Spanish 2151
Latin American Literature and Culture
Course Description
What would it be like to grow up in another culture? Get to know our American neighbors and learn about a variety of issues that Latin America presently faces. The course offers a broad understanding of culture that in addition to artistic expression, values, and religion also includes politics, development, economics and social sciences. Students will read short stories as well as view films as sources of cultural memory about conquest, native people, dictatorship, terror, and resistance movements. The course will examine ethnic diversity, indigenous cultures, conflicts between indigenous and Mestizo (Spanish for mixed) populations.
The main topics of the course:
- Conquest of Latin America and Colonial order
- Indigenous pre-Columbian cultures
- Indigenous modern cultures
- Communism and daily life in Cuba
- Dictatorships (Dominican Republic)
Cultures and Ideas
Goals:
Students evaluate significant cultural phenomena and ideas in order to develop capacities for aesthetic and historical response and judgment; and interpretation and evaluation.
Expected Learning Outcomes:
- Students analyze and interpret major forms of human thought, culture, and expression.
- Students evaluate how ideas influence the character of human beliefs, the perception of reality, and the norms which guide human behavior.
- Students will demonstrate the ability to synthesize cultural information taken from class readings, discussions, and films.
Active Learning
Our goal is to create a community of learners where we work together and learn from each other. Students doing the same activity or assignment can learn differently depending on their intrinsic motivation to learn. The role of the students is to be engaged in the projects, research and discussions facilitated by the instructor.
Films
Bitter Sugar by Leon Ichaso view online from Media Library
Even the Rain by Inciar Bollain view online from Media Library
Conquest of the Incas view online from Films on Demand playlist
Films on Demand playlist Url: http://proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/login?URL=http://digital.films.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/play/ZSTW5X
Media Library Url: https://drm.osu.edu (click “CC” for subtitles)
You must be logged in to post a comment.