Latin American Art Since Independence (SPA2111.01)

Jonathan Pitcher

This course ranges from the republican art of nation-building in the 19th century to modernism, magical realism, and the postmodern. While there will be some discussion of standard tactics such as stylistic nuances and artists’ biographies, it is expected that we will rapidly develop sufficient ability to focus on movements, theory, and politics, thus treating the works as ideologemes, representations of social import touching on several fields. The usual tactics associated with mastering a foreign language – explicit grammar sessions, vocabulary, oral and aural practice, text – will be on offer, but they will generally be student-driven, servicing the content, corroborating the hope that in confronting our own preconceived notions of the Spanish-speaking world we will simultaneously debunk those regarding how a language is taught. Students will therefore learn to speak, listen, read and write in increasingly meaningful scenarios. Conducted predominantly in Spanish. For beginners.


Learning Outcomes:
Novice Level Expectations:

Cognitive Goals:
recognize cultural products and practices
develop awareness of different registers
identify essential information from texts
use extra-linguistic clues to identify context
infer vocabulary, grammar and content through context
make linguistic and cultural observations
describe familiar and concrete situations
express preferences and feelings
collect data on familiar and concrete subjects

Research Skills:
ask questions
identify main ideas from texts (painted, written and oral)
express main ideas with supporting examples
express opinions
make a claim

Linguistic Goals:
develop familiarity with and partial control of the phonetic system
develop control of basic structures
develop vocabulary in discrete areas/limited topics
develop sentence-level discourse
develop abilities to listen, speak, read, write about limited topics
develop familiarity with limited complex structures
develop strategies for interpersonal discourse



Delivery Method: Fully in-person
Course Level: 2000-level
Credits: 5
M/W/Th 8:30AM - 9:50AM (Full-term)
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Course Frequency: Every 2-3 years

Categories: 2000 , All courses , Five Credit , Fully In-Person , Spanish
Tags: