of Hernán Cortés.
Midterm Project: 30%
Your midterm essay is a way for you to demonstrate your understanding of the readings, the themes in the texts,
and of general concepts related to the historical/cultural development of writing and literature in Latin America.
The essay is to be between 5-6 pages (typed, double spaced, Times New Roman 12pt. font, one inch margins) and
should follow standard MLA format. Further details about the midterm essay will be discussed in class well before
it is due, but the assignment asks students to use the class readings to discuss the political, social and historical
dimension of literature and popular culture and its role in the development of an awareness of ‘identities’ (national,
regional, continental, western and non-western) and the place race, class, and gender hold in its construction.
For example, you may compare and contrast the film Yo, la peor de todas with primary texts by Sor Juana and the
articles on the Virgin of Guadalupe/Malinztin, La Llorona, and
La Malinche in order to analyze the diverse discursive registers
embedded in these various sources about the colonial period.
There will be an additional in-class portion to the midterm as
well, which will asks students to demonstrate awareness of the
most significant authors from the pre-Conquest period to
Modernismo in order to compare and contrast how societies and
cultures connect, develop and change over time and place.
NO LATE, EMAILED OR HAND-WRITTEN PAPERS WILL
BE ACCEPTED.
Yolanda Andrade
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Syllabus 161, Spring 2013
Final paper/Presentation: 30%
The final paper is to be between 6-8 pages (typed, double spaced, Times New Roman 12pt. font, one inch margins)
and should follow standard MLA format. There will be an additional in-class portion to the final as well. Details
about the final project will be discussed in class well before it is due, but, similar to the midterm essay, this project
will also ask students to use the class readings to discuss the political, social and historical dimension of literature
and its role in the development of an awareness of ‘identities’ (national, regional, continental, western and nonwestern), its colonial legacy and the place race, class, and gender hold in its construction.
Classroom Rules:
In order to try to insure that all class participants experience a stress-free and non-distracting learning environment,
the following are put forth and your cooperation solicited:
1.Please be on time and don’t leave early. If you arrive late be sure to just take your seat quietly so as not to
disrupt the lecture or other ongoing activity. You are required to attend a full class. If you must leave, be
aware that it will count as a tardy. Three tardies count as one
absence. You are
allowed
three
absences during the semester. After three missed classes, your grade will go down 1/2 of a letter grade.
Tardies/leaving early also affect your overall grade. If you are consistently tardy, I reserve the right to not
let you come into class.
2.You are responsible for any planned class activity such as a test or quiz even if you were absent from an
earlier class in which it was announced. Additionally, you are responsible for all the assignments on the
syllabus even if I did not mention them during class. You must contact a fellow class member FIRST after
an absence to inquire about what is going to be happening when you return. Do not email me the night
before or the morning of the class and expect me to get your message and follow up with you about the
assignments missed or what was discussed in class.
3.It is totally inappropriate to work on other reading or writing activities at length during class. Leave the updating
of your appointment book, the studying for some other class, and the reading of material related to another
course to your own time out of class. If I see you doing this, you will lose your participation points for
the day.
4.Active cell phones and other electronic devices are not welcome in the classroom. Please make sure you
shut it off before coming in class.
5.No prolonged bathroom breaks. If students begin to abuse this privilege, we will no longer be allowed to
the classroom during class time.
leave
6.Discussions are in Spanish; please do not use English when discussing texts. Your grade will be affected if you
speak primarily in English.
7.Please allow at least 24 hours for a response to an email.
8. I do have drop in office hours, but if you need to discuss a paper, or
another lengthy topic, please inform me at least two days in
advance. Please do not give me, or send me via email, a draft of a
paper or a response paper the day before it is due and expect me to
read it. If you want feedback on a paper, please give me the paper
at least a week in advance before our office hour visit.
9. A note on emails: When you email me, or another professor on campus,
please make sure that it does NOT read like a text message. Please include
a greeting, information about who you are and specifics as to why you are
writing. For example, the email
“Hey, what did I miss today?”
Is NOT an appropriate way to address a professor who reads multiple
emails from students on a daily basis. The more information you
provide in your email, the more likely it is that you will get a quick
response, or a response at all.
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Syllabus 161, Spring 2013
Administrative Policies:
No incompletes will be given, except in extreme cases.
No extensions on assignments will be given except in extreme situations.
This is a rigorous and intellectually challenging course and I expect full participation from each of you so that we
can reach the objectives of the course successfully. If you feel at any point that you are having trouble keeping up
with the course, please see me. Plagiarism and other forms of intellectual dishonesty will NOT be tolerated. In this
course, we will adhere to the code of conduct as detailed in the honor code found in the student handbook.
Reasonable and appropriate accommodations, that take into account the context of the course and its essential
elements, for individuals with qualifying disabilities, are extended through the office of Student Disability Services.
Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact the Student Disability Services Coordinator at (925) 631-4164
to set up a confidential appointment to discuss accommodation guidelines and available services. Additional
information regarding the services available may be found at the following address on the Saint May’s website:
http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/academics/academic-advising-and-achievement/student-disability-services.html
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Syllabus 161, Spring 2013