Spanish and Latin American Studies

This subject provides students with the necessary language and intercultural skills to communicate in everyday personal situations in Spanish. Students are introduced to the grammatical structures and vocabulary that will allow them to converse about the self in a number of informal situations, and which will empower them to explore their relationship with the societies and cultures of the global Spanish-speaking community. Students will develop writing strategies that enable them to be able to produce, by the end of the semester, a number of descriptive, personal texts, such as emails, letters, and family profiles. They will refine reading and listening skills through engagement with authentic cultural materials. Students will collaborate on an inquiry-led group project that brings them into contact with authentic cultural materials, such as artworks, advertisements, music and poetry, all aimed at facilitating their appreciation of important cultural notions of interpersonal relations, the family and the home. Students are afforded a taste of the richness of the Hispanic World in this subject; they are invited to develop a personal awareness and understanding of diverse cultural identities through project-based and object-based assessment tasks and sustained in-class activities.

This subject equips students with more sophisticated language and intercultural skills to be able to express and situate themselves within a wider socio-cultural context, in Spanish. Writing strategies, such as editing, summarizing ideas and making writing persuasive will prepare students to produce, by the end of the semester, a number of texts, such as summaries and essays, in the past tense and focused on describing personal experience. Students will also learn to converse about the self in a variety of situations that progressively, throughout the semester, become increasingly less personal and more related to the world around them. Important cultural information about consumer culture, intimate relationships and working life in the Hispanic World will support students in communicating appropriately in this context. Students engage with authentic materials such as songs, film, social media and short written texts as part of group project work designed both to develop an appreciation of the wide range of identities that make up the Hispanic World and to further develop their reading, listening, writing and speaking skills. Students continue to be exposed to the diversity of the Hispanic World in this course and to critically reflect on their own awareness and understanding of the cultural identities of the Hispanic World.

The subject allows students to sharpen their skills in listening, speaking, reading, writing and research through an integrative learning experience that involves using the Spanish language to critically examine key cultural texts from the Hispanic world.

Cultural texts studied may include films, literature, art works, propaganda and/or archived ephemera, which act as catalysts for discussion, critical thinking and insight in relation to the Hispanic world. Texts examined chronicle issues and events of historical and political significance, while touching on shared cultural themes.

Through a close reading of Spanish-speaking cultural products of various kinds, students will develop an appreciation for the particular powers of each mode of representation. This subject also introduces students to basic research methods in Hispanic Cultural Studies, such as archival work, translation, interviewing, and the study of primary and secondary sources.

This subject enhances students’ language and intercultural skills in Spanish. At the end of this subject students will be able to communicate about the self and others through reading and writing personal stories and learning how to describe emotions, places and people. They will become confident conversing in everyday informal and a few formal situations. Students will also learn about the Spanish speaking world and Hispanic cultures through reading newspapers and watching the news from different Spanish speaking countries. They will be introduced to literary stories and histories (from short narratives and videos) across a variety of culturally and politically significant topics. By the end of the semester, students will be able to use a variety of structures and vocabulary in the Spanish language including present and past tenses.

This subject equips students with more sophisticated language and intercultural skills to communicate about the self and other in Spanish in a wider range of social contexts. By the end students will be able to comprehend and produce a variety of personal stories. They will have the language skills necessary to describe emotions, places and people and to use language appropriate to everyday informal and an increasing number of formal situations. By reading newspapers and literary stories and watching the news and videos from different Spanish speaking countries they will learn to comprehend and write public stories. Students will also learn to give their opinion, participate in debates, evaluate and report on ideas in the Spanish language through engaging with culturally and politically significant texts from the Spanish-speaking world.

In this subject, students will continue to develop their linguistic and cultural competence in Spanish. They will also advance their skills in textual analysis, with a special focus on the long tradition of testimonial texts (testimonios), both in recent Spanish and Latin American history. Through the study of first-person narratives, students will learn how to create and use authentic Spanish and Latin American cultural materials. This will allow them to produce and defend their own first-person testimonies in the shape of both formal (class presentation of personal experiences) and informal contexts (personal blogs, etc.). Through these activities students will gain an appreciation of the cultural and historical realities that have shaped the Spanish and Latin American modern and contemporary world. They will develop an understanding of the principles of first person testimonies, and will learn how to present and articulate their own ideas, both in oral and written forms. In addition, students will become confident in the use of vocabulary, sentence and text structures utilised in different contexts (formal and informal), as presented in diaries and journal articles, short and long narratives, and visual texts.

The focus of this subject will be on the improvement of students’ oral and written language competence and the learning of textual study skills in Spanish, through the study of selected oral and written narratives. These particular texts are part of the long tradition of Spanish and Latin American short stories or historias. Their analysis will allow students not only to understand their textual structure, but also to create their own narratives both in formal contexts (short narration, news reporting, etc.) and informal contexts (blog entry and discussion, etc.). Additionally, students will gain an appreciation of the cultural, historical and literary realities that have shaped the Spanish and Latin American modern and contemporary world. In this subject students will become proficient in using complex sentence structures and verb forms. Students will also become confident in communicating their own literary ideas both in oral and written forms by using a variety of vocabulary, oral expressions and textual analysis skills.

This subject enhances students’ language and intercultural skills in Spanish. At the end of this subject students will be able to communicate about the self and others through reading and writing personal stories and learning how to describe emotions, places and people. They will become confident conversing in everyday informal and a few formal situations. Students will also learn about the Spanish speaking world and Hispanic cultures through reading newspapers and watching the news from different Spanish speaking countries. They will be introduced to literary stories and histories (from short narratives and videos) across a variety of culturally and politically significant topics. By the end of the semester, students will be able to use a variety of structures and vocabulary in the Spanish language including present and past tenses.

This subject equips students with more sophisticated language and intercultural skills to communicate about the self and other in Spanish in a wider range of social contexts. By the end students will be able to comprehend and produce a variety of personal stories. They will have the language skills necessary to describe emotions, places and people and to use language appropriate to everyday informal and an increasing number of formal situations. By reading newspapers and literary stories and watching the news and videos from different Spanish speaking countries they will learn to comprehend and write public stories. Students will also learn to give their opinion, participate in debates, evaluate and report on ideas in the Spanish language through engaging with culturally and politically significant texts from the Spanish-speaking world.

In this subject, students will continue to develop their linguistic and cultural competence in Spanish. They will also advance their skills in textual analysis, with a special focus on the long tradition of testimonial texts (testimonios), both in recent Spanish and Latin American history. Through the study of first-person narratives, students will learn how to create and use authentic Spanish and Latin American cultural materials. This will allow them to produce and defend their own first-person testimonies in the shape of both formal (class presentation of personal experiences) and informal contexts (personal blogs, etc.). Through these activities students will gain an appreciation of the cultural and historical realities that have shaped the Spanish and Latin American modern and contemporary world. They will develop an understanding of the principles of first person testimonies, and will learn how to present and articulate their own ideas, both in oral and written forms. In addition, students will become confident in the use of vocabulary, sentence and text structures utilised in different contexts (formal and informal), as presented in diaries and journal articles, short and long narratives, and visual texts.

The focus of this subject will be on the improvement of students’ oral and written language competence and the learning of textual study skills in Spanish, through the study of selected oral and written narratives. These particular texts are part of the long tradition of Spanish and Latin American short stories or historias. Their analysis will allow students not only to understand their textual structure, but also to create their own narratives both in formal contexts (short narration, news reporting, etc.) and informal contexts (blog entry and discussion, etc.). Additionally, students will gain an appreciation of the cultural, historical and literary realities that have shaped the Spanish and Latin American modern and contemporary world. In this subject students will become proficient in using complex sentence structures and verb forms. Students will also become confident in communicating their own literary ideas both in oral and written forms by using a variety of vocabulary, oral expressions and textual analysis skills.

This subject is aimed at enabling students to substantially advance in their learning of Spanish language and Hispanic cultures, while also providing them with opportunities to develop workplace skills. In this subject, students will analyse sophisticated canonical and non-canonical texts that emerged from the major Spanish and Latin American literary movements. Advanced knowledge of the Spanish language will be promoted by studying, analysing and understanding texts such as short stories, theatre, poetry and essays. Students will study advanced Spanish language structures, such as complex verbal forms (e.g. subjunctive mode) and complex sentence structures, through textual analysis, essay writing, oral presentation and in-class discussion. Academic skills are enhanced through learning how to write scholarly essays in Spanish and to do close readings in a variety of genres, while community leadership skills are developed through peer mentorship, and oral skills improved through individual and group presentations.

In this subject, students will continue to develop their linguistic and cultural competence in Spanish. They will also advance their skills in textual analysis, with a special focus on the long tradition of testimonial texts (testimonios), both in recent Spanish and Latin American history. Through the study of first-person narratives, students will learn how to create and use authentic Spanish and Latin American cultural materials. This will allow them to produce and defend their own first-person testimonies in the shape of both formal (class presentation of personal experiences) and informal contexts (personal blogs, etc.). Through these activities students will gain an appreciation of the cultural and historical realities that have shaped the Spanish and Latin American modern and contemporary world. They will develop an understanding of the principles of first person testimonies, and will learn how to present and articulate their own ideas, both in oral and written forms. In addition, students will become confident in the use of vocabulary, sentence and text structures utilised in different contexts (formal and informal), as presented in diaries and journal articles, short and long narratives, and visual texts.

The focus of this subject will be on the improvement of students’ oral and written language competence and the learning of textual study skills in Spanish, through the study of selected oral and written narratives. These particular texts are part of the long tradition of Spanish and Latin American short stories or historias. Their analysis will allow students not only to understand their textual structure, but also to create their own narratives both in formal contexts (short narration, news reporting, etc.) and informal contexts (blog entry and discussion, etc.). Additionally, students will gain an appreciation of the cultural, historical and literary realities that have shaped the Spanish and Latin American modern and contemporary world. In this subject students will become proficient in using complex sentence structures and verb forms. Students will also become confident in communicating their own literary ideas both in oral and written forms by using a variety of vocabulary, oral expressions and textual analysis skills.

This subject is aimed at enabling students to substantially advance in their learning of Spanish language and Hispanic cultures, while also providing them with opportunities to develop workplace skills. In this subject, students will analyse sophisticated canonical and non-canonical texts that emerged from the major Spanish and Latin American literary movements. Advanced knowledge of the Spanish language will be promoted by studying, analysing and understanding texts such as short stories, theatre, poetry and essays. Students will study advanced Spanish language structures, such as complex verbal forms (e.g. subjunctive mode) and complex sentence structures, through textual analysis, essay writing, oral presentation and in-class discussion. Academic skills are enhanced through learning how to write scholarly essays in Spanish and to do close readings in a variety of genres, while community leadership skills are developed through peer mentorship, and oral skills improved through individual and group presentations.

The subject allows students to sharpen their skills in listening, speaking, reading, writing and research through an integrative learning experience that involves using the Spanish language to critically examine key cultural texts from the Hispanic world.

Cultural texts studied may include films, literature, art works, propaganda and/or archived ephemera, which act as catalysts for discussion, critical thinking and insight in relation to the Hispanic world. Texts examined chronicle issues and events of historical and political significance, while touching on shared cultural themes.

Through a close reading of Spanish-speaking cultural products of various kinds, students will develop an appreciation for the particular powers of each mode of representation. This subject also introduces students to basic research methods in Hispanic Cultural Studies, such as archival work, translation, interviewing, and the study of primary and secondary sources.

This subject focuses on the interaction between cuisine and nationalist discourses in Spain and Peru, exploring how food can function as a site of control and/or a vehicle for the construction of nationhood. Studies of national cuisines demonstrate that how we talk about food is as revealing of our identity as what we eat. Some important developments in the newly emerging field of Hispanic Cultural Food Studies reveal that gastronomic identities can be mobilised within different social contexts to different political and cultural ends. These range from the prescription and re-description of gender roles to processes of modernisation, from national renewal to questions of national boundaries. Culinary identities in Spain and Peru will also be examined in the context of regional rivalries, regional integration, post-colonial legacies and dictatorial rule.

Academic skills are enhanced through learning how to write scholarly essays in Spanish and to do close readings of a variety of food texts and scholarly and journalistic articles. Workplace-relevant skills are developed through collaborative project-based group work, and investigative and oral skills developed through media that could include podcasts, radio broadcasts, or other journalistic presentations.

This study abroad subject will be taught in two places in Argentina over three weeks from 19th November to 8th December 2018.

The dichotomy Civilisation vs Barbarism has been, since Sarmiento’s foundational essay entitled Facundo: Civilisation and Barbarism (1845), one of the guiding fictions of Argentine cultural history. Written at a time of cultural crisis, this founding binary would then rule the rest of Argentina’s history until today. This course will highlight these opposing sides, revisiting forgotten and forbidden stories, exploring ideas through immersion in real Argentina: a two-sided country, a place of contradictions. In the countryside, we will get to see the “barbaric” Argentina, the gaucho land, while learning about local legends, eating traditional food, and visiting places unknown to tourists. On the other side, in the “civilised” cosmopolitan city of Buenos Aires, we will learn about its vibrant cultural life, architecture, music, politics, astonishing stories of censorship during the dirty war and the struggles in democratic times.

Issues related to gender and sexuality are key to understand social and cultural practices in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas. In this subject such issues are explored in relation to their representation in cultural texts – including fiction literature, film and TV. Major themes to be explored include gender violence, gay marriage legislation, gender reassignment legislation, post-colonial feminisms, new masculinities, and sexism in language.

This subject focuses on the interaction between cuisine and nationalist discourses in Spain and Peru, exploring how food can function as a site of control and/or a vehicle for the construction of nationhood. Studies of national cuisines demonstrate that how we talk about food is as revealing of our identity as what we eat. Some important developments in the newly emerging field of Hispanic Cultural Food Studies reveal that gastronomic identities can be mobilised within different social contexts to different political and cultural ends. These range from the prescription and re-description of gender roles to processes of modernisation, from national renewal to questions of national boundaries. Culinary identities in Spain and Peru will also be examined in the context of regional rivalries, regional integration, post-colonial legacies and dictatorial rule.

Academic skills are enhanced through learning how to write scholarly essays in Spanish and to do close readings of a variety of food texts and scholarly and journalistic articles. Workplace-relevant skills are developed through collaborative project-based group work, and investigative and oral skills developed through media that could include podcasts, radio broadcasts, or other journalistic presentations.

This study abroad subject will be taught in two places in Argentina over three weeks from 19th November to 8th December 2018.

The dichotomy Civilisation vs Barbarism has been, since Sarmiento’s foundational essay entitled Facundo: Civilisation and Barbarism (1845), one of the guiding fictions of Argentine cultural history. Written at a time of cultural crisis, this founding binary would then rule the rest of Argentina’s history until today. This course will highlight these opposing sides, revisiting forgotten and forbidden stories, exploring ideas through immersion in real Argentina: a two-sided country, a place of contradictions. In the countryside, we will get to see the “barbaric” Argentina, the gaucho land, while learning about local legends, eating traditional food, and visiting places unknown to tourists. On the other side, in the “civilised” cosmopolitan city of Buenos Aires, we will learn about its vibrant cultural life, architecture, music, politics, astonishing stories of censorship during the dirty war and the struggles in democratic times.

This subject provides students with a comprehensive introduction to Latin America societies, economies, and politics. It offers an overview of the region’s history and cultures, and relates these to practical challenges and opportunities for global integration. The subject examines Latin American responses to globalisation and engagement with international institutions. Emphasis is placed on evolving relationships between Latin America and other players in the region, including China, through case studies of national development, economic growth, and cultural exchange. This subject is taught in English.

Translation is not a simple language replacement exercise; it is one of the main ways in which cultures shape political thought, literature, and science. This subject will offer answers to basic questions about how this happens. What are the main solutions available to translators? What goes on in the translating brain? How can technologies help translators? How does translation change in accordance with different languages and text genres? Students will also gain hands-on experience with the practical skills of post-editing, translation memories and subtitling.