Barcelona Course
Description
Fall and Spring
Curso en el Centro de
Estudios Hispánicos
Universidad de Barcelona
NOTE: For course description in Spanish, download from the following website
http://www.oswego.edu/intled, once the site go to Program Information and Forms and then to
Spain.
Barcelona, Spain Course Description
REV.8/2008
SUNY Oswego/University of Barcelona
Hispanic Studies Center
All students participating on the Barcelona program for the fall and/or spring semesters will be
required at a minimum to take the following courses:
1) Lengua Española – one course in Spanish language and grammar. (6 credits)
- and 2) Cultura Española – four, culture classes choosing from courses in Spanish history, phonetics,
literature, and culture, Latin American literature, history of Spanish art, Catalan language and
culture, Spanish Economy, Spanish Cinema, Geography of Spain and other course. See course
descriptions for details. (1.5 credits per culture class)
Hours Per Week:
The hours spent on each course per week are as follows: Lengua Española 9 hours per
week and Cultura Española is 1 ½ hour per week for each course adding to a total of 6 hours per
week. Spanish Language course begin at 8:30 AM and meets for a total of 3 hours, 1 ½ hour is
dedicated to theory and the other 1 ½ is for practice. The Spanish Culture courses begin at
3:30pm and onward.
Please note: All students enroll in “Lengua Espanola” for 6 credits. Students will also enroll in
four culture classes for 6 credits. The credit total is 12 credits per semester; this is a mandatory
total number of credits. You will be allowed to drop and add during the first week of classes
only and you need to have a meeting with the Academic Coordinator prior to making your
decision.
For grading purposes, every effort will be made by SUNY Oswego and the University of
Barcelona administration to facilitate credit transfer back to a student’s home campus. Since
different students have different needs based on their home college’s requirements, it is
impossible to know each student’s circumstance in advance; therefore students are encouraged to
discuss the credit transfer process with their own academic advisors and with study abroad staff.
Any question about credit transfer, including any changes or deviations to the normal credit
arrangement, should be discussed with the study abroad advisor during the application process
and with the program director in Barcelona, Dr. Pedro Guardia. Final decisions about grading
and course credit are made by the Associate Provost/Director of International Education &
Programs at SUNY Oswego.
Credits will be awarded as follows:
Fall Semester
a) 12 academic credits for students leaving the program at the end of December,
- or b) 15 academic credits for students remaining in the program through the Estudios
Hispánicos’ regular term examinations in the beginning of February.
Barcelona, Spain Course Description
REV.8/2008
Spring Semester
12 academic credits. Students take 12 credits based on their needs and preferences. All students
will take program examinations in late May/early June.
Academic Year
30 academic credits (15 credits per semester). Students will take program examinations at the
beginning of February and at the end of the program in May.
Beginners:
Students at the beginners’ level will only be allowed to participate in the fall semester program
and will take 6 credits language course at the beginners’ level. Then will choose to take four
culture courses. It is advised that students at the beginners level choose from the following
courses: Spanish Conversation, Spoken Daily Spanish, Art History (ancient or modern), or
Spanish Cinema. The Spanish Conversation and Spoken Daily Spanish are designed for students
at the beginners’ level. The two Art History courses and the Spanish Cinema courses have more
visual support and therefore could be easier to follow form students at the beginners’ level.
Please contact me with any questions about the courses.
COURSE OFFERINGS
01. SPANISH LANGUAGE *Required Course* (6 credits)
The Spanish Language course is mandatory for all students in the program. This course is 6 credits and students will
attend class approximately 9 hours weekly. Students will take an exam at the beginning of the program and,
depending on their language proficiency determined by the outcome of the exam; students will be placed into the
class at the appropriate level of Spanish proficiency.
*Choose at least four courses from the list below* (1.5 credits each)
02. CONTEMPORARY SPAIN: SOCIETY AND INSTITUTIONS
Objectives: Learn about diversity in present day Spain through its natural regions and its communities. Study about
the democratic process through Spain’s political transition. Analyze Spain’s constitution and its institutions. Study
about Spain’s present society through the following: population, economics, and culture.
Fall semester:
- Spain today through its socio-cultural diversity and economics
- The political transition to democracy
- The Spanish Constitution: The State and the autonomous regions, and institutions
Spring semester:
- Population and Society
- International Relations
- Present Spanish Economy and Welfare
- Spanish Culture Today
03. CATALAN LANGAUGE AND CULTURE
Objectives: Students will be presented with the fundamental aspects of the Catalan culture. Students will be
introduced to the formal but basic linguistic expressions of the Catalan language such as (greetings, time) and to
some of the most basic structured and usual forms of daily informal conversation.
Barcelona, Spain Course Description
REV.8/2008
Materials that will be covered over the period of the course include: origin of the Catalan language, linguistic
geography, historical perspective of the language, brief review of Catalan literature, greetings, time, directions,
expressions, clothing, work, and housing.
Fall semester:
Culture
- Origin of the Catalan Language
- Linguistic Geography: present and historical perspective
- Brief review of Catalan Literature
- Brief overview of the most distinguished historical events
- The Catalan Song (Music)
- Popular Holidays: holidays and dates that coincides with the academic calendar
Language
- Greetings, farewells, and forms of courtesy
- Time periods
- Walking in the street: providing directions and the time
- Completing and understanding forms in the Catalan language
- Expressing opinion and needs
Spring semester:
Culture
- Phrases: requesting permission and popular expressions
- Catalan Geography: territorial divisions and districts
- Catalan Gastronomy
- Popular holidays: holidays and dates that coincides with the academic calendar
Language
- The kitchen: recipes and utensils
- Employment: occupations, supply and demand
- Clothing
- Housing: parts of a home
- Giving orders, prohibitions, advising, recommending
04. SPANISH POETRY
Objectives: Study Spanish poetry during the Golden Age Period of the 16 th and 17th centuries. The poetry of the
Renaissance and the Baroque period will be of primary importance during the course. Current authors, themes, and
characteristics of the period will be discussed. In the second semester, studies will concentrate on Spanish poetry of
the 19th and 20th centuries.
Fall semester:
- General panoramic overview of poetry during the 16 th century. Study of the current
Italian (Italianismo) and lyrics
- The poetry of Garcilaso de la Vega
- The religious poetry of Fray Luís y San Juan de la Cruz
- The poetical masterpiece of Fernando de Herrera
- The poetic currents of Barroco: theories and schools
- Luís de Góngora y el culteranismo
- Francisco de Quevedo: Affectionate or amorous, moral, and satirist poetry
traditional poetics:
Spring semester:
- Poetical panoramic overview of Spanish romanticism: the poetry of Becquer.
- Poetical Spanish panorama of the 20th century: from the Modernist Generation to the Generation of ‘27.
- The poetical trajectory of Antonio Machado
- The poetry (desnuda) of Juan Ramón Jiménez
Barcelona, Spain Course Description
REV.8/2008
- The Generation of 27 and las Vanguardias
- The poetical masterpieces of Pedro Salinas and Jorge Guillén
- The poetical masterpieces of Federico García Lorca and Rafael Alberti
- Studies of other poets of the Generation of ‘27
05.
SPANISH NARRATIVE (FROM CERVANTES TO THE PRESENT)
Objective: To trace the panorama of Spanish narrative of the Golden Age (16th and 17th centuries) and that of the
novella and story of the second half of the 19th century (Realism and Naturalism). In the second semester, studies
will concentrate on Spanish narrative of the 20th century.
Fall semester:
- Panorama of the narrative prose of the Golden Age
- The picaresque novel: Lazarillo de Tormes
- The cervantina and El Quijote novels
- Panorama and scheme of novels and stories starting in 1870 through 1900
- Juan Valera and Pepita Jiménez
- The novels of Benito Pérez Galdós
- Leopoldo Alas "Clarín" and La Regenta
- The stories of "Clarín" and that of Emilia Pardo Bazán
Spring semester:
- Panorama and scheme of the narrative prose from 1900 until the Civil War (1936-39)
- The novelist of the Generation of ’98: Pío Baroja
- The narrative modernist prose of Ramón del Valle Inclán
- The novels of Migel de Unamuno, San Manuel Bueno, mártir
- The lyric prose of Juan Ramón, Jiménez y Platero y yo. Federico García Lorca a Impresiones y paisaje.
- Panorama and scheme of prose since 1940 to the present day.
- Camilo José Cela y La familia de Pascual Duarte
- Carmen Martín Gaite y Retahílas
06. HISPANIC AMERICAN LITERATURE
Objective: The course will consist of the study of Hispano-American Literature through its texts and of the sociocultural frame in which they are written. The primary objective is to facilitate to the student the knowledge and
specific keys of reading, as well as to harness and to develop the different strategies for understanding and
interpretation of the so-called "literary" language.
Fall semester:
The course initiates with a historical reflection of the rich and multiple Hispano-American identity that comes from
the legend that cultivated the Hispanic civilizations until chronicles of the Spaniards who found a new world. This
introduction will include a visual recognition of Pre-Columbian Art and significant fragments of the literary and
pedagogical work of famous authors of our time like Miguel Angel Asturias, Carlos Sources, and Arturo Uslar
Pietri. After this brief historical-artistic panorama, study is centered on contemporary prose and its special
importance in the development and apogee of the Hispano-American narrative. The poetic prose of Juan Rulfo is
analyzed; historical and social coordinates in its work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "neofantastic literature" in stories
of Julio Cortázar.
Spring semester:
The course focuses on contemporary literature, including the prose of Jorge Luís Borges, and the small masterpieces
that are his stories. Also, students will analyze “lo real maravilloso” in the poetic prose of Alejo Carpentier. Also
some fragments of short stories or novels of Isabel Allende, the most recent figure of the Chilean letters. Poetry also
will be analyzed, its evolutionary lines and artistic achievements - from modernism to the so-called vanguard
movements – texts including those of Jose Martí, Rubén Darío, Vincente Huídrobo, Pablo Neruda, Caesar Vallejo,
Octavio Paz.
Barcelona, Spain Course Description
REV.8/2008
07. GENERAL HISTORY OF SPAIN (ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL)
Objectives: To trace the route from Prehistory in the Iberian Peninsula to Roman Spain, happening through the most
important historical phenomena that took place between the Paleolithic period and the romanization. Students’ will
have devoted time to study and, in addition, take part in a series of visits to historical Barcelona so as to know
Roman and Visigoth contributions to the city. In the second semester, the course focuses on the history of Muslim
Spain and of Christian Spain, analyzing the most important historical phenomena that took place from the arrival of
the Islam (beginning of the 8th century) to the low-medieval time (14th and 15th centuries). During this expanded
time, the physical space of Spain saw the coexistence of two cultures, two societies, and two economies that often
were face to face - Christian and Muslim-that differentiate Medieval History of the Iberian Peninsula from that of
other European societal formations. A series of visits to historical Barcelona will be made, with the objective of
getting to know the medieval city.
Fall semester:
- Prehistory: Paleolithic and Neolithic
- The beginning of history: colonization and metal routes; Phoenicians and Greeks; Tartessos; the
Carthaginian imperialism; consequences of colonization
- The pre-roman countries: social organizations; economic structures.
- The romanticism with the Iberian Peninsula
- The agony of the Roman Empire: suevos, vandals, and mastiffs in Spain.
- The Visigoth Reign of Tolosa (418-507)
- Visigoth Spain. The Reign of Toledo: political institutions, laws and rights, society, economics and culture
- Crisis in the Visigoth Reign: The invasion of Islam
Spring semester:
- Muslim Spain (al-Andalus): the emirates (dependent and independent, 711-929), the Caliphate of Córdoba
(929-1212), the nazarí reign of Granada (1212-1492).
- Society, economics, and urban life
- Christian Spain: the first nucleus of resistance, the asturleonés reign, Castilla, Cataluña, Aragón, the
kingdom of Pamplona
- The great expansion (11th – 13th centuries): the Empire of Castilla and León, Aragón, and the confederation
Catalan-Aragon, the kingdom of Navarra
- The low-medieval crisis (14th and 15th centuries)
- Peninsular equilibrium: Castilla and the Crown of Aragón
- Dynastic unity: the Catholic Kings (Ferdinand and Isabella)
08. GENERAL HISTORY OF SPAIN (MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY)
Objective: The main objective is to know the History of Spain since the unification of the peninsula by the Catholic
Kings (Ferdinand and Isabella) at the end of the 15th century to the crisis of the Old State at the end of the 18th
century. This extensive period includes the reigns of the two monarchies -Habsburgs and Bourbons- at first
authoritarian and then absolute. The course will treat historic phenomena as interesting as the Universal Empire of
Carlos V, Bourbonic Reformism, and will include a series of visits to historic Barcelona to see the historic roots of
the modern city.
During the course the 19th and 20th centuries will be studied, lending special attention to events as noticeable as the
creation of the liberal state, the Carlist Wars, the Bourbonic Restoration, the military dictatorships, the political
systems, the division of the society, the ideologies of the right and of the left, the proclamation of the Second
Republic, the crisis that culminates in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and, finally, Francoism and present day
Spain.
Fall semester:
-The Catholic Kings and the peninsular unification
-The Habsburgos and the Spanish hegemony of the 16 th century XVI
-The Universal Empire of Carlos I to the Hispanic Empire of Felipe II (1516-1598)
-The decadence of the Austrians and the crisis of the 17 th century
Barcelona, Spain Course Description
REV.8/2008
-Felipe III to Carlos II (1598-1700)
-The Bourbonic Reformism the 18th century XVIII
-Felipe V to Carlos and the crisis of the absolute monarchy
Spring semester:
-The crisis of the Old State to the liberal system (1788-1833)
-Isabel II (1833-1868)
-The Six-year Revolution (1868-1874)
-The Bourbonic Restoration
-Alfonso XII and the Regency of María Cristina (1875-1902)
-Of the parliamentary monarchy to the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera
-The dictatorship of General Franco (1939-1975)
-Juan Carlos I and the transition to democracy: the socialist governments and present day Spain
09. HISTORY OF SPANISH ART (ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL)
Objective: to gain an understanding of the main artistic movements in the Iberian Peninsula from pre-historic times
to islamic art. In the second semester, Romanesque art, Gothic art, and muedéjar.
Fall semester:
- The first artistic representations: rupestre art in the Iberian Peninsula
- The art of the first colonizers: Phoenician, Greek, Carthaginian
- The art of the Iberian and Celtic villages
- Roman art in Hispania
- Visogoth art
- Asturian art
- Islamic art: the caliphate period, the taifa period, the African period, the granadino period
- Art mozárabe
Spring semester:
- Romanesque art in the Iberian Peninsula: origin and evolution
- The Romanesque architecture of the Pyrenees and its evolution in Cataluña, Aragón and Navarra
- The Romanesque architecture on the Road to Santiago
- Romanesque art in the kingdom of Léon
- Romanesque art in Castilla
- Romanesque painting
- Romanesque sculpture
- Cisterciense art in Spain
- The Romanesque of brick: art mudéjar
- Gothic architecture in Castilla: the large cathedrals of the 13th century
- The large Gothic monuments in the Crown of Aragón
- 14th century Gothic art
- Gothic painting and sculpture
10. HISTORY OF SPANISH ART (MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY)
Objective: to gain an understanding of Spanish art since the end of the 15 th century to the 18th century. During the
second semester the course focuses more on Spanish art from Goya to the present.
Fall semester:
- The architecture of the end of the 15th century: the style of the Catholic Kings
- The first renaissance: The platerescostyle
- Herreriana architecture
- Renaissance sculpture
- Renaissance painting
Barcelona, Spain Course Description
REV.8/2008
-
The “Golden Age” of Spanish arts: Baroque architecture and imagery
The great painters: Ribera, Zurbarán, Velázquez, Murillo, Alonso Cano, Valdes Leal
The art and architecture of the 18th century
Spring semester:
- The life and work of Francisco de Goya
- Neoclassicism
- Naturalistic and romantic sculpture
- Historic painting and the impressionism
- Picasso, Dalí, and Miró
- The great contemporary artists
11. GEOGRAPHY OF SPAIN
Objective: Knowledge of the natural world of Spain in relation to the society and the economy. In the spring
semester, knowledge of the social and economic reality of Spain in its global and regional dimension, and in relation
to its natural framework.
Fall semester:
- Geomorphology, economy, and society
- Genesis of the Iberian Peninsula
- Large topographical and structural units
- Relations among physical factors and human life
- Climate, economy, and society
- Temperatures, rains, winds
- The climatic diversity of the Iberian Peninsula
- Water, economy, and society
- Rivers, lakes, lagoons, and their relation with human life
- Ecology, economy, and society
- Vegetation, fauna, and dynamic global ecology
Spring semester:
- The historic roots of Spanish society and regional diversity
- The Spanish population: structure and dynamic
- Spanish society: structure and dynamic
- The Spanish economy: A historic perspective in the world context; diversity and regional contrasts
- The large economic sectors: agriculture and other primary activities; mining and industry
- Services: Commerce, transportation, tourism, etc.
12. THE SPANISH ECONOMY
Objective: to gain an understanding of the main characteristics and the most noticeable factors of the recent and
present-day Spanish economy. The main objective is to give the student the key to interpret the present-day
economy of Spain. The fall semester program consists of a presentation of the different factors that define the
Spanish economy (which are the main sectors and the most important deficiencies, the evolution of the economy,
consumption, etc.), economic policies applied by different governments during Francoism and during the transition.
During the spring semester course, the last twenty years of democracy are examined, since the arrival of the
Socialist Party to power, the joining of the European Community, and to the most recent events. Topics studies:
sources of Spanish wealth, its role in politics and civil society, the role of employers and unions, corruption, the
crisis of the 90’s, and prosperity.
Topics:
- The Spanish delay
- What we produce, what we consume, what we sell, and what we buy
- Francoism: autarchy and stabilization plans
Barcelona, Spain Course Description
REV.8/2008
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The transition: crisis and the pacts of Moncloa
The decade of the PSOE: restructuring, "culture of the pelotazo" and corruption
The joining of the European Union
The years of the PP
The labor market
The powerful: who controls the money?
13. SPANISH CINEMA
Objective: The objectives of the course are to comment critically on the movies shown in class and to deepen the
knowledge of Spanish dialogue (formal and informal registrations, dialectal varieties, etc.) Likewise, objectives of
the course are the analysis of how the Spanish social reality remains reflected in the movies, and the analysis of how
Spanish movies provide answers to the social demands of each moment.
In this course movies will be shown and fragments of some of the most representative tapes of the Spanish movies
from their origins to the present day. Some of those directors analyzed will be Buñuel, Bardem, García Berlanga,
Saura, etc., and special attention to some productions of the most significant directors of the last two decades
(Almodóvar, Trueba, Amenábar, Medem, among others).
14. CONTEMPORARY SPANISH NARRATIVE TEXTS
Objectives:
- To improve the reading competence of the students through the critical, comprehensive reading of ten
contemporary Spanish stories
- Introduce the students to the work of some of the most representative authors of the contemporary Spanish
narrative
- An interactive reading of the texts, provided with the strategies that permit the carrying out of a
construction of the meaning of a biographical sketch of the author, some activities of anticipation of the
content of the text, the reading of the story, and, finally, activities of enlargement of said reading
Curriculum:
- Reading as construction of meaning
- The Lexicon: Strategies of deduction of meaning. The context: The use of the lexicon: which, when, and
how. Lexical cohesion.
- Prayers and sequences of prayers. Grammatical cohesion. Thematic progression. Textual cohesion and
coherence.
- The narrative text: the point of view, the narrative voices, temporarily
15. SPANISH CONVERSATION
Objectives:
- This course is specifically directed to international students interested in improving their daily
communication skills by means of resources and strategies provided for the production of fluid and natural
Spanish language discourse. Students will be provided with strategies of oral communication for different
settings. This course is for students at the beginners and intermediate level.
16. DAILY SPOKEN SPANISH
Objectives:
- This course will focus on the daily reality of speaking Spanish in various settings such as daily, social,
economics, and cultural in Barcelona. The emphasis of the course is to provide the student with the
necessary tools that will allow the student to function daily in Barcelona. Each class time will be devoted
to work on the student’s communicative functions relevant to the main themes. Text and audiovisual
materials will be utilized in the classroom to help the student with oral expression. This course is for
students at the beginners and intermediate level.
Barcelona, Spain Course Description
REV.8/2008
17. WRITTEN SPANISH
Objectives:
- This course is directed to the acquisition of strategies, interpretation, and constructions of the written text in
different typologies and genres with an emphasis on the processes of planning, editing, and revision. This
course is for students at the intermediate to advance level.
18. SPANISH FOR HERITAGE SPEAKERS
Objectives:
- This course is directed to students who have inherited the Spanish language from their parents in the United
States. The primary goal of the course is to provide students with formal standard Spanish without taking
away the variety of colloquial Spanish, which the students already have. This course is for students that
have been exposed to Spanish from childhood to adulthood by parents and relatives.
Barcelona, Spain Course Description
REV.8/2008